Folklore Rules : a Fun, Quick, and Useful Introduction to the Field of Academic Folklore Studies.

114 Pages·2013·0.44 MB·English

by  McNeill

Folklore Rules

Folklore Rules
A Fun, Quick, and Useful Introduction to
the Field of Academic Folklore Studies
Lynne S. McNeill
Utah State University Press
Logan
© 2013 by University Press of Colorado
Published by Utah State University Press
An imprint of University Press of Colorado
5589 Arapahoe Avenue, Suite 206C
Boulder, Colorado 80303
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
The University Press of Colorado is a proud member of
the Association of American University Presses.
The University Press of Colorado is a cooperative publishing enterprise supported,
in part, by Adams State University, Colorado State University, Fort Lewis College,
Metropolitan State University of Denver, Regis University, University of Colorado,
University of Northern Colorado, Utah State University, and Western State Colorado
University.
∞ This paper meets the requirements of the ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence
of Paper).
Figure 4.1, “Omikuji,” is courtesy of Alex Anderson (abanderson.com). Figures
4.2–4.7 are based on Allie Brosh’s Hyperbole and a Half.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McNeill, Lynne S.
 Folklore rules / Lynne S. McNeill.
      pages cm
 ISBN 978-0-87421-905-0 (hardback) — ISBN 978-0-87421-906-7 (e-book)
1.  Folklore—Study and teaching.  I. Title.
 GR45.M36 2013
 398.2071—dc23
                                                           2013019566
Cover illustrations, clockwise from top: Alex Anderson (abanderson.com), “Omi-
kuji”; Van E. Porter, “Zonnie ‘Grandma’ Johnson and Barre Toelken”; © Allie Brosh
(hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com); Zander Westendarp, “Guanajuato 2013.”
For Barre Toelken

Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xi
For the Instructor: Why You Want to Use This Book xiii
Chapter 1: What Is Folklore? 1
Chapter 2: What Do Folklorists Do? 20
Chapter 3: Types of Folklore 37
Chapter 4: Types of Folk Groups 65
Conclusion: What Do I Do Now? 89
About the Author 91
Index 93

Preface
T
he field of folklore studies has had a fascinating and
complicated history, growing out of and blending several different
established areas of study. It is also, for all its seeming simplicity, a
very complicated field to sum up and explain; the fact that defini-
tions for folklore are still being created and debated well over 100
years after the term was coined proves this. On a related note, the
field has also long been suffering from a prolonged and depressing
identity crisis, one that each new generation of scholars has inher-
ited and must come to terms with, and one that is, unfortunately,
often foisted upon students.
The reality is that folklore, as a field of study, is cool. Students
know this, they can sense it, and when they find themselves in a
class reading a textbook that right from the get-go tries to account
for all the difficulty in definition, all the ambiguity of placement in
the academy, all the questions of naming and whatnot, they’re dis-
appointed. The field needs a textbook that lets folklore be both fun
and complicated. Folklore Rules doesn’t deny the academic rigor of
the field; it simply shows new students that there is something both
coherent and, yes, cool, to be studied here. Once students buy into
that, chewing over the complexities actually becomes fun.
The field also needs a textbook that’s relatively short; it’s not
always feasible to take an entire semester introducing new students
to the field of folklore studies. Many folklorists are not employed
in departments that offer generalized folklore courses; when they
teach folklore-related classes, they are often special-topics courses
that throw unsuspecting and unprepared students into a field
that is new to them but to which there is no time to offer a full