Key Ann B.

Bautista
ED31

Folk Literature: Mythology and Folklore – An Overview

Objectives:

 Describe Folk Literature as a Relevant Historical Artifact

 Identify the Genres of Folk Literature
 Discuss the Significance of Studying Folk Literature
 Explain Theories Related to Folk Literature

What is Folk Literature?

Folk literature, also called folklore or oral tradition is the lore (traditional knowledge and
beliefs) of cultures having no written language.
Folk literature includes all the myths, legends, epics, fables, and folktales passed down
by WORD OF MOUTH through the generations. The authors of traditional literature are
usually unknown or unidentifiable.
The origins of folk literature, as of the origins of human language, there is no way of
knowing. None of the literature available today is primitive in any sense, and only the
present-day results can be observed of practices extending over many thousands of
years.
MYTHOLOGY VS. FOLKLORE
Mythology and folklore are two things often mentioned in tandem and though in some
cases they are very similar but they aren't the exact the same. So, what is the difference
between folklore and Mythology? In order for us to differentiate between the two we first
have to really understand what makes them so similar at their very core.
Both mythology and folklore in basic terms are a form of storytelling perhaps the most
ancient forms of narrative we have available to us today. You can consider folklore a
subset or a branch of mythology and even vice versa depending on who you are asking.
But more often than not it does feel like folklore is the small fish in much bigger pond
that is mythology. Where the difference between them can really be seen is within the
stories themselves and what they attempt to explain to us.
Mythology often derives from what many consider to be sacred texts where it aims to
tell us about the time before we existed. How we are and everything around us were
created. These stories were often held as the truth and so they became part of many
people's religion. They discussed deities and supernatural figures that they believed to
be involved in our creation. At a time when our scientific knowledge was very limited
these stories provided explanations to things that, we've only really began to understand
When this religion has lost their following or when they were absorbed into others they
began to be referred to as mythology.
Where folklore differs the most from mythology is in time and scale. Mythology clearly
focuses on the beginning of time the explanation of civilization and culture. Whereas the
creatures’ spirits and deities of folklore almost just exist without this need for a religious
or cosmic connection.
Folktales are told on a much smaller scale and often tend to be exclusive to a specific
village in town or city. They do at times include gods and goddesses in their stories but
they often do so. With a specific meaning or moral in mind that doesn't solely refer back
to creation or divinity. The way in which tales of mythology and folklore travelled was
naturally quite similar. Because at the time they didn't have things like printing houses
and education wasn't as widely available as it is today meaning many people just
couldn't read or write.
Japan is quite a good example of a country that has a large amount of mythology and
folklore that coexist. It has its two establish religions of Shinto and Buddhism where we
get these tales of deities and Karni that attempt to explain japan's creation. But it also
has a vast number of creatures and cryptids that the into much more local. So, to
summarise mythology and folklore are quite similar in terms of storytelling but the main
difference is in intention what they aim to explain. One attempts to explain the universe
to us and the other is a much smaller scale of storytelling that focuses on specific areas
and individuals.

1. Folk Literature as a Relevant Historical Artifact

What is artifact?
Artifact is a general term for an item made or given shape by humans, such as a tool or
a work of art, especially an object of archaeological interest. Examples include stone
tools, pottery vessels, metal objects such as weapons and items of personal adornment
such as buttons, jewelry and clothing.
 Folk literature pertains to the written oral traditions of singing or storytelling
resulting preservation of traditions.
Literature in its very sense centers on human life and daily experiences. Many articles
and texts about it found in books, journals, researches and historical records speak of
its vital role in the shaping of life and history itself. It dated since time and life first began
on earth. From the stone carvings of the ancient times, to the hieroglyphics or the
"sacred carvings" of both the Egyptians and Mesopotamian Civilization of the
Sumerians to the scrolls, ancient texts and records, listing all what transpired during the
ages, literature has betrothed itself to history and its making. But despite these hard
evidences proving literature's value and coexistence with history, many still consider it
vital.
That’s why folk literature is relevant element in the shaping of history, a living legacy
which continuously evolves with time and serves historical artifact.
 It teaches rich literary heritage through stories which provides both a window
into other cultures and a mirror that allows viewers to reflect more clearly on
aspects of their own culture.
Folklore is the expressive body of culture shared by a particular group of people; if
encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. These include
oral traditions such as tales, proverbs and jokes. They also include material culture,
ranging from traditional building styles to handmade toys common to the group.
Folklore also includes customary lore, the forms and rituals of celebrations such as
Christmas and weddings, folk dances and initiation rites. Each one of these, either
singly or in combination, is considered a folklore artifact. Just as essential as the form,
folklore also encompasses the transmission of these artifacts from one region to
another or from one generation to the next.
 Folk Literature is a wonderful resource for illuminating the traditional values
and lifestyles of a culture-either another culture or one's own.
Folk literature, regardless of its place of origin, seems clearly to have arisen to meet a
variety of human needs:

 The need to explain the mysteries of the natural world.

 The need to articulate our fears and dreams
 The need to impose order on the apparent random, even chaotic, nature of life
 The need to entertain ourselves and each other
 Folk Literature is a repository of stories which are valuably developed by time,
place and circumstances as a result of orality - the manner of transmission of
details, concepts and stories from generation to generations.
Folklore is not something one can typically gain in a formal school curriculum or study in
the fine arts. Instead, these traditions are passed along informally from one individual to
another either through verbal instruction or demonstration.
 Manifestation of man's civilization as a source of information from beyond
times and a lens of man's experiences.
Folk literature includes all the myths, legends, epics, fables, and folktales passed down
by word of mouth through the generations. These stories have endured because they
are entertaining, they embody the culture's belief system, and they contain fundamental
human truths by which people have lived for centuries. Knowing the characters and
situations of folk literature is part of being culturally literate.
2. Genres of Folk Literature
Major forms of Folk Literature. These stories can have different forms which are
sometimes similar to one another.

 Myths

This genre of folk literature are traditional stories from particular cultures that deal with
GODS, GODDESSES, and other SUPERNATURAL beings,
 stories about divinities, supernatural beings and deities about creation, life, death
and queries with the natural world closely related to religious stories as they
belong to living religions
 Main character is a human (or human-like) or a hero embodied with religious
beliefs and values.
 This also explains natural occurrences (human creation of the heavens etc)
 Legends

A NARRATIVE of human actions that are believed by the storyteller and the
reader/listener to have taken place in HUMAN history.
 Written in such a way as be at least potentially real/true; includes no happenings
outside of the realm of possibility. Legends are different than myths because they
portray a historical hero rather than one who is a god or goddess.
 Legends transform over time. Facts will change or be stretched, HYPERBOLE
will enter the PLOTLINE, and colorful details will remain and/or get more colorful
Legends are situated in a known place and time, and occur in the recent past. They
were regarded as non-fiction by the narrator and the audience at the time they were
narrated. Although the main characters are human, legends often contain supernatural
elements such as witches or ghosts.

 Folktales

This genre of folk literature refers to brief stories passed by word of mouth from
generation to generation contain ordinary people.
 This also is any belief or story passed on traditionally, especially one considered
to be false or based on superstition.

3. Significance of Studying Folk Literature

  Folklore studies explains the natural world mystery. It helps to uncover truths and
phenomena.
 Folklore studies promotes high sense of morality. Where it shows the division of
judgement which one is good or evil present form folk stories.
 Folklore studies may facilitate us to discover the roots of distinctive communities,
the past, the commonality of varied cultures and of course our ethnic identities.
The term "folk" suggests people belonging to different groups which shared a common
factor, language, religion, culture and traditions. The knowledge of such kind of
traditions and culture is known as folklore. The very notion of "folk" conjures up the
feeling that it belongs to the field of illiterate and marginalized people. It is a fact that the
oral tradition, on which the folklore is based, is often used as a tool by the subaltern
groups as a voice to their predicaments.
Somehow people could not decipher the implicit meanings in the stories, proverbs,
jokes and riddles. The folklore theories endeavor to delve into the deep-rooted meaning
of folklore and attempt to find out the origin of the tales.
 Folklore studies can also be taken as a way to raise one's awareness of the
culture that one is coming from.
A folklore study is all-inclusive as it includes all the genres of our culture both spiritual
and material aspects. Folklore has been used as a mechanism to reconstruct ancient
beliefs, customs and rituals.
 Folklore studies is that it helps us to understand the rich folklore and mystic
tradition of our ancestors.
In understanding and appreciating the folklore of our ancestors, we develop an
understanding of their culture from whence we sprung. Another motive for the study of
folklore was nationalism, which reinforced ethnic identity and figured in struggles for
political independence.
 Another motive for the study of folklore was nationalism
which reinforced ethnic identity and figured in struggles for political independence. Folk
culture is a way of establishing unity among the different people living in the same
country. Traditional culture is seen as proof of distinctiveness among different societies
and as consignation that a culture can be based on oral traditions.
 Folklore study utilizes a number of theories and methods.
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