This essay was written as part of my degree studies in Folklore
Introduction
The following quote has been put forward by Regina Bendix in her essay “Of Names, Professional Identities, and Disciplinary Futures”: “the name folklore impinges on the field’s efficacy […] the term folklore is compromised beyond salvation” (Bendix, 1998) . In this essay she argues that the term folklore is no longer suitable for use as the negative connotations that it has attracted impair the effectiveness of the field (Bendix, 1998). She takes a very economistic approach to describing the problems of the word. As folklore is a field which pertains to culture, she states that culture generically has “been hollowed by the same market forces that have rendered ‘the university in ruins’” (Bendix, 1998). “Any market analyst would have advised us decades ago that if the name does not provide the desired product recognition, we should reconsider the name” (Bendix, 1998). She calls it naïve for folklorists to hope that the connotations of the field can be changed via the good work of those within it.
I believe that Bendix’s writings in 1998 were perhaps a product of their time, and that her fears have not come to fruition. Whilst the current times are increasingly being described as a “capitalistic hellscape” in media (Maniaci, 2023), or perhaps because of it, people are increasingly driving to find meaning in the counter-culture, in that which sits outside the interests of venture capitalists: intangible cultural heritage. An informal survey of people interested in folklore found that interest is being stoked by a range of sources (Sedgwick, 2021). People are no longer relying upon oral histories of their families to be introduced to the field. They are seeing folklore references in consumed media, and feeling inspired to dive deeper into the field (Sedgwick, 2021).
However, the term “folklore” itself has some historical connotations. Whilst these may not be well known by the general public, I believe that we are not yet at the point where we can completely separate the term from the history of the field.
History of the term folklore
The word folklore (or as it was written at the time, folk-lore) appears to have originated in a letter by William Thoms in The Athanaeum in 1846 (Trubshaw, 2002). In this letter (written using the alias Ambrose Merton), where he attempts to coin the usage of the phrase Folk-Lore in the English language, he describes the field as “manners, customs, observances, superstitions, ballads, proverbs, &c of the olden times” (Merton, 1846). He goes on to discuss the apparent connections between the folklore of different cultures, citing how both German and British stories express a connection between the Cuckoo and the cherry (Merton, 1846). He implores The Athanaeum to make use of its great societal reach to help gather details of the aforementioned beliefs in service of English antiquary and beyond. He ends his letter by renaming the field of “literary antiquities” as Folk-Lore.
Thirty-two years after the publishing of this letter, The Folklore Society (FLS) was founded in London in 1878 (The Folklore Society, 2024). It currently cites its interests as covering “traditional music, song, dance and drama, narrative, arts and crafts, customs and belief, [..] popular religion, traditional and regional food, folk medicine, children’s folklore, traditional sayings, proverbs, rhymes and jingles” (The Folklore Society, 2024). The FLS has been integral in shaping the development of the field within the UK, and potentially the world, due to its early emergence; for instance, the American Folklore Society was not founded until 10 years later in 1888 (American Folklore Society, n.d.).
Unfortunately, the works of this learned society were not always used for good. Whilst the range of interests of the FLS have largely stayed consistent, the framing of the gathered materials and goals of doing so have varied.
Bennett points out that historically, “most popular writers of folklore books continue to ‘explain’ folklore as remnants of ancient beliefs and ritual” (Bennett, 1994). She further discusses the concept of Cultural Evolution (a dominating concept in the world of folklore historically), a metaphor drawn from natural science in which as a geologist may use changes in fossils to unearth the history of a species, so too societies must “evolve” through a series of phases on their journey towards civilisation. Sir Charles Lyell, a Scottish geologist, proposed that “The present is the key to the past” (Lyell, 1833). Bennett points out that this maxim has been applied within the frame of Cultural Evolution. If a society must evolve through a series of phases to become civilised, then the current behaviours of “uncivilised” societies can be taken as a “fossil” of a step which civilised society must have previously gone through. The 19th century was a time filled with British colonialism, providing endless examples of “savage tribes” to be worked into the models of Cultural Evolution. Perhaps this understanding of Cultural Evolution played a part in the interpretation of other cultures as “savage tribes” in the first place. If it is a given that British culture was civilised and therefore the end of the evolutional chain, then any different culture is therefore uncivilised and less evolved.
This tie-in with the colonial mindset appeared to be used to give folklore more legitimacy as a field. Bennett highlights how around the late 19th century the titles of folklore literature began to include the word “science” (Bennett, 1994). One such example is “The Science of Folk-Lore” by Sir George Laurence Gomme in the Folk-Lore Journal 3 of 1885. In turn, folklore being seen as a more scientific field gave more credence to its application as a way of “othering” the cultures of other countries. Bennett highlights that Gomme was a more anthropologically-minded folklorist, and was keen to push this line of thinking upon the FLS (Bennett, 1994). Within his role as Secretary, the phrase “researches of the antiquary and archaeologist are now generally recognised as important elements in the scientific evidence as to human history” was added to the FLS prospectus (Bennett, 1994). With Gomme being cited as “the single most influential figure in the development of the FLS,” (Bennett, 1994) it may be difficult to separate the oppressive origins of the FLS and even the term folklore itself from its early connotations.
Trubshaw writes that late 19th century folklorists saw themselves in a more positive light- they considered themselves as promoting the resurgence of traditional rural culture which had been lost to Puritan ideologies in the 17th century (Trubshaw, 2002). Unfortunately, this revival took the customs of a smaller region of the UK and claimed them for the entire country (Trubshaw, 2002). From here the folk practices became a powerful political weapon when debating matters of national identity and cultural values (Trubshaw, 2002). Why would we make societal changes which could cause us to forget our historical ways of life?
In the 20th century, the field of folklore saw big changes. The scope of folklore was more generically defined by Burne as “it covers everything which makes part of the mental equipment of the folk as distinguished from their technical skill […] not the make of the net or the harpoon, but the taboos observed by the fisherman at sea” (Burne, 1914). The First World War is described as a watershed moment by Trubshaw (Trubshaw, 2002). The death of an entire generation of prospective folklorists led to the field within the UK falling behind what was being seen internationally. It wasn’t until Katherine Briggs’s Presidency of the FLS in the late 1960s that similar evolution was seen domestically in the field (Trubshaw, 2002). The level of academic rigour increased, and newer approaches to research were proposed. Unfortunately, perhaps this change came too late. Trubshaw notes that popular British folklore has little overlap with the activities of British folklore scholars in recent times (Trubshaw, 2002).
Modern interpretations
As we moved into the 21st century, folklore gained a certain cultural connotation here in the UK. As pointed out by Trubshaw, “If you walked down any High Street in Britain and asked [what is folklore] the answers might include Morris dancing, Abbots Bromley Horn Dance, Padstow Mayday celebrations, Castleton Garland Ceremony, folk singers, Robin Hood and King Arthur” (Trubshaw, 2002). It conjured images of people dressed up in strange costumes performing even stranger dances, seemingly for the amusement of tourists. Whilst this could be seen as trivialising the field, it demonstrates how the public understanding of the term had perhaps begun to pull away from its problematic history. People did not think of it as the study of those savage “others”, but of quirky local customs.
In more recent times, there has been something of a reclamation of the term folklore. Perhaps this is in part due to the release of an album named Folklore by the immensely popular singer Taylor Swift. In an Instagram post with over 3 million “likes”, she stated that she had named the album Folklore because she considered it to be “a collection of songs and stories that flowed like a stream of consciousness,” which she implored her fans to pass down (Swift, 2020).
Figure 1: Google search trends for the term “Folklore” over the past 20 years (Google, 2024)
When we examine the global Google search trends for the term “Folklore” (Figure 1), we can see that interest in the term was generally on the decline, flatlining around the time at which Taylor Swift released her album. The massive spike seen here corresponds with the 2020 release of her album. From there, the interest in the term has generally trended upwards. Whilst it is impossible to determine from this chart which searches were made with the intention of learning about folklore as a field or Folklore the Taylor Swift album, it does indicate a general increase in usage of the term.
Perhaps another contributing force towards an increase in popularity of folklore is the resurgence of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). In 2020, Wizards of the Coast released an infographic which stated that interest was growing year on year, with 33% annual growth in 2020 (Wieland, 2021). Since then the game has truly entered the mainstream, with the release of the film “Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves” in 2023 (IMDb, n.d.) and the incredibly popular computer game Baldur’s Gate 3 in the same year (Wargamer, 2023).
It is hard to quantify the link between D&D and interest in the field of folklore. Anecdotally, social media is full of people asking for recommendations on interesting folklore which they can use to create compelling stories in their D&D campaigns (Reddit, 2021), offering advice on sources of game-friendly folklore (PhilosopherZeus, 2022) or discussing the parallels between creatures in traditional folklore and D&D (Nerdarchy, 2018).
In the physical world, it has been noted that folkloric traditions have suddenly become “cool” to the younger generations (Fisher, 2023). A possible reason for this is that the increase in interest ties into the increase in environmental awareness amongst the younger generations. “The people engaged with folklore customs now aren’t nostalgic, they’re looking forward – they’ve realised seasonal traditions are a way to reconnect with the planet” (Fisher, 2023) states Simon Costin, director of The Museum of British Folklore (The Museum of British Folklore, n.d.).
The creator of the Weird Walk zine series proposes that this is in part due to social media. “Someone recently told me that in previous years their mates used to post about going to gigs or to football on the weekend, then all of a sudden it was hikes up mountains and rituals at standing stones” says Alex Hornsby in an interview (Fisher, 2023). Assumedly this trend speaks to what is considered cool and interesting to post on social media, and/or will drive the most engagement. Other folklore figures within the UK have also spoken of a boom in interest in the field via social media, including the trend of #folklorethursday (Lee, 2024).
This harks back to the points made by Bendix in 1998, stating that culture (and therefore also folklore) has been hollowed out by market forces (Bendix, 1998). We can see here that interest in the field is in fact being partially driven by market forces. Folklore has become profitable, indirectly. Perhaps because the popular media examples discussed above only indirectly (albeit strongly) promote folklore, it has allowed folklore to remain a counterculture and therefore “cool” interest.
Conclusions
With this modern resurgence in interest in the folklore and the folklore adjacent, it would in my opinion be irrational for the field to not embrace this. Whilst the term (and the field itself) has problematic historical roots and prior negative connotations, I believe that the term is now being reclaimed. That said, it is not entirely unproblematic in its latest incantation. It is perhaps now tied more closely with the culture wars surrounding “cultural appropriation” vs. “cultural appreciation”. In the traditional media of film and gaming, there is a trend of seeking out quirky tales from the “other” to reform and bring into your own content. If we define cultural appropriation as “The unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption of the practices, customs, or aesthetics of one social or ethnic group by members of another” (Wells, 2021), then folklore is being appropriated by media such as D&D. Often concepts are taken without giving proper credit to their sources. This issue has been noted in the gaming community, with Reddit posters encouraging others to be respectful of how folkloric rituals and customs are handled within gaming campaigns (Reddit, 2021).
Perhaps we are now going through our own version of the 19th century folklore practices of using and abusing the folklore of other cultures for our own gain. Or, perhaps we are learning to appreciate the culture of other people in a way that was not seen during colonial times. Ultimately, the English language evolves. The ways in which we use words evolves. Their connotations evolve. The term “folklore” has not shed its historical problematic connotations, but the field has perhaps evolved some new ones. The public understanding of the word has changed, and with it the images which its usage evokes. I do not believe that the term is compromised beyond salvation, nor that it is likely to ever be. I believe that the understanding of the term will continue to evolve, as our society does- and that this is a good thing.
References
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