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American Folklore

Professor Allen

Jovenel Jeanty

September 30, 2009

Who are the folk? What is their lore? For years folklorist have had debates on these key

questions. Many have sought to define folklore. Each group in the 19th century was limited to

as what they perceive to be folklore. Some have regulated folklore to a certain social class or

era. Once regulated to a certain social class or era during the 19th century, what can be deemed

as folklore has expanded considerably. Contemporary folklorists have played a major role in

bringing about an increase as to what is now considered folklore.

Alan Dundes's definition of folk is as follows “any group of people whatsoever who share at

least one factor” (Dundes 1). When you use the folklore definition as unofficial, artistic

communication in small groups it becomes more universal and diverse. If you take Alan

Dundes's definition of folk one can see why 19th century folklorist would've have a hard time

classifying the joke as folklore. Though I consider it to be somewhat of a broad definition

nevertheless it allows an unprecedented amount of material to be folklore. During the late 18 th

and early 19th century in Europe varying groups arose to describe folklore. Each group set

limitations as to what can be considered folklore. Romantic Nationalists viewed the folk as

belonging only to the peasants. Their lore was the items and materials they use such as songs,

stories, crafts, communication etc. This sought of nationalism throughout Europe led many to

feel that those who were uncivilized contained all the folklore. This would mean that those

who were civilized lacked any folklore. British Antiquarians saw folk as being relative to the

past. They collected items such as songs, fairy tales and compared them. The British
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Antiquarians didn't see folklore as something that is continually being created. They felt that

if they wanted to find folklore all they had to do was look at historic items and materials.

Evolutionary Anthropologists saw folklore as divided up into primitive, barbarian and

civilized stages. They sought to explained folklore by referencing it to human beings biological

evolution.

Contemporary folklorists would consider the joke folklore because they had a more

universal approach. They If this joke was told by an elite member of society the Romantic

Nationalist would not consider it to be folklore. If British Antiquarians came across this joke

they would first want to trace its history before labeling it as folklore. This universal approach

allowed for folklorist to not only look at the past but the present. Also the definitions stated by

contemporary folklorist enable them to look at every group being capable of containing

folklore. There was a possibility that items not label as folklore would be lost. The

contemporary folklorists were not limited in their mindset as to what can be considered

folklore. The ability of contemporary folklorist to see folk as being universal and diverse

enables them to see this joke as folklore as opposed to their 19th counterparts.

A joke itself can establish the existence of a folk group and their lore. Contemporary

folklorist would be able to use this joke to identify any folk group. With the joke provided you

have many possible folk groups. In the joke it mentions Orthodox Jews, Italian and depending

on who is telling the joke, could contain many other ethnic backgrounds. So one piece of

information that contemporary folklorist would need to analyze this joke would be the

performer. Who is telling the joke? The performer plays a role in the way the joke may be told

and viewed. Who is the audience? What is the makeup of the audience? Depending upon the

audience and their composition the performer may alter the joke. One of the biggest pieces of

information a contemporary folklorist would used to analyze a joke would be its context. The
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context of an item according to Dundes is the “specific social situation in which that particular

item is being employed” (Dundes 23). It explains why the performer may or may not change

the joke. The context can explain why the joke is being told. If a contemporary folklorist

knows the context of a joke they can understands the joke’s background. So if within the joke

the mention of dating an Italian was replace with either a Black or Puerto Rican the

contemporary folklorist can used the context to create a better analysis.

The ability to obtain the context of a joke leads the contemporary folklorists to understand

its social function. When we say function we mean the joke’s role or purpose. With the joke

being used the folklorist can relate a particular function to this joke. I can see this joke being

used for several purposes. A contemporary folklorist may see this joke as a way of validating

beliefs or cultural norms among particular groups. Multiple groups can used this joke to

validate their claims about an ethnic group. Another function can be escapism. This joke can

be told to relieve tension from a stressful situation. This joke can also be used as an

educational tool. It can warn someone about ethnocentric ideals. The ability of contemporary

folklorist to assign social functions to is in some ways continuous.

Jokes and many other cultural texts can move between the categories of folk, popular, and

elite culture. Each culture regularly interacts with one another constantly. Elite takes some

features from popular culture. Popular culture derives some of its features from the elite

setting. Folk cultures take there background from both elite and popular culture. There is

constant sharing among the three. So inevitably the three are bound to come together

sometime.

Due to the various modes of communication today everyone group’s culture is equally

available. The joke in this exam can spread by any mode of communication used by the three

groups. Elite culture tends to use the written word. They’re set up in schools and other
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institutionalized settings. Folk culture’s mode of communication tends to spread orally. Its

nature of communication is through small group settings. Popular culture’s mode of

communication tends to be towards the use of electronics or what some call mass media. It is

mass media that put an end to the three hierarchical systems of elite, popular and folk. A joke

such as the one in this exam is no longer regulated to the few. You now have cds, internet and

many other electronic means of spreading all three cultures. The nature of communication

with popular culture tends to include informal, impersonal and large group settings. For the

joke used in this exam it can be written in a book and pass along. It can be recorded on a cd,

copied and distributed throughout the world. This joke can be passed verbally from one family

to another. Depending on the conditions this joke would easily spread through all three

cultures.

In summary contemporary folklorists have played a huge role in stamping