This document provides an overview of different methods used for analyzing and studying folklore, including: (1) tale and motif type analysis which examines how stories are conceptualized and shared; (2) historical-geographic analysis which traces the origins and transmission of tales; (3) historical reconstructionism which analyzes current folk practices to understand past practices; (4) ideological analysis which examines nationalist folklore; and (5) several other approaches examining social, psychological, structural, and contextual aspects of folklore.

1. Folklore Theory
An Overview of Methods
of Analysis and Ethnography
Presented by Victoria Harkavy

2. Tale and Motif Type
"Have a behavioral basis in...human beings'
need...to generate and respond conceptually to
memorable experiences and events" (Georges, 206)
"Content-based classification schemes...mirror the
ways human beings conceptualize the stories they
tell each other" (207)

3. Tale and Motif Type cont.
A tale type is "a specific binding together of motifs" that
is distinctive from other tale types, and can be
manifested in multiple tales.
A motif is "the smallest element of a tale having the
power to persist in tradition."
(Dundes, after Thompson and Honti, 195-6)

4. Historical-Geographic
aka The Finnish School
Scholars attempt to find as many examples of a
given tale type as possible
Based on date of recording and statistics of
occurrence of certain terms, scholars posit an Ur-
text and routes of transmission

5. Historical
Reconstructional
The school favored by
the Grimms
Theorizes that current
folk practice can reveal
information about past
practice and vice versa.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brothers_Grimm

6. Ideological
Dorson largely equates
ideological folklore to
nationalist folklore.
Largely inspired by Herder's
Romantic Nationalism,
folklorists search for the
"soul of the people"
http://tartan.wsu.edu/what-is-a-tartan.html

7. Functional
Scholars investigate how folklore maintains social
institutions
Folklore can provide precedents for decisions, a
sanctioned space for dissent, and reinforcement of
important taboos and responsibilities.
http://www.bloggingtips.com/2007/10/25/whats-your-story-storytelling-is-powerful-blogging/

8. Psycho-
analytical
Scholars use the
theories of Freud and
Jung to interpret folk
literature
Tales and myths are
treated as expressions of
the unconscious mind
Strong tendency to see
sexual imagery within
texts
http://loomings-jay.blogspot.com/2010/10/sigmund-freud.html

9. Structural
Vladimir Propp is considered the founder of this method of
analysis.
Characterizes tale types by the actions, or functions of the
characters, not by the form the characters take.
Levi-Strauss theorized that "myths" are based around
opposing dualities and mirror the logical structure found
universally within the human mind.

10. Oral-Formulaic
Based on Lord and Parry’s work with
Guslars, Serbian bards, Oral-Formulaic
theory sees folk literature as works
combining tradition and invention. A
performer may draw on and recombine
traditional motifs and plot lines to create
as he performs.
http://babamim.com/role_of_the_gusle_guslar

11. Cross-Cultural
The Cross-Cultural folklorist may look to folklore for
survivals of primitive beliefs that link cultures to common
origins or intrinsic human thought patterns/experiences
Some folklorists, such as Alan Lomax, see folklore as part
of a taxonomy of cultures, seeing connections between
types of social structures and the folklore they generally
produce.

12. Folk-Cultural
This may be seen as the movement toward “Folklife” rather
than “Folklore”
Folk-Cultural scholars see lore (folk literature) as an
integrated part of a culture that also includes rituals, dance
and music, methods of production, and family and social
structure
The totality of folklife is necessary for insight into folklore
and vice versa.

13. Mass-Cultural
Dorson describes the Mass-Cultural folklorist as “enlist[ing]
psychological concepts of child development, sociological concepts of
small group behavior, ethnomusicological concepts of music as social
expression, literary concepts of folklore as rhetorical discourse, and
folkloric concepts of the oikotype or regional genres.” The Mass-
Cultural folklorist is interested the contemporary community and looks
for continuity and change from past to present, rather than the
preservation of relics and archaisms.

14. Contextual
Some scholars argue that a
folklore text cannot be
understood outside the context
of its performance. Knowing the
occasion, the audience, the
venue, and other aspects of the
performance are critical because
the storyteller is influenced by all
of these things in crafting their
text.
http://fineartamerica.com/featured/1-textiles-spinning-wheel-granger.html

15. Dorson, Richard. 1972. Introduction: concepts of folklore and folklife
studies. In Folklore and folklife: an introduction, ed. R. Dorson.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Dundes, Alan. The Motif-Index and the Tale Type Index: a critique.
Journal of Folklore Research 34, 3: 195-202.
Georges, Robert A. The centrality in folkloristics of motif and tale type.
Journal of Folklore Research 34, 3: 203-208.
Propp, Vladimir. 1968. Morphology of the folktale. 2nd ed. Translated
by Laurence Scott. Revised and Edited by Louis A. Wagner.
Austin: University of Texas Press.
Reference List