The term ‘folklore’ is widely used, yet widely contested and misunderstood.

The American Folklore Society has a great resource, also entitled What is Folklore?, that we like to use. It sets out multiple definitions of folklore, put forward by a range of esteemed folklorists. After all, the Society says:

disagreeing with one another is part of the work–and the enjoyment–of the field, and is one of the best ways to learn.

Common misconceptions of folklore are that it only relates to the past, the ancient, the superstitious, the untrue, the occult. Folklore does pertain to all of these things, of course, but we want to emphasise that folklore is contemporary, too:

Folklore is our cultural DNA. It includes the art, stories, knowledge, and practices of a people. While folklore can be bound up in memory and histories, folklore is also tied to vibrant living traditions and creative expression today. (American Folklore Society)

Another way of thinking about it is the things ‘we believe, do, know, make, and say’.

To learn what the scope of our survey is, and how the survey will be conducted, please visit our Survey page.