Folklore
Dr Swati Joshi
Gujarat
“Folklore, since the mid- nineteenth century, has been the collective name applied to sayings, verbal compositions, and social rituals that have handed down solely, or at least primarily, by word of mouth and example rather than in written form. Folklore developed, and continues even now, in communities where few if any people can read or write. It also continues to flourish among literate populations, in the form of oral jokes, stories and varieties of world play…….Folklore includes legends, superstitions, songs, tales, proverbs, riddles, spells, and nursery rhymes; pseudoscientific lore about the weather, plants and animals; customary activities at births, marriages, and deaths; and traditional dances and forms of drama performed on holidays or at communal gatherings.”56
Folklore can be divided into three parts.
1 Folk drama
2 Folk songs
3 Folktales
