Post 2: Living Folklore by Martha Sims

After reading Living Folklore by Martha Sims, I found it interesting how different people perceive the word folklore. Honestly, when I thought of folklore, I though it just had to do with fake things and they were just things you read about it. After reading this however, I realized it is more than just that. When reading the section on pop culture, I found it interesting when it stated, “So many Elvis impersonators exist that they themselves would be considered a folk group” (p. 4). I never realized that the stories such as how Elvis is alive and how all the impersonators have their own folk group could fall into folklore. The idea of Elvis is not what folklore, the ideas of him being alive is what turns him into folklore. Things like that are things I would have never thought of. After this reading, I feel people should look more into what folklore is, before just knocking it down as a “fake thing” of culture. Sure, not everything in folklore is true, but the point is, folklore is all around us. Sometimes it is good to see what it is that goes on around us, and how we are in a world of folklore. It is important to see how amazing folklore can be. It is something that expresses many things through an art.

Traditions, also mentioned in the article, is another important thing to remember. Tradition gives people senses of identity, and it helps others see who people are, and what they do. Folklore id part of people’s traditions, and it is important to keep in mind that we should respect folklore, because it can be part of many people’s lives. In some cases, people live off saying and hearing folklore. It is also just nice to learn about different traditions, because many things that they may follow may be interesting and worth looking more into.