Introduction to Folklore

(2.5,3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

IRFL 10010 Introduction to Folklore at UCD; This module is designed to give students a comprehensive overview of what is meant by the term `folklore', and to introduce them to the academic study ofthe subject. In the course of the module, folklore is defined and described in its many manifestations, and students learn about some of the more important sources for the study of folklore and popular tradition in Ireland and abroad. Examples of both oral tradition and material culture are examined, including narrative and storytelling, vernacular architecture and other aspects of ethnology, traditional belief systems and views of the otherworld, and the areas of custom, ritual, music and song. A basic introduction is given to a number of international systems of classification used in the study of folklore, and to some of the more important theoretical approaches to the subject. Contemporary forms of folklore, and the persistence of certain themes in popular culture, are also discussed.