What is the Meaning & Definition of Folklore

The concept of folklore is one of the most interesting concepts at the cultural level. When we speak of folklore are referring to the set of elements, ideas, traditions, ways of acting and popular knowledge that makes up the identity of a particular community. Folklore is what builds the idiosyncrasies of that community, dress, feed, have fun, think and move in his world in particular and unique way. The word folklore comes from English language in which 'folk' means people and 'lore' collection. The notion of folklore is an abstract notion that implies the set of elements that give identity to a community. Thus, while a Spanish speak Spanish and a British English speaker, also more rooted, differ in its history, in their traditions as contact or see the world. Everything does to the folklore is that which allows members of a community to feel identified with certain elements and, therefore, feel part of a community becoming an integral part of it. Normally, the folklore is expressed most visibly in items such as clothing, traditional music, dances, in the forms of entertainment, gastronomy, history. Today, the notion of folklore has lost much of its importance because of the spread of the phenomenon known as globalization that involves a constant and permanent cultural equalization between very distant and disparate regions together. This makes regions as countries in Latin America share the same music, way of dressing or entertainment products than countries in Asia or Europe. When this phenomenon occurs, the folklore of each region, what makes unique to each human community, tends to get lost and stay in the memory.