13th Congress of the International Society for Folk Narrative Research

Presentation Abstracts

del RIO CABRERA, Juan Antonio

Genres and Age:  folklore genres and life span

The question of genres in folklore, although evidently not of primary importance to past generations of scholars, has over recent decades become the focus of attention of all serious research into folklore. Today it remains a contested point, and one with significant implications.

The processes of describing specific genres and the systematic categorization of these derive from the assumptions of two discrete groups of scholars. The first group, the followers of the etic principle, is of longer standing and proceeds by imposing preconceived categories on the material to be studied. The second, or emic group, attempts to comprehend the systems of classification that different ethnic cultures use to distinguish between the varieties of expression in their own folklore. The rigid adherence of these two groups to their own traditions has led to a theoretical and methodological deadlock which is inimical to progress in the field of research into the genres of oral folklore.

Starting with the conclusions drawn in my doctoral thesis, and focusing on Spanish, particularly Andalusian, material, I have developed a way of integrating both emic and etic systems. An account of the logical difficulties encountered in the development, and the first results of the application of my system are to be found in my article The metafolklore idea: The system of genres beyond the etic/emic polarity (Spanish version in Revista de Investigaciones Folkloricas, 14, and English version in Estudos de Literatura Oral, 6). I propose to deal with the relationships between life span and genres in folklore as a further step in the development of my theory.