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111-485: Bumba Meu Boi is an interactive play celebrated in Brazil. It originated in the 18th century. It is a form of social criticism. Lower-class Brazilians mock and criticize those of higher social status through a comedic folklore story told in song and dance. Though not as well known internationally as Carnival and other Brazilian festivals, it is older and deeply rooted in the culture of Brazil. The tale can vary depending on

222-463: A street culture outside the purview of adults. This is also ideal where it needs to be collected; as Iona and Peter Opie demonstrated in their pioneering book Children's Games in Street and Playground . Here the social group of children is studied on its own terms, not as a derivative of adult social groups. It is shown that the culture of children is quite distinctive; it is generally unnoticed by

333-470: A big mouth, nose, and eyes to represent a giant. He also wears a large cotton wig and rides on a horse (similar consume design as Cavalo Marinho). The role is known for it character's acrobatic dancing, music sounds like death screams, and forest sounds. Caboclinha : A man plays an Amerindian girl wearing a costume made of feathers, and rides a goat. She will often skillfully dismount from the goat and kills it with an arrow. Ema : An exotic bird, played by

444-432: A binary: one individual or group who actively transmits information in some form to another individual or group. Each of these is a defined role in the folklore process. The tradition-bearer is the individual who actively passes along the knowledge of an artifact; this can be either a mother singing a lullaby to her baby, or an Irish dance troupe performing at a local festival. They are named individuals, usually well known in

555-487: A boy weighed down by a straw basket full of trash, who moves like a bird, flapping his arms about frantically. He is meant to look foolish. Babau : A truly dreadful animal played by a man under a sheet, clicking together the jaws of a horse. Mutuca – in Maranhão, are responsible for the distribution of cachaça to all dancers not to sleep during the marathons of presentation of my bumba meu boi. Cazumbá : in Maranhão,

666-448: A character covered in green leaves, and wears a horrifying mask. Is called, or arrives uninvited to save the lifeless ox by performing witchcraft rituals. Folklore Each one of these, either singly or in combination, is considered a folklore artifact or traditional cultural expression . Just as essential as the form, folklore also encompasses the transmission of these artifacts from one region to another or from one generation to

777-408: A child's birthday party, including verbal lore ( Happy Birthday song ), material lore (presents and a birthday cake), special games ( Musical chairs ) and individual customs (making a wish as you blow out the candles). Each of these is a folklore artifact in its own right, potentially worthy of investigation and cultural analysis. Together they combine to build the custom of a birthday party celebration,

888-489: A community. Many objects of material folklore are challenging to classify, difficult to archive, and unwieldy to store. The assigned task of museums is to preserve and make use of these bulky artifacts of material culture. To this end, the concept of the living museum has developed, beginning in Scandinavia at the end of the 19th century. These open-air museums not only display the artifacts, but also teach visitors how

999-659: A compound of folk and lore , was coined in 1846 by the Englishman William Thoms , who contrived the term as a replacement for the contemporary terminology of "popular antiquities" or "popular literature". The second half of the word, lore , comes from Old English lār 'instruction'. It is the knowledge and traditions of a particular group frequently passed along by word of mouth. The concept of folk has varied over time. When Thoms first created this term, folk applied only to rural, frequently poor, and illiterate peasants. A more modern definition of folk

1110-399: A donkey. In other forms of the story, the ox belongs to the village and there is no journey to find it. Next, the ox enters the room and the audience cheers, as it is the most beloved role. The ox may perform a number of dances, and often one known as "Lundu", which involved tap dancing. The ox is then killed, and the audience remorse's and even cries. Often the ox is killed because it attacks

1221-427: A journey to find the ox, the secondary characters they stumble upon are usually two or three of the following : Burrinha or Zabelinha : This is a role of an unattractive woman riding a donkey, who tends to please the audience with a fast tap dance. Though the dance is impressive the character is meant to look unorthodox. Gigante : This is the role of a giant played by a man wearing a mask made from calabash , with

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1332-413: A mask, while both carry whips in hand. Indios, Indias and caboclos (indigenous people) : have a mission to locate and arrest Pai Francisco. In the presentation of the bumba meu boi of Maranhão, they provide a beautiful visual effect due to the beauty of their clothes and the choreography they perform. Some groups, especially the sotaque de matraca have the royal caboclo, or caboclo de pena (feather), which

1443-576: A priest, and a doctor (or indigenous healers, pajés). The audience is also a key component of the performance, as passionate responses from spectators provide a hectic atmosphere. Additionally, performers are known to become playfully physical with the audience. Today, Bumba Meu Boi is separated into traditional and modern practices. However, only the traditional forms can be found throughout the country. Both versions can be seen in Brazil from June 13 to 29, as well as from December 25 (Christmas) to January 6. The Cultural Complex of Bumba-meu-boi from Maranhão

1554-516: A problem to be solved, but as a tremendous opportunity. In the diversity of American folklife, we find a marketplace teeming with the exchange of traditional forms and cultural ideas, a rich resource for Americans". This diversity is celebrated annually at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and many other folklife fests around the country. There are numerous other definitions. According to William Bascom major article on

1665-520: A red satin ribbon across his chest (sometimes), and a crown made of paper, covered with small mirrors and ribbons. Additionally, he is seen carrying a sword and has a protruding addition to his costume, making it appear as though he is riding a horse. Vaqueiros (Cowboys) : These characters consist of Mateus (or Pai Francisco, in Maranhão), and often Birico or Sebastião. There may also be other cowboys as well, however, they are insignificant. Their role in

1776-605: A scripted combination of multiple artifacts which have meaning within their social group. Folklorists divide customs into several different categories. A custom can be a seasonal celebration , such as Thanksgiving or New Year's . It can be a life cycle celebration for an individual, such as baptism, birthday or wedding. A custom can also mark a community festival or event; examples of this are Carnival in Cologne or Mardi Gras in New Orleans . This category also includes

1887-509: A shift in purpose and meaning. There are many reasons for continuing to handmake objects for use, for example these skills may be needed to repair manufactured items, or a unique design might be required which is not (or cannot be) found in the stores. Many crafts are considered as simple home maintenance, such as cooking, sewing and carpentry. For many people, handicrafts have also become an enjoyable and satisfying hobby. Handmade objects are often regarded as prestigious, where extra time and thought

1998-454: A single true plot behind the story of Bumba Meu Boi is near impossible due to all its variances throughout different communities in Brazil. However, the most common performance will go as follows: The Musical begins with the singing of the overture form the Chorus, who may sing a multitude of songs specifically for Bumba Meu Boi. Usually the first to walk into the room is Cavalo Marinho (or Amo,

2109-426: A small sampling of objects and skills that are included in studies of material culture. Customary culture is remembered enactment, i.e. re-enactment. It is the patterns of expected behavior within a group, the "traditional and expected way of doing things" A custom can be a single gesture , such as thumbs down or a handshake . It can also be a complex interaction of multiple folk customs and artifacts as seen in

2220-450: A social event during the winter months, or the gifting of a quilt to signify the importance of the event. Each of these—the traditional pattern chosen, the social event, and the gifting—occur within the broader context of the community. Even so, when considering context, the structure and characteristics of performance can be recognized, including an audience, a framing event, and the use of decorative figures and symbols, all of which go beyond

2331-400: A swell in popular interest in folk traditions, these community celebrations are becoming more numerous throughout the western world. While ostensibly parading the diversity of their community, economic groups have discovered that these folk parades and festivals are good for business. All shades of people are out on the streets, eating, drinking and spending. This attracts support not only from

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2442-572: A whole, even as it continues to be a point of discussion within the field itself. The term folkloristics , along with the alternative name folklore studies , became widely used in the 1950s to distinguish the academic study of traditional culture from the folklore artifacts themselves. When the American Folklife Preservation Act (Public Law 94-201) was passed by the U.S. Congress in January 1976, to coincide with

2553-492: Is "not idle speculation… Decades of fieldwork have demonstrated conclusively that these groups do have their own folklore." In this modern understanding, folklore is a function of shared identity within any social group. This folklore can include jokes, sayings, and expected behavior in multiple variants, always transmitted in an informal manner. For the most part, it will be learned by observation, imitation, repetition, or correction by other group members. This informal knowledge

2664-457: Is a distinct branch of folklore that deals with activities passed on by children to other children, away from the influence or supervision of an adult. Children's folklore contains artifacts from all the standard folklore genres of verbal, material, and customary lore; it is however the child-to-child conduit that distinguishes these artifacts. For childhood is a social group where children teach, learn and share their own traditions, flourishing in

2775-532: Is a large batalhões of bumba meu boi of matraca (two small pieces of wood, beaten against each other, to produce the rhythm) in the neighborhood of João Paulo, in São Luís , capital of Maranhão. Other typical dances of Maranhão are: Cacuriá and Tambor de Crioula . The present model of presentation of the bumba meu boi in Maranhão does not tell all the story of the 'auto', replaced by a simplified story, with greater emphasis on songs ("toadas") and dances. Finding

2886-678: Is a social group that includes two or more people with common traits who express their shared identity through distinctive traditions. "Folk is a flexible concept which can refer to a nation as in American folklore or to a single family. " This expanded social definition of folk supports a broader view of the material, i.e., the lore, considered to be folklore artifacts . These now include all "things people make with words (verbal lore), things they make with their hands (material lore), and things they make with their actions (customary lore)". Folklore are no longer considered to be limited to that which

2997-401: Is almost always the same for all female roles in the performance. After a dance of their own, Catirina proclaims her need to consume the tongue of an ox or bull, for she fears her baby will die, or sometimes have certain birth defects if she doesn't. The story follows Mateus (or Pai Francisco) as he leaves to find an ox. He has many comedic encounters with secondary characters, such as a giant and

3108-400: Is also transmitted within a group, remains a practical hygiene and health issue and does not rise to the level of a group-defining tradition. Tradition is initially remembered behavior; once it loses its practical purpose, there is no reason for further transmission unless it has been imbued with meaning beyond the initial practicality of the action. This meaning is at the core of folkloristics,

3219-485: Is as close as folklorists can come to observing the transmission and social function of this folk knowledge before the spread of literacy during the 19th century. As we have seen with the other genres, the original collections of children's lore and games in the 19th century was driven by a fear that the culture of childhood would die out. Early folklorists, among them Alice Gomme in Britain and William Wells Newell in

3330-404: Is enmeshed in a multitude of differing identities and their concomitant social groups. The first group that each of us is born into is the family, and each family has its own unique family folklore . As a child grows into an individual, its identities also increase to include age, language, ethnicity, occupation, etc. Each of these cohorts has its own folklore, and as one folklorist points out, this

3441-541: Is found in an issue of the Journal of American Folklore , published in 1975, which is dedicated exclusively to articles on women's folklore, with approaches that had not come from a man's perspective. Other groups that were highlighted as part of this broadened understanding of the folk group were non-traditional families , occupational groups, and families that pursued the production of folk items over multiple generations. Folklorist Richard Dorson explained in 1976 that

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3552-451: Is found in hex signs on Pennsylvania Dutch barns, tin man sculptures made by metalworkers, front yard Christmas displays, decorated school lockers, carved gun stocks, and tattoos. "Words such as naive, self-taught, and individualistic are used to describe these objects, and the exceptional rather than the representative creation is featured." This is in contrast to the understanding of folklore artifacts that are nurtured and passed along within

3663-559: Is intended to organize and categorize the folklore artifacts; they provide common vocabulary and consistent labeling for folklorists to communicate with each other. That said, each artifact is unique; in fact, one of the characteristics of all folklore artifacts is their variation within genres and types. This is in direct contrast to manufactured goods, where the goal in production is to create identical products, and any variations are considered mistakes. It is, however, just this required variation that makes identification and classification of

3774-525: Is not just any conversation, but words and phrases conforming to a traditional configuration recognized by both the speaker and the audience. For narrative types , by definition, they have a consistent structure and follow an existing model in their narrative form. As just one simple example, in English, the phrase "An elephant walks into a bar…" instantaneously flags the following text as a joke . It might be one you have already heard, but it might be one that

3885-411: Is old or obsolete. These folk artifacts continue to be passed along informally, as a rule anonymously, and always in multiple variants. The folk group is not individualistic; it is community-based and nurtures its lore in community. "As new groups emerge, new folklore is created… surfers, motorcyclists, computer programmers ". In direct contrast to high culture , where any single work of a named artist

3996-656: Is perceived by traditionalists to have lost the meaning of the celebration. The ox was placed as a centerpiece because, at the time, it was seen as an animal of high economic regard due to its use in farming. Oxen were also highly involved in colonists' social lives, as bullfighting and calf-dancing were very popular. These are thought to have been passed down from lower-class Portuguese families, as similar social activities can be traced back much further in Portugal. A literal translation for "bumba my ox" could be "dance my ox". There are almost one hundred bumba-meu-boi groups in

4107-434: Is protected by copyright law , folklore is a function of shared identity within a common social group. Having identified folk artifacts, the professional folklorist strives to understand the significance of these beliefs, customs, and objects for the group, since these cultural units would not be passed along unless they had some continued relevance within the group. That meaning can, however, shift and morph; for example,

4218-578: Is spent in their creation and their uniqueness is valued. For the folklorist, these hand-crafted objects embody multifaceted relationships in the lives of the craftspeople and the users, a concept that has been lost with mass-produced items that have no connection to an individual craftsperson. Many traditional crafts, such as ironworking and glass-making, have been elevated to the fine or applied arts and taught in art schools; or they have been repurposed as folk art , characterized as objects whose decorative form supersedes their utilitarian needs. Folk art

4329-403: Is still transmitted orally and, indeed, continues to be generated in new forms and variants at an alarming rate. Below is listed a small sampling of types and examples of verbal lore. The genre of material culture includes all artifacts that can be touched, held, lived in, or eaten. They are tangible objects with a physical or mental presence, either intended for permanent use or to be used at

4440-669: Is the complex balance of continuity over change in both their design and their decoration. In Europe, prior to the Industrial Revolution , everything was made by hand. While some folklorists of the 19th century wanted to secure the oral traditions of the rural folk before the populace became literate, other folklorists sought to identify hand-crafted objects before their production processes were lost to industrial manufacturing. Just as verbal lore continues to be actively created and transmitted in today's culture, so these handicrafts can still be found all around us, with possibly

4551-464: Is the greatest outfit of bumba meu boi. Caboclos de fita are pessoas with hats with colorful ribbon and they blend into the cowboys during a party. Catirina : As almost all female roles in Bumba Meu Boi, she is played by a man, as a black, provocative woman. She is also pregnant and the mistress of Pai Francisco/Mateus. She is also a comedic character, who is known to dance a frantic Samba. She

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4662-540: Is used in discussions of material lore. Both formulations offer different perspectives on the same folkloric understanding, specifically that folklore artifacts need to remain embedded in their cultural environment if we are to gain insight into their meaning for the community. The concept of cultural (folklore) performance is shared with ethnography and anthropology among other social sciences. The cultural anthropologist Victor Turner identified four universal characteristics of cultural performance: playfulness, framing ,

4773-428: Is used to confirm and reinforce the identity of the group. It can be used both internally within the group to express their common identity, for example in an initiation ceremony for new members. It can also be used externally to differentiate the group from outsiders, like a folk dance demonstration at a community festival. Significant to folklorists here is that there are two opposing but equally valid ways to use this in

4884-404: Is very significant in the story, as she is the one who requests the arrival of the bull for its tongue. Sometimes, a secondary female character comes out with Catirina, named Dona Joana. She is also a black woman played by a man, who normally wears amusing ornaments. Pai Francisco, Chico or Mateus : Catirina's husband, vaqueiro (cowboy), dress in simpler clothes. His role is to provoke laughter in

4995-842: The Bicentennial Celebration , folkloristics in the United States came of age. "…[Folklife] means the traditional expressive culture shared within the various groups in the United States: familial, ethnic, occupational, religious, regional; expressive culture includes a wide range of creative and symbolic forms such as custom, belief, technical skill, language, literature, art, architecture, music, play, dance, drama, ritual, pageantry, handicraft; these expressions are mainly learned orally, by imitation, or in performance, and are generally maintained without benefit of formal instruction or institutional direction." Added to

5106-619: The Halloween celebration of the 21st century is not the All Hallows' Eve of the Middle Ages and even gives rise to its own set of urban legends independent of the historical celebration; the cleansing rituals of Orthodox Judaism were originally good public health in a land with little water, but now these customs signify for some people identification as an Orthodox Jew. By comparison, a common action such as tooth brushing , which

5217-616: The Historic–Geographic Method , a methodology that dominated folkloristics in the first half of the 20th century. When William Thoms first published his appeal to document the verbal lore of the rural populations, it was believed these folk artifacts would die out as the population became literate. Over the past two centuries, this belief has proven to be wrong; folklorists continue to collect verbal lore in both written and spoken form from all social groups. Some variants might have been captured in published collections, but much of it

5328-566: The Smithsonian Folklife Festival celebrated each summer on the Mall in Washington, DC. A fourth category includes customs related to folk beliefs . Walking under a ladder is just one of many symbols considered unlucky . Occupational groups tend to have a rich history of customs related to their life and work, so the traditions of sailors or lumberjacks . The area of ecclesiastical folklore , which includes modes of worship not sanctioned by

5439-426: The 20th century the play became an annual and biannual event, transitioning to its modern form as a festival. Throughout the 20th century and the turn of the 21st century, the festival experienced large amounts of popularization , spreading to all corners of the nation. This created large variations of the festival to form, depending on the central values of each community it is celebrated in. Today, its variations and

5550-500: The American Folklore Society brought the behavioral approach into open debate among folklorists. In 1972 Richard Dorson called out the "young Turks" for their movement toward a behavioral approach to folklore. This approach "shifted the conceptualization of folklore as an extractable item or 'text' to an emphasis on folklore as a kind of human behavior and communication. Conceptualizing folklore as behavior redefined

5661-737: The Audience and by other characters in the play as well. Lastly the Farwell begins as the Chorus sings, and the performers dance, which can be well-mannered or offensive depending on the entertainers' opinion of the reactions of the audience to the performance. The Band : Is typically positioned visually on the side of the stage or room, and is responsible for creating a beat for the performers to dance to. The band consists of String , air, and percussion. In Maranhão, there are also matracas, maracás , pandeirão , pandeiros and tambor onça and zabumbas (types of drum). The Chorus : Is off-scene for all of

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5772-521: The Brazilians who celebrate them can be sorted into two main categories of people. There are those who continue to celebrate the festival in its traditional forms, who mainly live in northern, northeastern, and Amazonian cities and villages, especially in Maranhão , though it also exists in central regions as well. These forms of the festival still maintain a large focus on the rebellious features of

5883-561: The History and Folklore Section of the American Folklore Society and concerned with the connections of folklore with history, as well as the history of folklore studies. Lacking context, folklore artifacts would be uninspiring objects without any life of their own. It is only through performance that the artifacts come alive as an active and meaningful component of a social group; the intergroup communication arises in

5994-480: The Priest is heavily mocked and disrespected by the audience, and other comedic characters. Doctor : Is typically played by a one or many men wearing a higher-class gown. His procedures to save the ox life are usually foolish and are all ridiculed by the crowd. In Maranhão, indigenous healers, the pajés, try to bring the ox back to life In longer versions, where Mateus (or Chico or Pai Francisco) and Birico embark on

6105-537: The Second World War, folklorists began to articulate a more holistic approach toward their subject matter. In tandem with the growing sophistication in the social sciences , attention was no longer limited to the isolated artifact, but extended to include the artifact embedded in an active cultural environment. One early proponent was Alan Dundes with his essay "Texture, Text and Context", first published 1964. A public presentation in 1967 by Dan Ben-Amos at

6216-603: The United States, felt a need to capture the unstructured and unsupervised street life and activities of children before it was lost. This fear proved to be unfounded. In a comparison of any modern school playground during recess and the painting of "Children's Games" by Pieter Breugel the Elder we can see that the activity level is similar, and many of the games from the 1560 painting are recognizable and comparable to modern variations still played today. These same artifacts of childlore, in innumerable variations, also continue to serve

6327-413: The artifacts and turn them into something else; so Old McDonald's farm is transformed from animal noises to the scatological version of animal poop. This childlore is characterized by "its lack of dependence on literary and fixed form. Children…operate among themselves in a world of informal and oral communication, unimpeded by the necessity of maintaining and transmitting information by written means". This

6438-421: The audience. The ox : one or two men under a structure usually made of bamboo , covered with colored fabric, such as velvet. The head can be an ox skull or a mask adorned with flowers, stars, and ribbons. The ox has the largest effect on the crowd, and its death and resurrection is the basic framework of the play. In Maranhão, it is called Miolo to the person responsible for the evolutions and choreographies of

6549-423: The business community, but also from federal and state organizations for these local street parties. Paradoxically, in parading diversity within the community, these events have come to authenticate true community, where business interests ally with the varied (folk) social groups to promote the interests of the community as a whole. This is just a small sampling of types and examples of customary lore. Childlore

6660-531: The community as knowledgeable in their traditional lore. They are not the anonymous "folk", the nameless mass without of history or individuality. The audience of this performance is the other half in the transmission process; they listen, watch, and remember. Few of them will become active tradition-bearers; many more will be passive tradition-bearers who maintain a memory of this specific traditional artifact, in both its presentation and its content. Festa Junina Too Many Requests If you report this error to

6771-457: The complexity of the interpretation, the birthday party for a seven-year-old will not be identical to the birthday party for that same child as a six-year-old, even though they follow the same model. For each artifact embodies a single variant of a performance in a given time and space. The task of the folklorist becomes to identify within this surfeit of variables the constants and the expressed meaning that shimmer through all variations: honoring of

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6882-472: The continent is a single example of an ethnic group parading their separateness (differential behavior ), and encouraging Americans of all stripes to show alliance to this colorful ethnic group. These festivals and parades, with a target audience of people who do not belong to the social group, intersect with the interests and mission of public folklorists , who are engaged in the documentation, preservation, and presentation of traditional forms of folklife. With

6993-436: The cowboys, Catirina, and the audience, or it happens by accident. Songs are then sung, mourning the death of the ox, followed by Mateus cutting out the ox's tongue and offering it to Catirina. Next Cavalo Marinho (or Amo,the owner of the farm) re-enters and demands the capture of the one who killed the ox, as it is a useful animal to the farm. He also requests a doctor (or indigenous healers, the pajés,in Maranhão) to try to bring

7104-609: The custom, either as performer or audience, signifies acknowledgment of that social group. Some customary behavior is intended to be performed and understood only within the group itself, so the handkerchief code sometimes used in the gay community or the initiation rituals of the Freemasons. Other customs are designed specifically to represent a social group to outsiders, those who do not belong to this group. The St. Patrick's Day Parade in New York and in other communities across

7215-456: The defining features a challenge. While this classification is essential for the subject area of folkloristics, it remains just labeling and adds little to an understanding of the traditional development and meaning of the artifacts themselves. Necessary as they are, genre classifications are misleading in their oversimplification of the subject area. Folklore artifacts are never self-contained, they do not stand in isolation but are particulars in

7326-527: The developmental function of this childlore, the artifacts themselves have been in play for centuries. Below is listed just a small sampling of types and examples of childlore and games. A case has been made for considering folk history as a distinct sub-category of folklore, an idea that has received attention from such folklorists as Richard Dorson. This field of study is represented in The Folklore Historian , an annual journal sponsored by

7437-605: The devotion to the saints of June São João , São Pedro and São Marçal , and is the most important manifestation of popular culture in the state, attracting thousands of people. The Feast of Saint Peter and Saint Marçal marks the end of the Festas Juninas. On the Feast of St. Peter (29/06), various groups of ox go to St. Peter's Chapel to thank the June season for blessings. On the feast of São Marçal (St. Martial, 30/06), there

7548-410: The established church tends to be so large and complex that it is usually treated as a specialized area of folk customs; it requires considerable expertise in standard church ritual in order to adequately interpret folk customs and beliefs that originated in official church practice. Customary folklore is always a performance, be it a single gesture or a complex of scripted customs, and participating in

7659-434: The extensive array of other legislation designed to protect the natural and cultural heritage of the United States, this law also marks a shift in national awareness. It gives voice to a growing understanding that cultural diversity is a national strength and a resource worthy of protection. Paradoxically, it is a unifying feature, not something that separates the citizens of a country. "We no longer view cultural difference as

7770-496: The first classification system for folktales in 1910. This was later expanded into the Aarne–Thompson classification system by Stith Thompson and remains the standard classification system for European folktales and other types of oral literature. As the number of classified oral artifacts grew, similarities were noted in items that had been collected from very different geographic regions, ethnic groups, and epochs, giving rise to

7881-411: The generations and subject to the same forces of conservative tradition and individual variation" that are found in all folk artifacts. Folklorists are interested in the physical form, the method of manufacture or construction, the pattern of use, as well as the procurement of the raw materials. The meaning to those who both make and use these objects is important. Of primary significance in these studies

7992-404: The individual within the circle of family and friends, gifting to express their value and worth to the group, and of course, the festival food and drink as signifiers of the event. The formal definition of verbal lore is words, both written and oral, that are "spoken, sung, voiced forms of traditional utterance that show repetitive patterns." Crucial here are the repetitive patterns. Verbal lore

8103-417: The items were used, with actors reenacting the everyday lives of people from all segments of society, relying heavily on the material artifacts of a pre-industrial society. Many locations even duplicate the processing of the objects, thus creating new objects of an earlier historic time period. Living museums are now found throughout the world as part of a thriving heritage industry . This list represents just

8214-431: The job of folklorists..." Folklore became a verb, an action, something that people do, not just something that they have. It is in the performance and the active context that folklore artifacts get transmitted in informal, direct communication, either verbally or in demonstration. Performance includes all the different modes and manners in which this transmission occurs. Transmission is a communicative process requiring

8325-408: The language of a folklore performance. Material culture requires some moulding to turn it into a performance. Should we consider the performance of the creation of the artifact, as in a quilting party, or the performance of the recipients who use the quilt to cover their marriage bed? Here the language of context works better to describe the quilting of patterns copied from the grandmother, quilting as

8436-478: The most part self-explanatory, these categories include physical objects ( material folklore ), common sayings, expressions, stories and songs ( verbal folklore ), and beliefs and ways of doing things ( customary folklore ). There is also a fourth major subgenre defined for children's folklore and games ( childlore ), as the collection and interpretation of this fertile topic is particular to school yards and neighborhood streets. Each of these genres and their subtypes

8547-411: The necessary beat to complex physical rhythms and movements, be it hand-clapping, jump roping, or ball bouncing. Furthermore, many physical games are used to develop strength, coordination and endurance of the players. For some team games, negotiations about the rules can run on longer than the game itself as social skills are rehearsed. Even as we are just now uncovering the neuroscience that undergirds

8658-460: The next meal. Most of these folklore artifacts are single objects that have been created by hand for a specific purpose; however, folk artifacts can also be mass-produced, such as dreidels or Christmas decorations. These items continue to be considered folklore because of their long (pre-industrial) history and their customary use. All of these material objects "existed prior to and continue alongside mechanized industry. … [They are] transmitted across

8769-435: The next. Folklore is not something one can typically gain from a formal school curriculum or study in the fine arts . Instead, these traditions are passed along informally from one individual to another, either through verbal instruction or demonstration. The academic study of folklore is called folklore studies or folkloristics, and it can be explored at the undergraduate, graduate, and Ph.D. levels. The word folklore ,

8880-458: The owner of farm), wearing a costume that makes it appear as though he is riding a horse. He entertains the audience with rhythmic dancing until the Chorus announces of the entrance of important characters, such as a cowboy named Mateus (or Pai Francisco), who may have another cowboy with him named Birico. A pregnant woman named Catirina usually enters with the Cowboys. She is played by a man, which

8991-1061: The owner of the farm (amo or master), Pai Francisco (vaqueiro, a cowboy, or a slave), his wife Catirina, cowboys (vaqueiros), índios, índias and caboclos (indigenous people), the ox and cazumbás. The plot recalls a typical history of the region's social and economic relations during the colonial period, marked by monoculture, extensive cattle breeding and slavery, mixing European, African and indigenous cultures. The most famous groups of Maranhão are: Boi de Maracanã, Boi da Maioba and Boi da Pindoba (sotaque of matraca); Boi de São Simão, Boi de Nina Rodrigues, Boi de Axixá, Boi de Morros, Boi de Rosário, Boi Brilho da Ilha and Boi Novilho Branco (sotaque of orquestra); Boi de Leonardo, Boi de Vila Passos, Boi da Fé em Deus, Boi Unidos Venceremos and Boi de Guimarães (sotaque of zabumba). Boi União da Baixada, Boi de Pindaré, Boi Unidos de Santa Fé and Boi Penalva do Bairro de Fátima (sotaque of Baixada); Boi Rama Santa, Boi Brilho da Sociedade, Boi Soledade and Boi Brilho da Areia Branca (sotaque costa de mão). The bumba-meu-boi involves

9102-420: The ox back to life. Before doctors arrive, a priest arrives, to bless the ox and to simultaneously marry Mateus and Catirina. The story alters largely here; one or sometimes two doctors may come, to try a variety of comical procedures to save the ox. Witches are also known to come in some. All who attempt to save the ox are mocked by the audience. In Maranhão, when the indigenous healers (pajés) are summoned to save

9213-455: The ox, and when the ox resurrects mooing, they all participate in a huge feast to commemorate the miracle. In other forms a doctor places a special green leaf in the ox mouth. As the ox is revived, the audience cheer, sing songs of praise and dance around the ox. At some point in this final scene the Capitão do Mato or police arrives which is a man dress in a military outfit. He is then mocked by

9324-441: The ox. Capitão do Mato : An aggressive man wearing a military costume, who represents the authorities or the police. He is heavily mocked by the audience. Priest : Is played by a man wearing an elegant robe of sorts, usually with some type of religious symbol on it, such as a cross or Mary, the mother of Jesus. He Arrives on-scene to bless the dead bull, and the marry Mateus and Catirina. Like all characters of high social status,

9435-547: The past that continued to exist within the lower strata of society. The " Kinder- und Hausmärchen " of the Brothers Grimm (first published 1812) is the best known but by no means only collection of verbal folklore of the European peasantry of that time. This interest in stories, sayings, and songs continued throughout the 19th century and aligned the fledgling discipline of folkloristics with literature and mythology. By

9546-531: The performance and this is where transmission of these cultural elements takes place. American folklorist Roger D. Abrahams has described it thus: "Folklore is folklore only when performed. As organized entities of performance, items of folklore have a sense of control inherent in them, a power that can be capitalized upon and enhanced through effective performance." Without transmission, these items are not folklore, they are just individual quirky tales and objects. This understanding in folkloristics only occurred in

9657-559: The period of romantic nationalism in Europe. A particular figure in this development was Johann Gottfried von Herder , whose writings in the 1770s presented oral traditions as organic processes grounded in the locale. After the German states were invaded by Napoleonic France , Herder's approach was adopted by many of his fellow Germans, who systematized the recorded folk traditions and used them in their process of nation building . This process

9768-474: The play and is responsible for the introduction of each character as they appear on-scene. Within the Chorus, the Violeiro, and Cantador are guitar players whose energy and speed of play is important to the atmosphere of the play. Additionally, they are responsible for the improvisation of new songs that go along with what is occurring in the musical, and the surrounding community. Amo : in Maranhão, represents

9879-472: The play is as energetic jokesters, who obey the orders of Cavalo Marinho, and are meant to arouse the audience with laughter and remarkable dancing. The Vaqueiros tend to mainly mock the roles of authority in the play such as the Cavalo Marinho, Doctor, priest, and Capitão do Mato (police). Lastly, Mateus tends to be decorated with many noisy bells hanging from his clothes, and Birico will typically wear

9990-444: The play towards the upper class, providing Brazil's lower class with a strong cultural connection to Brazil's past. Then there are those who embrace its modern form, which is more constantly altering to modern trends and is aroused by the media. These forms of the festival allow Brazilians to embrace the more current, festive cultures of Brazil. Rationally, this form exists in more populated, modernized cities such as Rio de Janeiro , and

10101-468: The region and social setting in which it is practiced. However, its essential theme remains the same, with a focus on the death and resurrection of an ox. The principal figures include an ox, a white master (Cavalo Marinho, in Pernambuco ), a black pregnant woman (Catirina), a Vaqueiro or cowboy (Mateus, Chico or Pai Francisco), other vaqueiros (cowboys), índios, índias and caboclos (indigenous people),

10212-469: The role of the owner of the farm, commands the group with the aid of a whistle and a maracá (maracá of the master) sings the principal toadas (songs). Cavalo Marinho : In Pernambuco, he is the main character with the highest authority in the play and the first to arrive on-scene. He is typically white, representing a Portuguese heritage, and wears a naval captain's costume, including a colored coat with golden ornaments hanging from it. Also, red striped pants,

10323-408: The rural poor as folk. The common feature in this expanded definition of folk was their identification as the underclass of society. Moving forward into the 20th century, in tandem with new thinking in the social sciences , folklorists also revised and expanded their concept of the folk group. By the 1960s, it was understood that social groups , i.e., folk groups, were all around us; each individual

10434-420: The same function of learning and practicing skills needed for growth. So bouncing and swinging rhythms and rhymes encourage development of balance and coordination in infants and children. Verbal rhymes like Peter Piper picked... serve to increase both the oral and aural acuity of children. Songs and chants, accessing a different part of the brain, are used to memorize series ( Alphabet song ). They also provide

10545-410: The second half of the 20th century, when the two terms " folklore performance " and "text and context" dominated discussions among folklorists. These terms are not contradictory or even mutually exclusive. As borrowings from other fields of study, one or the other linguistic formulation is more appropriate to any given discussion. Performance is frequently tied to verbal and customary lore, whereas context

10656-521: The self-representation of a community. Different genres are frequently combined with each other to mark an event. So a birthday celebration might include a song or formulaic way of greeting the birthday child (verbal), presentation of a cake and wrapped presents (material), as well as customs to honor the individual, such as sitting at the head of the table and blowing out the candles with a wish. There might also be special games played at birthday parties, which are not generally played at other times. Adding to

10767-444: The sophisticated world of adults, and quite as little affected by it. Of particular interest to folklorists here is the mode of transmission of these artifacts; this lore circulates exclusively within an informal pre-literate children's network or folk group. It does not include artifacts taught to children by adults. However children can take the taught and teach it further to other children, turning it into childlore. Or they can take

10878-403: The speaker has just thought up within the current context. Another example is the child's song Old MacDonald Had a Farm , where each performance is distinctive in the animals named, their order, and their sounds. Songs such as this are used to express cultural values (farms are important, farmers are old and weather-beaten) and teach children about different domesticated animals. Verbal folklore

10989-512: The start, Bumba Meu Boi was created from people of mixed origins. This is significant because it cuts the festival from any racial ties. As it became more popular throughout northeastern communities in the 21st century, people began performing it for the entertainment of others, rather than merely for self-enjoyment. It was at this point that it evolved from a family affair to a communal one. This also made it more important within lower-class Brazilians' social lives, as it brought everyone together. By

11100-600: The state of Maranhão, subdivided in several sotaque . Each sotaque (which stands for "accent") has its own characteristics that are manifested in clothes, in the choice of instruments, in the type of cadence of music and in choreographies. The sotaques are: matraca, zabumba, orquestra, from the Baixada Maranhense, and costa de mão, that appear especially in the month of June, in the Festas Juninas , in places called Arraiais. It involves several characters as

11211-412: The study of a group: you can start with an identified group in order to explore its folklore, or you can identify folklore items and use them to identify the social group. Beginning in the 1960s, a further expansion of the concept of folk began to unfold through the study of folklore. Individual researchers identified folk groups that had previously been overlooked and ignored. One notable example of this

11322-405: The study of folklore is "concerned with the study of traditional culture, or the unofficial culture" that is the folk culture, "as opposed to the elite culture, not for the sake of proving a thesis but to learn about the mass of [humanity] overlooked by the conventional disciplines." Individual folklore artifacts are commonly classified as one of three types: material, verbal or customary lore. For

11433-470: The study of folklore. With the increasing theoretical sophistication of the social sciences , it has become evident that folklore is a naturally occurring and necessary component of any social group; it is indeed all around us. Folklore does not have to be old or antiquated; it continues to be created and transmitted, and in any group, it is used to differentiate between "us" and "them." Folklore began to distinguish itself as an autonomous discipline during

11544-420: The topic, there are "four functions to folklore": The folk of the 19th century, the social group identified in the original term "folklore" , was characterized by being rural, illiterate, and poor. They were the peasants living in the countryside, in contrast to the urban populace of the cities. Only toward the end of the century did the urban proletariat (on the coattails of Marxist theory) become included with

11655-478: The totality of their customs and beliefs as folklore. This distinction aligned American folkloristics with cultural anthropology and ethnology , using the same techniques of data collection in their field research. This divided alliance of folkloristics between the humanities in Europe and the social sciences in America offers a wealth of theoretical vantage points and research tools to the field of folkloristics as

11766-464: The turn of the 20th century, the number and sophistication of folklore studies and folklorists had grown both in Europe and North America. Whereas European folklorists remained focused on the oral folklore of the homogenous peasant populations in their regions, the American folklorists, led by Franz Boas and Ruth Benedict , chose to consider Native American cultures in their research, and included

11877-432: The use of symbolic language, and employing the subjunctive mood . In viewing the performance, the audience leaves the daily reality to move into a mode of make-believe, or "what if?" It is self-evident that this fits well with all types of verbal lore, where reality has no place among the symbols, fantasies, and nonsense of traditional tales, proverbs, and jokes. Customs and the lore of children and games also fit easily into

11988-688: The utility of the object. Before the Second World War , folk artifacts had been understood and collected as cultural shards of an earlier time. They were considered individual vestigial artifacts, with little or no function in the contemporary culture. Given this understanding, the goal of the folklorist was to capture and document them before they disappeared. They were collected with no supporting data, bound in books, archived and classified more or less successfully. The Historic–Geographic Method worked to isolate and track these collected artifacts, mostly verbal lore, across space and time. Following

12099-615: Was declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in December 2019. Many different origins of Bumba Meu Boi have been proposed. However, the most commonly believed one is from mid-18th-century Brazil lower-class communities that were left very little from the wealthy and forced to live dreadful lives. It was through these rough conditions that Bumba Meu Boi was born to bring joy to these deprived communities, as well as to provide men with an internal form of rebellion. These communities consisted of slaves and rural workers. So from

12210-437: Was enthusiastically embraced by smaller nations, like Finland, Estonia, and Hungary, which were seeking political independence from their dominant neighbors. Folklore, as a field of study, further developed among 19th-century European scholars, who were contrasting tradition with the newly developing modernity . Its focus was the oral folklore of the rural peasant populations, which were considered as residues and survivals of

12321-513: Was the original folklore , the artifacts defined by William Thoms as older, oral cultural traditions of the rural populace. In his 1846 published call for help in documenting antiquities, Thoms was echoing scholars from across the European continent to collect artifacts of verbal lore. By the beginning of the 20th century, these collections had grown to include artifacts from around the world and across several centuries. A system to organize and categorize them became necessary. Antti Aarne published

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