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Author’s Background
The article The Folklore of Small Things: Tradition in Group Culture was written by Gary Alan Fine and published in the Western Folklore journal in 2018. Gary Alan Fine is an American sociologist and author of various publications. Small groups and their folklore is one of the leading scientific interests of his studies. Fine has analyzed diverse modern niche communities united by one common activity or interest, such as teams of Dungeons and Dragons players, restaurant workers, high school policy debaters, and even mushroom hunters. In particular, Gary Alan Fine contributed to the understanding of the role of rumor, their transmission, and the development of urban legends (Fine and Corte 64). Therefore, his studies investigate the connections between social culture and culture in general. Besides that, the author worked on the topic of the social and historical reputation of different historical personalities, including Vladimir Nabokov, Henry Ford, and others. The article chosen for critique discusses that interactions in small groups consequently lead to the creation of local folklore.
The Reason for Choosing this Article
One of the reasons why the article The Folklore of Small Things: Tradition in Group Culture by Gary Alan Fine interested me is because it involves modern implications of folklore studies. It is fascinating to learn about the folklore traditions of different peoples and groups. The legacy of art and culture is interesting by itself. However, I was always fond of finding common patterns in folklore traditions and the effects it has on the social culture and interactions between the members of the group. Therefore, this article suited my interests and expanded my understanding of how folklore affects group culture.
Summary of the Article
In the article, the author traces how local group culture contributes to the continuation of culture in general. He criticizes the approach of researchers that do not distinguish between the role and dynamics of folklore in face-to-face types of groups and in large populations. One of the theses expressed by Gary Alan Fine is that in order to understand the true nature of folklore and its implications, it is crucial to understand the folklore in context. This is because folklore, by Fine’s definition, is a form of practice linked to local understandings and building on personal relations (Fine 7). Therefore, the author does not specify any particular type of folklore because the article focuses on the way folklore, in general, is used as an instrument for communicating ideas and beliefs that unite a small group of people. The article encompasses the effects of both contextual verbal art and material art, which gains value from the group context.
In order to prove that folklore is linked to societies, political movements, subcultures, and networks, Gary Alan Fine, provides examples from the studied small groups such as Japanese bikers, American opera lovers, bureaucrats, and others (Fine 7). In these groups, folklore serves as a powerful instrument of social engagement and social identification. Moreover, small groups are more likely to create and perform folklore in its various forms.
The author is experienced in the field of local folklore and applies his own theories and concepts, which were developed prior to writing this article. As such, Gary Alan Fine refers to the mechanism, which allows members of the group to recognize other members once the shared culture is established. This mechanism involves a background culture, which is the scope of traditions already known to its members. Shared culture encompasses a usable culture, which refers to the moral standards and principles of group interactions (Fine 9). Finally, there is a functional culture, which includes the instrumental goals of participants. Therefore, an article provides a summary of observations, literature review on the topic.
Folklore provides the opportunity to create a self-aware community that understands its own distinctive feature, fosters a sense of belongingness and safety. Not all small groups are resourceful enough to develop materialistic folklore, which can be studied. However, Fine emphasizes that there are more accessible forms of folklore, which can be found in almost all distinctive communities. One of the examples of such folklore form is humor. Humor is based on verbal jokes, which do not require any space to perform; they can refer to participants’ shared past and serve as a topic of conversation (Fine 17). Interactions based on jokes differentiate the groups as they can be considered normal fun for members of one group but can be offensive to the members of other groups.
Hence, firstly, the article The Folklore of Small Things: Tradition in Group Culture investigates the role of folklore in small groups. Secondly, it argues that small face-to-face communities are the ones that are the most reliant on the creation and performance of folklore in one form or another. Local folklore is instrumental in enhancing social engagement, creating group identity, and differentiating members of one community from members of other communities (Fine 12). There were no surveys of primary source analysis in the article, as it provides a summary based on a literature review, observation, and utilization of concepts and theories developed by the author over the course of his academic career.
Limitations of the Article
Some of the limitations of this article include confirmation bias. Readers, who are interested in the topic of social culture and its relation to folklore, could feel that the argument presented in the article is somewhat one-sided. I could agree with the theses of the author that folklore for small groups is more relevant and is practiced more often from the beginning of the article. However, the abovementioned statement was not criticized, and the opposite point of view was not provided, which would be interesting to read. The author addressed other studies, which confirmed his initial statement, and it broadened my perspective on the issue.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the article The Folklore of Small Things: Tradition in Group Culture by Gary Alan Fine serves as a good starting point for a further investigation of the matter. The introduction of works of other researchers as well as mentioning and applying concepts and theories such as localism, collaborative circles, and idiocultures fosters the interest in the subject. The author does a great job of providing vivid examples of the groups he has studied for research. As for key takeaways from this article, it is crucial to mention the relevance of the context in which the folklore is created and performed. According to the context, folklore can be evaluated as the source of social engagement, group culture, and identification. It is the face-to-face groups, which contribute to the creation and practice of both materialistic and verbal folklore. In instances where the community is not as resourceful to create materialistic art, the occurrence of spoken folklore such as humor and jokes is inevitable. It provides group members the opportunity to emphasize their common backgrounds and values.
Works Cited
Fine, Gary Alan. “The folklore of small things: tradition in group culture.” Western Folklore, 2018, 5-27.
Fine, Gary Alan, and Ugo Corte. “Group pleasures: Collaborative commitments, shared narrative, and the sociology of fun.” Sociological Theory vol. 35 no. 1, 2017, 64-86.
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