My blog was established in conjunction with my participation in FOLK-F121 "World's Arts and Cultures" at Indiana University, Fall 2007.

Sunday, September 30, 2007

When I saw that our reflection question was about folk groups, I realized that I wasn’t sure what even qualified as a folk group. So many questions ran through my head. Can any group be a folk group? Does there have to be a specific number of people? Then I read that a folk group is essentially any group of two or more people who share a common factor (35). This is a vague way to think of folk groups, so then I went to look for how they form and start. The book lists five main ways that folk groups form: necessity, obligation or circumstance, proximity, regular interaction, or shared interest or skill (38). I have a specific group of people that I play volleyball with every week. This folk group was formed when we all met freshman year in a volleyball tournament that Teter dormitory was hosting. We liked the way each other played, and decided to form a group that gets together every week and plays volleyball for a few hours. According to the book, we formed because of a shared interest or skill (38).

Another important aspect about of folk groups is being able to identify yourself as a part of that group. According to our book, sometimes we choose groups that express the identity we want to create for ourselves, rather than find groups that express the identity we already have (41). I remember when I was younger I badly wanted to associate myself with my best friend’s religion, Lutheran. I wanted to be like her, so I felt that I needed to start going to her church, instead of my Catholic church. I now realize that the group that expressed the identity that I already had was Catholicism. Now I freely identify myself with the Catholic Church.

This blog entry is my response to Reflection Questions for Chapter 2.Sims, Martha C., and Martine Stephens. Living Folklore An Introduction to the Study of People and Their Traditions. Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press, 2005