Folklore as an Historical Science

Folklore as an Historical Science

If I have essayed to do in this book what should have been done by one of the masters of the science of folkloreMr. Frazer, Mr. Lang, Mr. Hartland, Mr. Clodd, Sir John Rhys, and othersI hope it will not be put down to any feelings of self-sufficiency on my part. I have greatly dared because no one of them has accomplished, and I have so acted because I feel the necessity of some guidance in these matters, and more particularly at the present stage of inquiry into the early history of man. I have thought I could give somewhat of that guidance because of my comprehension of its need, for the comprehension of a need is sometimes half-way towards supplying the need. My profound belief in the value of folklore as perhaps the only means of discovering the earliest stages of the psychological, religious, social, and political history of modern man has also entered into my reason for the attempt. Many years ago I suggested the necessity for guidance, and I sketched out a few of the points involved (Folklore Journal, ii. 285, 347; iii. 1-16) in what was afterwards called by a friendly critic a sort of grammar of folklore. The science of folklore has advanced far since 1885 however, and not only new problems but new ranges of thought have gathered round it. Still,[Pgxii] the claims of folklore as a definite section of historical material remain not only unrecognised but unstated, and as long as this is so the lesser writers on folklore will go on working in wrong directions and producing much mischief, and the historian will judge of folklore by the criteria presented by these writerswill judge wrongly and will neglect folklore accordingly. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 21852
Author: Gomme, George Laurence
Release Date: Jun 18, 2007
Format: eBook
Language: English