ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses folk or folklore in the context of the advancement of science seems somewhat paradoxical. Folk as an old fashioned segment living on the margins of civilization was and for that matter is equated to the concept of peasant. The way in which folk occupied a kind of middle ground between the civilized elite and the uncivilized ‘savage’ can be perceived in the emphasis placed upon a single culture trait, the ability to read and write. With respect to the folklore produced or inspired by industrialization, Marxist folklorists have made a useful contribution. They saw that the concept of folk had to include both peasant and proletariat, that is, folk in the country and folk in the city. Folklorists have rarely sought to ascertain just how many individuals in a folk group actually know and use a particular item of folklore.
