ABSTRACT
The rhetoric of “fieldwork” in historic tomes of folklore might give the impression that the few remaining precious nuggets of folklore are mined in the deepest, darkest recesses of the earth. Or that folklore blasts into global consciousness only on special, often exoticized occasions such as Mardi Gras, Day of the Dead, and the Pamplona Bull Run. The likelihood, however, is that if you listen closely, folklore is evident in most conversations you hold. You pepper daily speech with slang, sayings, and humor. In greeting and parting, you probably utter familiar words accompanied by gestures such as a handshake, slap, bow, nod, wave, hug, or kiss. The actions are contextualized as traditional in different settings, including the corporate office, family reunion, and theater stage. You can also watch for social and material evidence of tradition that can be called folklore. A gold band on someone’s left hand might signal the status of being married. You could also see passersby wearing headcovering indicating ethnic-religious, occupational, or age identity: hijab (headscarf worn by Muslim women), kippah or yarmulke (Hebrew and Yiddish terms, respectively, for skullcap or headcovering worn usually by Jews), “plain cap” (fabric headcovering worn by Old Order Mennonite and Amish women), “dixie cup” hat (white canvas with an upright brim worn by sailors in the United States),
African headwrap (colorful fabric shaped into a vertical bundle), and baseball cap (soft cap with a rounded crown, often with an embroidered insignia, and stiff front peak worn by many Americans).
