TRADIZIONI POPOLARI

FOLKLORE. — The term is also used to denote popular traditions; it was coined by the English archaeologist William J. Thoms (1803–85, better known by the pseudonym Ambrogio Merton) and appeared in the London journal *Athenaeum* (22 Aug. 1846). The word is composed of two Saxon elements: *folk* = people, and *lore* = knowledge; hence, literally, “the knowledge of the people.” It signifies both the study of popular traditions and the traditions themselves. Yet the term did not spread without contestation. The Germans, for instance, adopt *Volkskunde* and claim for Germany priority in coining the term, which first appears in 1808 in the celebrated work *Des Knaben Wunderhorn* by Arnim and Brentano. In France the term *folklore* has prevailed, though *traditions populaires* and, by some, *traditionnisme* have also been widely used; in Spain, alongside *folklore*, we find *saber popular*, in Greece *λεωγρασία*, etc.

In Italy various substitutes have been proposed and tried, such as *demopsicologia* (Imbriani, Carducci, and especially Pitrè), *etnografia* (Loria), *letteratura popolare*, *demologia* (Vidossi), *popolaresca* (Tolomei), *laografia*, etc. Yet the term *tradizioni popolari* has prevailed with regard to the subject matter, while *storia delle tradizioni popolari* denotes the discipline that studies them. Naturally, the use of these different terms is tied to the problem of defining the concept and limits of this science.

The study of the traditional life of the people, however, begins—as a simple “discovery” of the world of the humble—when artists and writers take an interest from the mid-16th century onward throughout the following century. In the 18th century it develops into curiosity and erudite research, finding in certain precursors the first broad theoretical outlines. Finally, with Romanticism, interest and admiration give way to genuine comparative studies of a scientific character. This is a European phenomenon, and in Italy—restricting ourselves to the literary sphere—the most significant signs of the “discovery” of artistic interest are furnished by popular tales taken up as narrative material by prose writers, such as those appearing in *Le piacevoli notti* of Straparola (first half of the 16th century), or those narrated in a style all their own yet perfectly faithful to the spirit of Neapolitan women of the 17th century that make up the *Pentamerone* of G. B. Basile (1575–1632), the first organic collection of fairy tales to appear in Europe and still one of the most important in the history of popular storytelling. Only sixty years later did the celebrated collection *Contes de ma mère l’oye* by Charles Perrault (1697) appear in France; the interest in fairy tales then triumphed in Paris during the 18th century, becoming a literary fashion.

Among the direct precursors and founders of the science of popular traditions may be reckoned Vico, for certain parts of the *Scienza nuova*, where many of those ideas already germinate that Romanticism would later champion—albeit with different terminology or more precise formulation—concerning the general concept of “the people” and the manifold values attributed to II.

But it was German Romanticism, and especially Herder, Goethe, and Bürger, that elevated popular poetry and literature to the highest aesthetic, political, and moral symbols, spurring ever more scientific collections and investigations. The methodological study of popular traditions is usually dated from the work of the brothers Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm, *Kinder- und Hausmärchen* (vol. 1, 1812; vol. 2, 1815; vol. 3, 1819–22, reprinted and translated many times into the principal languages), which, besides the collected texts, offers a comparative inquiry and a general interpretive theory. It is no wonder that the impulse given by Romanticism was felt most strongly in the study of popular literature—songs and fairy tales—and continued throughout the first half of the 19th century and beyond, stimulating in the principal nations of Europe—those of Slavic tongue included—a rich flourishing of collections and studies that served to highlight ever more the importance of popular life and its poetic expressions.

For Italy, the most significant work is that of Tommaseo with his great collection *Canti popolari toscani, corsi, illirici, greci* (4 vols., Venice 1841–42). The spirit of nationality, which played such a vital role in 19th-century European history, contributed as an animating force, especially in those countries lacking an ancient and rich literary tradition, and also aroused interest in customs and manners. In France, during the Napoleonic period, an official inquiry was promoted, its questionnaires prepared by the *Académie celtique* of Paris, especially through the efforts of J. A. Dulaure (cf. *Mémoires* of that Academy, vol. 1, 1808, pp. 72–86). The inquiry, conducted through the prefects of the various departments, was continued even after Napoleon, resulting in a copious and valuable collection of folkloric materials published in official annals and statistics. This inquiry was extended to the first Kingdom of Italy in the years 1809–11 with notable results. An effect of it may be seen in the work of Michele Placucci, *Usi e pregiudizi dei contadini della Romagna* (Forlì 1818): one of the first works, not only in Italy, to offer a systematic and precise picture of the popular traditions of a given region.

The study of popular traditions developed during the 19th century, acquiring an increasingly systematic character, also because—at least insofar as popular poetry and fairy tales are concerned—it was subsumed within the framework of one of the most advanced sciences, philology. Oral tradition was integrated with literary texts, and theories on the origin of fairy tales were formulated: the mythical theory of the brothers Grimm and of Max Müller (*Essay on comparative mythology*, Oxford 1856), and the Indianist theory of Benfey (1809–81), both of which were developed by numerous followers. From the Romantic phase of enthusiasm and somewhat fanciful theorizing, scholarship moved to the positivist phase and the historical method, where the search for sources and documents became a basic requirement and served for historical reconstruction and interpretation. For Italy it suffices to recall C. Nigra, D. Comparetti, and A. D’Ancona, with their many disciples and collaborators.

In the second half of the 19th century the horizons of popular traditions broadened, and in various nations the collection and elaboration of data intensified. The first scholarly societies were founded (the Folklore Society of London in 1878), the first specialized journals appeared, and there was ever more intense activity in gathering and systematizing materials. A representative figure of this second Pitrè (v.), whose multifaceted work reflects the principal orientations and constructive results, not only in Italy but across Europe. The study of popular traditions received a decisive impulse toward its definitive scientific affirmation from the development of ethnography, especially through the English anthropological school, which, despite its predominantly naturalistic approach, also encompassed the manifestations of the moral and cultural world of primitive peoples. Precisely from the investigation of the relationships and correspondences between the customs, beliefs, and practices of primitives and those of the common people in civilized nations did folklore gain valuable insights and reveal its full character. Among the most significant works of this school one may recall: *Primitive Culture* (1st ed.

Primitive traditions (t. p.) have been explained, albeit with differing interpretations according to various authors, also by drawing on the correspondences they find in living primitive traditions (t. p.) still extant in different nations. Research extends to the origins of fairy tales and especially to the similarity of motifs and themes among fairy tales from the most distant lands, highlighting the close affinity of conceptions and customs among primitive peoples and the fundamental identity of the human spirit manifested in the shared gifts of imagination and inventiveness.

The development of the English anthropological school, which has shaped scientific activity in this field even outside England, particularly in America, was prepared and accompanied by the works of some German scholars, such as *Mensch in der Geschichte* by A. Bastian (1859) and *Antike Wald- und Feldkulte* by W. Mannhardt (1876). Bastian’s doctrines on the “elementary ideas” common to all peoples and the “ethnic” ones peculiar to individuals led to the admission that identical forms of culture can arise anywhere, blossoming into the evolutionary thesis of an almost inevitable development of primitive civilizations outside any historical connection” (Vidossi). These doctrines were surpassed thanks to objective investigations conducted by numerous researchers from different scientific currents, foremost among them that led by Fr. W. Schmidt, the results of which, while concerning etiology, are also fruitful in the field of primitive traditions.

A notable impetus also came from the development of sociology, because primitive traditions have their natural element and raison d’être in the life of associated communities. Folklore, therefore, is understood by some scholars, such as the French A. Van Gennep and the Belgian A. Marinus, as part of a sociological system. The fruitful aspect of this approach lies in considering tradition as a unifying and essential element of folklore and conceiving it as a perennial activity, not merely as a survival or fragment of antiquity. It was Marinus who coined the formula “le folk-lore est immortel,” while Van Gennep, with his *Manuel de folklore français contemporain* (published serially since 1937; eight large volumes have appeared so far), offers a model of systematic collection and comparative interpretation of primitive traditions in a major nation. Even if, at the root of his theoretical principles, residues of now outdated naturalistic conceptions can be found, in the reality of its application, this monumental work demonstrates the importance and value of folkloric science.

Thus, we arrive at the various and sometimes conflicting currents that confront or complement one another in contemporary folklore. It was mainly the German F. Naumann, in *Grundzüge der deutschen Volkskunde* (1921), who revised the concept of primitive traditions, emphasized the influence exerted by the culture of the upper classes, and affirmed the need to distinguish, within folklore, between “decadent learned material” of individual origin and that which he considers primitive and therefore collective. In this way, Naumann believed he could reconcile the contrast between ethnology understood in a naturalistic sense and the history of culture, a contrast that is instead overcome and annulled in the modern historical-cultural conception of ethnology. Following the path he opened, the Swiss E. Hofmann-Krayer deepened and critically modified some aspects of Naumann’s theories, emphasizing the fundamental importance of creations and innovations due to individuals even in the humblest strata, and characterizing the phenomenon of the assimilation of a given form of life by the community.

The recent development of general linguistic theories has also favorably influenced the clarification of the concept of primitive traditions. The two Russian scholars P. Bogatyrev and R. Jakobson, in their essay *Die Folklore als eine besondere Form des Schaffens* (1929), starting from the distinction established by De Saussure between *langue* and *parole* (the former understood as a social fact and the latter as individual expression), highlight that innovations or

We have thus arrived at the various and sometimes conflicting currents that confront or integrate one another in today’s folklore. It is chiefly due to the German scholar F. Naumann, in his *Grundzüge der deutschen Volkskunde* (1921), that the concept of popular traditions has been revised, the influence exerted by the culture of the upper classes has been highlighted, and the need to distinguish within folklore between “decadent learned material,” of individual origin, and that which he considers primitive and therefore collective has been asserted. In this way, Naumann believes he can reconcile the contrast between ethnology understood in a naturalistic sense and the history of culture, a contrast which, however, is overcome and annulled in the modern historical-cultural conception of ethnology. Along the path he opened, the Swiss scholar E. Hofmann-Krayer moved forward, critically deepening and thus modifying some aspects of Naumann’s theories, emphasizing the fundamental importance of creations and innovations due to individuals even in the humblest strata, and characterizing the phenomenon of the assimilation of a given form of life by the community.

The recent development of general linguistic theories has also favorably influenced the clarification of the concept of popular traditions. The two Russian scholars P. Bogatyrev and R. Jakobson, in their essay *Die Folklore als eine besondere Form des Schaffens* (1929), starting from the distinction established by De Saussure between *langue* and *parole* (the former understood as a social fact and the latter as an individual expression), emphasize that innovations or creations in folklore are always the work of individuals, even if they are later accepted by the community. This leads to the formula “vulgus in populo” proposed by Hoffmann-Krayer, and to the name “laography” given to the science, with reference to *laos* = common people rather than to *demos* = people. Consequently, folklore is also conceived as a chapter of ethnography, namely as “ethnography of the common people” (Corso) or as “the study of the common people in modern civilized nations” (Pettazzoni). However, especially by German scholars, it has been noted that folklore is found in every social stratum, that it is not possible to draw clear divisions between the various classes, and that therefore the formula “vulgus in populo” appears inadequate, uncertain, and too narrow. An attempt is therefore made to use as a delimiting principle a certain mentality defined as “associative,” which finds correspondence in Croce’s concept of psychological tone.

Even on the basis of this principle, the majority of the most qualified scholars, in France as in Italy, in Germany as in Switzerland and elsewhere, have always included in folklore both popular literature and the complex of customs and usages, beliefs and prejudices. The bond that, in the reality of life, unites folkloric facts, oral literature, and “objective traditions” into an indivisible whole is constituted by the functional character of popular poetry, always indissolubly linked to the forms of life of the common people and, as a rule, used for practical purposes. This unitary character then finds its first and deepest reason in the fact that all aspects of popular traditions are manifestations of a single spiritual force proper to human social life and necessary for the preservation and development of civilization. Therefore, considered in its essence, popular tradition reveals itself as a perennial spiritual force of associated groups, which, through the work of the most suitable individuals, creates, preserves, and transmits those forms of practical, aesthetic, and moral life that are necessary and congenial to the groups themselves, while renewing or eliminating those that are dead and outdated.

The study of the manifestations of these forces and the investigation of the norms that govern them constitute the object of the science of popular traditions and confer upon it full autonomy. Far from being a mere chapter of ethnography, it thus presents itself, alongside the history of language, of religions, of legal institutions, etc., as a branch of the history of human civilization.

Its principal manifestations can then be indicated with the words of Pitrè: “Fairy tales and fables, stories and legends, proverbs and sayings, songs and melodies, riddles and puzzles, spectacles and festivals, customs and usages, rites and ceremonies, practices, beliefs, superstitions, whims—an entire visible and hidden world of reality and imagination moves and stirs, smiles and weeps for those who know how to approach and understand it.” From what has been said above, the relationships that the study of popular traditions has with other sciences are evident: with linguistics, for general problems and for that section which considers “words and things” together; with the history of religions, inasmuch as the entire traditional life is permeated with religiosity; with psychology, for certain manifestations of the mentality and psychological tone of the common people; with prehistory and archaeology, with literary history, the history of art and music, of law, of natural sciences, of pedagogy, etc., for their constant and reciprocal influences.

As for the method of study, it can be reduced to two main phases: the first of collection and description, the second of interpretation. For collection, one of the working tools that, if well used, proves very useful is constituted by questionnaires, lists of questions prepared and ordered in relation to the purpose of the research. Many such have been compiled by societies and committees as well as by individual scholars; those of Van Gennep are cited as models. For the documentation of customs, festivals, scenes of life, etc., the widest possible use of modern technical means is recommended: photography, cinema, sound recording, sound film. An effective complement is provided by cartographic representation (Van Gennep), which reaches its most complex and perfect form in demological atlases, where the principal folkloric facts are represented using the same methods as linguistic atlases. That for the folklore of Germany has already been completed; that for Switzerland is in the process of compilation; for Italy

POPULAR TRADITIONS — Construction of a spinning wheel — Saint-Véran (Hautes-Alpes).

it is in preparation. The most important Italian collection of popular traditions is the *Tradizioni popolari delle regioni d’Italia* (14 vols., Milan, Trevisini). It was Benedetto Croce who introduced the concept of psychological tone to characterize popular poetry, a concept that has proved fruitful in its application to all other forms of popular art and to folklore in general. Some of his doctrines in the field of historiography have provided new theoretical foundations for a strict historical conception of ethnology and of popular traditions. His studies on Basile and on popular literature are also noteworthy.

The principal orientations and results of international folkloristic science have been absorbed, after critical scrutiny, and utilized for original studies by some eminent scholars, among whom Giuseppe Vidossi and Raffaele Corso stand out: the latter, with his treatise *Folklore* (1st ed. 1923; 4th ed. 1953), with the journal *Il Folklore italiano* (since 1924), with his university teaching in ethnography, and with important works, has given valuable impetus to the study of popular traditions on an ethnographic basis. But a new generation is now emerging, favored in its work by the recent establishment of chairs in the history of popular traditions at the Universities of Rome (Toschi), Palermo (Cocchiara), and Catania (Naselli). A course on popular poetry is also held, following the method of Barbi, at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa (Santoli and Vidossi), where the edition of the “Raccolta Barbi” is being prepared.

As regards the domain of folklore, apart from the Russian school which restricts it to "oral literature," a similar approach is taken by Finnish scholars, whose work is nonetheless highly meritorious; and the American A. Haggerty Krappe aligns with them (*The science of folk-lore*, London 1930). The English school conceives of folklore, according to evolutionist-anthropological doctrines, as the primitive history of humanity, reducing such history to certain primordial psychic attitudes, so that it does not delimit its field in relation to ethnography. A recent school that has emerged in France, led by A. Varagnac, treats it as a branch of the new science called *archéocivilisation*, framed within prehistory and archaeology.

On the other hand, there are also divergences regarding the meaning and scope of the word "people," with folklore being recognized as most proper to the lower classes, the common folk.

A systematic program was outlined by Vidossi. Such atlases are also a highly valuable tool for comparison and interpretation. The Finnish method has rendered notable service to the study of popular literature, so called because it was devised and applied by Finnish scholars, among whom Julius and Kaarle Krohn were the first. Based on geographical-historical research, this method aims to trace folktales (and similarly popular songs and other folkloric phenomena) in their complex development, to establish the characteristic forms of each area of diffusion, and, through the characteristic forms of each area, to arrive at the archetypes—assuming these compositions to be the work of a single author.

The application of folkloric geography to popular song received fresh impetus from R. Menéndez Pidal; in this line of research, one may also include the transfer of the areal linguistic norms formulated by Matteo Bartoli into the field of popular poetry and folklore in general. The interpretive study of a folkloric phenomenon, carried out through comparison and historical documentation, seeks to establish its original character, its spheres of diffusion, innovations, and adaptations across time and space, in form and meaning, in order to achieve a full understanding that situates it within the general conceptions that inspire it and within the current of social life in which it moves.

Of great assistance to the development of studies in popular traditions are the folkloric and ethnographic museums established in various countries with national and regional character, especially in northern Europe. In Sweden, the Nordiska Museet was founded as early as 1872; of great cultural and social importance is the open-air museum in Stockholm, founded in 1908 by Azelius. Following the same principles, the Norsk Folkemuseum in Oslo was established for Norway, as well as those in Arnhem in the Netherlands and others. Notable for the richness of their collections are the National Museum in Helsinki, the Museum für Völkerkunde and the Museum of Industrial Art in Berlin, the Deutsches Museum in Munich, and the Museum für Volkskunde in Vienna. Museums of great interest also exist in Antwerp and Liège for Belgium; Basel for Switzerland; Warsaw and Cracow for Poland; Prague, Luhačovice, and Brno for Czechoslovakia; Ljubljana, Zagreb, and Split for Yugoslavia; Cluj for Romania; Salonika and Athens for Greece; Madrid for Spain; and Lisbon for Portugal. For Italy, the Museum of Italian Ethnography, founded by Lamberto Loria and his collaborators, boasts valuable collections with over 35,000 objects (temporarily housed at the Villa d'Este in Tivoli). Among regional museums, the Museum of Sicilian Ethnography in Palermo, founded by Pitrè and reorganized by Cocchiara, stands out; others have been established in Forlì, La Spezia, Tolmezzo, and Bolzano.

Of capital importance are the specialized journals, the principal ones being in England: *Folk-lore* (since 1889); France: *Mélusine* (1877–87, briefly resumed in 1897), *La tradition* (1888–98), *Revue des traditions populaires* (1886–1923), and *Nouvelle revue des traditions populaires* (recently resumed); Germany: *Zeitschrift für Volkskunde* (since 1891); Poland: *Lud* (since 1895); Austria: *Österreichische Zeitschrift für Volkskunde*; Switzerland: *Schweizerisches Archiv für Volkskunde* (Basel); Spain: *Revista de dialectologia y tradiciones populares*; America: *Journal of American Folk-lore* (Philadelphia), *Western Folk-lore* (Los Angeles), and of international character, *Folk-liv* (Stockholm) and *Journal of the International Folk-music Council* (London); for Italy: *Archivio per la raccolta e lo studio delle tradizioni popolari*, edited by Pitrè and S. Salomone-Marino (1882–1907); *Rivista delle tradizioni popolari italiane*, edited by A. De Gubernatis (1893–95); *Lares* (1st series, edited by Loria and Novati, 1912–15; 2nd series, edited by P. Toschi, since 1930); *Il Folklore italiano*, edited by R. Corso since 1925, later titled *Folkore*; as well as other minor and regional publications: *Il Giambattista Basile*, *Ce fastu*, *La Piè*, etc.

Despite differences in motives and approaches, and sometimes outright contrasts in direction, it must be acknowledged that studies in popular traditions are flourishing everywhere. This activity is reflected in the *Volkskundliche Bibliographie*, edited by E. Hoffmann-Krayer and P. Geiger, published periodically in Berlin since 1919, now resumed after the interruption caused by the war. — *See* plate XLIII.

**POPULAR TRADITIONS** – Sardinian bread prepared for special occasions.