I believe that we should embrace as folklore expressions of folk culture in all of its customary forms, but I am especially fond of and interested in expressions that remind me of from whence we come. Not to say, of course, that newer forms of folkloric expression are not exciting to see, or experience; and not to say that threads from the past to the present are not visible in newer forms of folkloric expression, especially for those looking closely.
Of course, even if those precise strands responsible for the feel of the past are not always identifiable, the past always seems present as part of the experience of enjoying folklore.I like folklore because I like that old time feel. But I wonder what of this reflects the romantic nostalgia of the cultural transplant once or twice removed? Even so, I like that old time feel.
I suppose that a wanting for the old time is also why it’s common in our region to hear reference to how them old people would say it, or maybe do it, and maybe this mix of nostalgia and functional connectedness is as good a marker as any for an ongoing acknowledgement of from whence we come. And even as new generations come along, and existing generations enter unsuspectingly into the old people generation of which they heard tell, there are maybe always older old people, and so it continues: New becoming old, and old becoming older; and with some past being ever-present as part of our expressions of folklore.
It’s important for each generation to appreciate, learn from and just remember the old, the old time. To keep in mind that the old was once new; that the new is more often than not a mix of both old and new; and that the new, even if really new, is just new for the relative blink of an eye.
But what of the new will stand the test of lasting to old time? What of this new will find expression to continue forward?
When experiencing folklore, especially something with that old time feel, ask yourself, even if rhetorically, what of the old is it that you feel, even if the folklore seems relatively new. When you experience, and enjoy, and reminisce, you are part of an important process of carrying forward to coming generations our folklore, our culture, or heritage, our pride.
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