folklorists
Traditional tale experts
Folklorists are scholars who study folklore—the traditional beliefs, customs, stories, songs, and practices passed down within communities.
They collect and analyze oral traditions, myths, legends, and rituals: Folklorists recorded the region's vanishing ballads before the last singers died.
The field overlaps with anthropology and cultural studies.
Traditional oral narratives
- legendsTraditional stories or icons
- mythsTraditional untrue narratives
- fablesDidactic animal stories
- epicsLong heroic narratives
sagas · ballads · proverbs · riddles · motifs · archetypes · storytelling
Hereditary oral historians
- bardsPoet-musicians of old
- storytellersPeople who narrate tales
- minstrelsItinerant medieval performers
- puppetryManipulating figures for shows
recitation · improvisation · transmission · repertoire · ethnomusicology · chanters
Formal observances with ritual
- rites-of-passageCeremonies marking life transitions
- festivalsOrganized communal celebrations
- customsTraditional practices or import taxes
- observancesCustomary practices or ceremonies
superstitions · charms · incantations · divination · carnival · masquerade · processions · pilgrimages
Systematic study of peoples
- informantsPeople providing secret intelligence
- oral-historyRecorded firsthand accounts
- documentationWritten proof or instructions
- archivesStored historical documents
transcription · interviews · collection · annotation · preservation · cataloguing · classification · methodology
Traditional community craftsmanship
- handicraftsManually created decorative objects
- textilesWoven or knit materials
- potteryFired clay objects
- woodcarvingSculpting in timber
basketry · embroidery · quilting · costume · masks · instruments · amulets · artisans
folktales
Traditional oral narratives
epics · sagas · ballads · proverbs · riddles · motifs · archetypes · storytelling
griots
Hereditary oral historians
- bardsPoet-musicians of old
- storytellersPeople who narrate tales
- minstrelsItinerant medieval performers
puppetry · recitation · improvisation · transmission · repertoire · ethnomusicology · chanters
ceremonies
Formal observances with ritual
- rites-of-passageCeremonies marking life transitions
- festivalsOrganized communal celebrations
- customsTraditional practices or import taxes
observances · superstitions · charms · incantations · divination · carnival · masquerade · processions · pilgrimages · death-rites
ethnography
Systematic study of peoples
- informantsPeople providing secret intelligence
- oral-historyRecorded firsthand accounts
- documentationWritten proof or instructions
archives · transcription · interviews · collection · annotation · preservation · cataloguing · classification · methodology · vernacular
folk-art
Traditional community craftsmanship
- handicraftsManually created decorative objects
- textilesWoven or knit materials
- potteryFired clay objects
woodcarving · basketry · embroidery · quilting · costume · masks · instruments · amulets · artisans · symbolism
- storytellersstorytellers, narrator, narrators, tale-teller, tale spinner
- academicsprofessor, course, university professors, math, professors
- biographiesbiography, biographies, autobiography, autobiographies, memoir
- guardiansguardian angel, protector, protectors, guardians, keeper
- notablesleaders, celebrities, dignitary, rulers, VIPs
- Caribbean Notablesnational heroes, independence leaders, political leaders, prime ministers, cultural icons
folkloristscourt historians
Scholars recording royal affairs
chroniclers · archivists · paleographers · historians · historiographers
folkloristsart historians
Scholars of visual culture
musicologists · classicists · literary critics · classical scholars · aestheticians