“Culture is just… the way… a society works
and the traditions they’ve built.”- Ben
Q & A: Folklore and
Culture
When you hear the word “Folklore”
what do you think of?
“I think of unique stories, such as--
maybe Greek mythology or certain
characters that represent different
values.” – Lara (Croatia)
What Is Folklore?
“I would define folklore as cultural
stories passed down from generation to
generation that share a common set of
morals and/or beliefs.” – Lara (Croatia)
How would you define culture?
“It’s the heart of each nation, its origin,
the traditions.” – Safilleh (Chihuahua,
Mexico)
“Well… I know a lot about my culture
through… music-- and food-- but sometimes
(Slovenia) putting it into words is hard. For example,
something very traditional is… “El Día de
“Um… Like, I’d say culture is a part-- of…
Muertos” ... the dances of each state from the
who you are. And it’s-- Like different ethnic
country. There are also very ceremonial
groups inside of you-- that builds up this…
dances, the clothes… the costumes.”- Safilleh
kind of world around you. And I think that’s
(Chihuahua, Mexico)
what your culture is like, everything inside
that little world.”- Matt (Germany, Poland) Is there a difference in culture from your
region to the rest of your country?
What forms are there to represent or
pass down culture? “Um… just like anywhere else. They might
have the same culture but… like celebrate it
“There’s... verbal, like telling tales. I guess
differently. So most likely yes.”- Kevin (El
people can make books… or carve on rocks
Salvador)
for that matter [Small smile and giggle]. Same
Thing, and... I suppose artifacts… Like if my “I’m not really sure. All I can really say is that
dad gives me a sword from his dad… From there is an accent difference from the capital
his dad. That would be cool.” of Croatia and other parts of Croatia.”- Lara
(Croatia)
How much or what do you know about
the folklore of your culture?
“Ah… I know some. Well I know that in the
spring... There is a country wide tradition,
where everyone is supposed to dress up and
scare away the winter. That’s fun. I know…
There’s talk about vampires in Slovenia,
that’s cool.”- Ben (Slovenia)
“Yes there is a difference. It's marked by
the type of activity to survive, for
example. In the north cattle raising and
agriculture is more common. And in the
center and south of Mexico they are
more dedicated to fishing and also
agriculture.”- Safilleh (Chihuahua,
Mexico)
“Slovenia is very small, I guess if there’s
a small like, um... Separate group of
people, which I haven’t heard of. But the
majority of Slovenia is the same. Same
language, same culture.”- Ben (Slovenia)
What do you know about your
culture and its history?
“We were part of Yugoslavia. Became
our own country when THAT ended.
Before that we were part of the…
Vicentine empire, the capital is called
Constantinople or something… I
suppose. And… I guess Rome must
have started settling the area. Before that
it was mostly barbarians as they would
say, No real culture then.”- Ben
(Slovenia)
“I know that there was a long war
between the Ex-Yugoslavian nations as
they all fought for independence
because each country had separate
beliefs from the other. Croatia is mostly
catholic and uses the Roman alphabet…
while other Slavic countries, more
towards the south of that region could
be more Eastern Orthodox and use the
Cyrillic alphabet… Something I’ve
noticed about Croatian culture is that
outside. Their city life is crazy because the
town is always full of life-- and people will sit
in coffee shops for hours just talking to their
friends and no matter what time of day or
night, the city is always full of people. Meat is
also a big part of their cuisine as well as lots
of-- soupy dishes like grah, which is bean
soup… or kupus, which is a cabbage stew.”-
Lara (Croatia)
Are there stories or personal experiences
your parents or grandparents have shared
with you?
“Stories… well, the grandparents of MY
grandparents fought in wars. The
Revolutionary war of Mexico, and the war of
“Pancho Villa” in the 30’s.”- Safilleh
(Chihuahua, Mexico)
What is something you find very
interesting about your culture?
“That… that --the culture of Mexico is a very
well-known-- world widely known. Mostly
because of its gastronomy.”- Safilleh
(Chihuahua, Mexico)
“Slovenia is such a TINY country. Probably
smaller than Utah, if I had to guess. But it has
its own language. It does, Slovenian.”- Ben
(Slovenia)
What do you think is the most effective
form of folklore?
“I think the most effective form of folklore is
told from an older generation who heard it
from their family and so on. This just makes it
seem more personal and real… in a way.”-
“Well I think… from parents to kids, and
now I think it's more beneficial that there
really aren’t books. Things have now been
modernized and put into platforms which is
now easier and very visual. It’s now easier to
learn, to visualize it. So, I would say
visualization is the easiest form.”- Safilleh
(Chihuahua, Mexico)
“I think that the written form would
probably be the best way, because that’s the
one that stays the longest. But stories would
be probably the most interesting.”- Matt
(Germany, Poland)
Do you feel like there is a lack of
presented culture?
“Ummm… Yes and no. That’s a good
question there! For my case yes, cause my
mom didn’t tell me anything. But, for other
people. Because if you live down there
you’re most likely gonna know more. But,
then it really leads up to the parents. I feel
like if you’re outside where your family is
native to you’re most likely gonna not know.
So, yes”- Kevin (EL Salvador)
“Yes, I think that culture and traditions have
been lost because we are looking to the future.
Because of that future vision we don’t learn to
appreciate the past, like when the Tv and the
Internet didn’t bombard our daily lives and
activities. I do think we’ve lost a lot, although
there are a lot of people out there trying to
rescue all those values and lost beliefs and
cultures. But I really do think it is a very good
start when parents pass culture down to kids to
try and save that personal culture within
families, hopefully to preserve it from there