FOLK GROUPS AND THE LORE THAT DIVIDES AND BINDS THEM
Online talk presented by Dr Cassandra Pfeifer, followed by a Q&A with the audience.
In order for folklore to thrive, it needs someone to transmit the lore and find meaning in it. In this lecture, Dr. Cassandra Pfeifer presents on a fundamental driver of folklore transmission: folk groups. She will discuss how we form folk groups, move in and out of folk groups throughout life (both successfully and, often, awkwardly), and the functions folklore serves for folk groups. Folklore brings folk groups together in significant ways, bringing meaning to experiences and giving expression to immaterial beliefs and values. Folklore can also divide, sowing discord between groups with differing worldviews, belief systems, or ways of living. Dr. Pfeifer will end her lecture by discussing how knowledge of folklore and folk group dynamics can help us better empathize with people from groups to which we don’t belong.
This is a recording of a lecture delivered live online via Zoom.