* Introduction to Folklore

* Three Levels of Culture
1. Popular or Mass Culture
2. Elite Culture
3. Folk Culture

** Popular or Mass Culture
_Mass media_ & mass produced; stuff that gets sold.

e.g., barbies, french fries, lotr

key characteristics:
+ Mass Produced
+ "Author", "Producer" - we know exactly who created it.
+ _Mass Media_
** Elite Culture
_Formal training_ and money, small audience

Classical Music, fine art

key characteristics:
+ Formally Schooled
+ Small percentage of population
+ Focus of the university
** Folk Culture
Sense of community, 

e.g. quilts

key characteristics:
+ Informally learned
+ Often traditional
+ Dynamic

+ Migrates
+ Multiple versions
+ Often learned in small groups

+ Anonymous or bears stamp of community
+ Funcional/Expressive
+ Structured

* Folklore
Folklore is the dynamic process of conveying informal knowledge and culture.

Folklore does not mean "old, untrue, or quaint" things!

** Digital Folk Culture
+ Grassroots
+ Not corporate
+ Gets reworked