ফোকলোরের ভূমিকা চতুষ্টয় Four Functions of Folklore মূল : উইলিয়াম আর. বাসকম

Abstract

This major article by American folklorist and anthropologist William R. Bascom (1912-1981) was first published in "The Journal of American Folklore", vol. 67, No. 226 (Oct.-Dec., 1954), pp. 333-349. Bascom, here, argues that folklore can serve four primary functions in a culture: 1. folklore can help people to escape from repressions imposed upon them by society; 2. folklore validates culture, justifying its rituals and institutions to those who perform and observe them; 3. as a pedagogic device, folklore develops morals and values and builds wit; and 4. folklore is a means of applying social pressure and exercising social control. Bascom also mentions that these four functions can be classified differently and subdivided into various factors. But the most important thing, he refers, that different types of folklore can share similar function. Besides, it is equally important to realize that any one item of folklore may have several different functions. Functional data must, therefore, be recorded from the social context when the item is collected.