Childlore
Encyclopedia
Childlore is the folklore
or folk culture of children and young people. It includes, for example, rhyme
s and games played in the school playground. The best known researchers of the field were Peter and Iona Opie
.
The subject matter of childlore includes the traditions of children between the ages of about 6 and 14 such as games, riddles, rhymes, jokes, pranks, superstition
s, magical practices, wit
, lyrics
, guile, epithets, nicknames, torments, parody
, oral legislation, seasonal customs, tortures, obscenities, codes, gang lore
, etc as well as individual activities such as solitary play, daydream
ing, fantasies, imaginary companions and heroes, collections, scrapbooks, model worlds, comic reading, mass media interests, dramatizations, stories, art, etc.
As a branch of folklore, childlore is concerned with those activities which are learned and passed on by children to other children. The stories and games taught by adults to children are not considered childlore except insofar as the children adapt and make them their own. In western culture most folklorists are concerned with children after they join their peers in elementary school or kindergarten. The traditions of childhood generally stop after the child enters intermediate school, which coincides with puberty and adolescence.
Opie and Opie demonstrate that the culture of children is quite distinctive and is as unnoticed by the sophisticated world, and quite as little affected by it, as is the culture of some dwindling aboriginal tribe living out its helpless existence in the hinterland of a native reserve. Children tend to preserve ancient traditions.
Boys continue to crack jokes that Swift collected from his friends in Queen Anne
's time; they play tricks which lads used to play on each other in the heyday of Beau Brummel; they ask riddles which were posed when Henry VIII was a boy.
Young girls continue to perform a magic feat (levitation) according to Pepys. They learn to cure wart
s (and are successful in curing them) after the manner which Francis Bacon
learnt when he was young.
Opie points out that the words of one game had survived from the time of Nero
. The conservatism of childlore contrasts with the way adult folklore is rapidly modified to fit changing circumstances.
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
or folk culture of children and young people. It includes, for example, rhyme
Rhyme
A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds in two or more words and is most often used in poetry and songs. The word "rhyme" may also refer to a short poem, such as a rhyming couplet or other brief rhyming poem such as nursery rhymes.-Etymology:...
s and games played in the school playground. The best known researchers of the field were Peter and Iona Opie
Peter and Iona Opie
Iona Archibald Opie and Peter Mason Opie were a husband-and-wife team of folklorists, who applied modern techniques to children's literature, summarized in their studies, The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes and The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren...
.
The subject matter of childlore includes the traditions of children between the ages of about 6 and 14 such as games, riddles, rhymes, jokes, pranks, superstition
Superstition
Superstition is a belief in supernatural causality: that one event leads to the cause of another without any process in the physical world linking the two events....
s, magical practices, wit
Wit
Wit is a form of intellectual humour, and a wit is someone skilled in making witty remarks. Forms of wit include the quip and repartee.-Forms of wit:...
, lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
, guile, epithets, nicknames, torments, parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
, oral legislation, seasonal customs, tortures, obscenities, codes, gang lore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
, etc as well as individual activities such as solitary play, daydream
Daydream
A daydream is a visionary fantasy, especially one of happy, pleasant thoughts, hopes or ambitions, imagined as coming to pass, and experienced while awake. There are many types of daydreams, and there is no consistent definition amongst psychologists. The general public also uses the term for a...
ing, fantasies, imaginary companions and heroes, collections, scrapbooks, model worlds, comic reading, mass media interests, dramatizations, stories, art, etc.
As a branch of folklore, childlore is concerned with those activities which are learned and passed on by children to other children. The stories and games taught by adults to children are not considered childlore except insofar as the children adapt and make them their own. In western culture most folklorists are concerned with children after they join their peers in elementary school or kindergarten. The traditions of childhood generally stop after the child enters intermediate school, which coincides with puberty and adolescence.
Opie and Opie demonstrate that the culture of children is quite distinctive and is as unnoticed by the sophisticated world, and quite as little affected by it, as is the culture of some dwindling aboriginal tribe living out its helpless existence in the hinterland of a native reserve. Children tend to preserve ancient traditions.
Boys continue to crack jokes that Swift collected from his friends in Queen Anne
Anne of Great Britain
Anne ascended the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Act of Union, two of her realms, England and Scotland, were united as a single sovereign state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.Anne's Catholic father, James II and VII, was deposed during the...
's time; they play tricks which lads used to play on each other in the heyday of Beau Brummel; they ask riddles which were posed when Henry VIII was a boy.
Young girls continue to perform a magic feat (levitation) according to Pepys. They learn to cure wart
Wart
A wart is generally a small, rough growth, typically on a human’s hands or feet but often other locations, that can resemble a cauliflower or a solid blister. They are caused by a viral infection, specifically by human papillomavirus 2 and 7. There are as many as 10 varieties of warts, the most...
s (and are successful in curing them) after the manner which Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author and pioneer of the scientific method. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England...
learnt when he was young.
Opie points out that the words of one game had survived from the time of Nero
Nero
Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....
. The conservatism of childlore contrasts with the way adult folklore is rapidly modified to fit changing circumstances.
Further reading
- Franklin, Rosalind (2005). Baby Lore: Superstitions & Old Wives Tales From The World Over Related to Pregnancy, Birth & Babycare. Diggory Press, United Kingdom. ISBN 0951565540.