Folklore as a Part of My Life

According to Sims and Stephens, folklore is a form of knowledge that learned and transmitted in an informal setting and is an expression of values and beliefs that can take a multiplicity of forms. This expression is transmitted as an expression of one’s life experiences in the form of the arts and other mediums of communication (Sims and Stephens, p. 7-8). Based on this concept, one expression of folklore that is important to me within the context of my everyday life is family stories, particularly stories of my ancestors, within my immediate and extended relatives. Though the reminiscing of events relating to my ancestors is present on both sides of my family, my mother’s side abounds with tales of the past. Many stories are often recounted about my German ancestors who lived in rural parts of upstate New York during the nineteenth century. Such stories include the realities of having an agrarian lifestyle, accounts of serving in the Union Army during the Civil War, and other anecdotes relating to the interaction of the particular personalities of my ancestors and their contacts outside of the family. Some of these stories are quite humorous, such as how my great-great-great grandmother would begin preparations for a meal by walking to the hen house and grab two chickens by the neck and would then proceed to kill them by swinging them and hitting their bodies against the side of the coop. In contrast, some of the stories were rather unpleasant, such as haw my great-great-great grandfather was wounded in the ankle at the Battle of the Wilderness, and that his wound never truly healed. Until his death, nearly sixty years after he received the wound, he had to dress his ankle each day due to how it would ooze from a seemingly perpetual infection. In addition to these anecdotes, many other facets of my ancestry have been verbally transmitted through successive generations. These include many words that are German in origin. For example, members of my immediate and extended family all use the word “gwensch,” which is intended to mean “to squeeze,” when speaking to kin. This word “gwensch” actually is derived from the German word “quetschen,” which does in fact mean “to squeeze or to grasp.”

The primary reason why these ancient family anecdotes and unusual words are of a great importance to me is due to the fact that they have allowed my entire family to feel great ties to their past, and ultimately to have a better understanding of themselves. In addition to this, these common tales of ancestors allow for the creation of a sort of identity shared by the extended family that is the result of established social ties.

This blog entry is my response to the Chapter One Reflection Question.