A népművészet mítosza
The Myth of Folk Art

Summary/Abstract: The term folk art is an undefined concept in ethnographic literature. The purpose of this study is to shed light on the context of the term's origin. In Central Europe, interest in the culture of the common people, meaning the peasantry, is linked to the emergence of the nation-state idea. Toward the end of the 19th century, an evolutionary approach became dominant in both history and social history, and the emerging field of ethnography followed this trend. In the simple forms of peasant culture, researchers could find "documents" from older historical periods. In the late 19th century, home industry movements were launched. Their goal was to produce industrial goods that didn't require capital but utilized folk knowledge. Recognizing this potential, the state supported the teaching of home industries and their application in the applied arts for decades. This resulted in movements like Hungarian Art Nouveau and, later, Art Deco.At the end of the 19th century, research focusing on ornamentation elevated the decorative elements of objects in peasant use. The result was the birth of the term folk art, which is a value category without concrete content.

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