Върху понятието и същността на народното творчество
On the Concept and Essence of Folklore

Summary/Abstract: A particularly lively discussion has been in progress in the socialist countries recently on the concept of folklore and its essence. The main question under discussion is whether folklore is a phenomenon characteristic only of past historical epochs and existing today solely in relics, aside from the main line of cultural development, or whether its development is also possible today. The criteria defining folklore brought forward so far are actually historically restricted. Such are, for instance, anonymity; creation among the people without exception; collectivism of the process; oral transmission by memory, and the variability linked with this; the popular humanistic content, and progressiveness. Considering them consecutively, the author declares against making these criteria absolute, which leads to a restricted and one-sided understanding of the essence of folklore. In his opinion the most essential criteria for determining the concept of folklore, which is historically variable and has many planes in a social, cultural, functional and aesthetic respect, is the element of the creative participation of the masses. This should also be considered in its historical contingency and development. The new elements in the present-day poetic creation of the people appeared under capitalism, but developed fully only after the mass of working people had liberated themselves from exploitation and oppression under the leadership of the working class and its revolutionary party. Higher forms of cultural productivity were adopted, new genres, new means of communication and distribution, etc. This process is an important component of the socialist cultural revolution and the transition from socialism to communism.

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