Why in news?

The campus of Dravidian University echoed with the performance of artisans from various parts of South India, marking the World Folklore Day celebrations.

Highlights:

• The rural side of India is replete with rich oral, literary, historical, and cultural entities of fine arts, giving a prominent place to folklore tradition. The Dravidian University has always been at the forefront to institutionalize the importance of folklore by creating a separate department for the studies

History:

• The term ‘folklore’ was first coined on August 22, 1846, when William John Thoms combined the words ‘folk’ and ‘lore.’ He defined the word as the “traditional knowledge of a people.” Because of this, countries worldwide chose to celebrate their folklore and folk traditions on August 22 every year.

• After a gap of one century, the American literary associations brought back the glory and legacy of “folklore” in 1946 through their publications.“