It has become something of a truism in folklore studies that until recently the lore was more often studied than the folk.
Topic
The evolving approach of folklore studies, especially regarding women folk performers and the greater focus on context and the performers themselves.
Framework
Old / New
Main Point
Folklore studies used to focus mostly on the folklore itself and often overlooked women performers, but lately the field emphasizes the people behind the folklore—especially women performers—and considers folklore in the context of their lives and cultures. (The Most Valuable Sentence appears in P1: )
P1: Shift in Folklore Studies' Focus
Until recently, folklorists mainly studied the folklore (songs, tales, proverbs) instead of the people who perform them, but since the 1970s there's been a new emphasis on the creativity of folk performers themselves—especially women.
P2: Historical Overlook of Women & Recent Changes in Study
In the past, folklorists mostly collected women's folklore on limited topics and typically preferred men's versions of stories. But now, women performers are being featured more centrally in research and textbooks, as seen in recent academic literature.
P3: Changes in Scholarly Treatment of Women Performers
While a few women folk performers got scholarly attention as early as 1903, those works mostly listed their repertoires. Recent studies are more biographical, exploring performers' lives and cultural backgrounds, even though some still lack in-depth repertoire analysis.