American Studies Commons^™

Personal Identity And The Influence Of Outlaw Folklore, William "Bacon" Nivison

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Folklore being a relatively new science there is still debate going on about what Folklore actually is. Most of what one reads is relative to who the “folk” are, where the “lore” comes from and how it is inspired. This thesis looks at folkore from a viewpoint which observes folklore from the other direction. Not how do the folk create the lore, rather how does the lore create the folk?

Folklore is well shown to be a product, or at least an abstract of one’s personal identity, but, is it not also a tool used by the individual in the …