William Boscomb

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William Boscomb is an American folklorist who is most well known for creating Boscomb's four functions of folklore.

Boscomb's Four Functions of Folklore:

• Enabling of human beings to escape in fantasy from repressions imposted upon them by society...
• Validate culture, justifying its rituals and institutions...
• Pedagogic devices-also known as a means of educating people
• Maintaining conformity to the accepted patterns of behavior

[edit] Source

Georges, Robert A and Michale Owen Jones. Folkloristics: An Introduction. ISBN: 0-253-32934-5