Summary on “Folklore and International Stereotypes”
The article Folklore and International Stereotypes by J.C. Bynum suggests that persistent stereotypes are learned largely through the folklore of the family and peer group. According to Bynum, folklore offers a rich field of study in the pursuit of understanding prejudice between ethnic, social, and international groups.
The article illustrates the usefulness of folklore research because it reveals what people believe about another group and what the group believes about itself; despite whether these beliefs are actually true or not. Next, an example is given from Alan Dundes’ Life Is Like a Chicken-Gop Ladder – A Study of German National Character which includes multiple examples from German folklore, illustrating their excessive concern with anality, excrement, cleanliness, orderliness, and reliability. Bynum is concerned with the distinct regional differences that tend to appear in Dundes’ “highly psychoanalytical” study.
Furthermore, the article offers examples of the most popular form in which stereotypes are used today: jokes. Although Bynum includes several jokes, the individual stereotypes used to characterize each country nevertheless stay the same throughout. The article concludes that even though people may tell jokes about themselves among themselves, they generally resent hearing these jokes from outsiders. Furthermore, the examination of the forms of folklore, as a way of understanding stereotypes, could lead to studies in which