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Folklorist

Studies traditional stories, customs, beliefs, and practices of cultures — preserving oral traditions.

Did you know?

The Brothers Grimm didn't invent their fairy tales. They collected them, though many came from educated middle-class friends rather than peasant villagers.

How subjects help

• Literature: Compare versions of the same folk tale to find what changes and what stays.
• History: Trace how an old custom or festival began and how it changed over time.
• Sociology: Study what shared stories and traditions mean to a community today.
• Languages: Record elders telling stories in their own language before they are forgotten.

A famous name

Jacob Grimm: Collected German folk tales with his brother Wilhelm, publishing Grimms' Fairy Tales from 1812.

Try it yourself: Record a family memory interview

1. Pick a theme, like their childhood home or school. Write five questions in time order.
2. Make them open questions that need more than yes or no, like "Can you describe the house you lived in?" Don't suggest the answer.
3. Before you start, explain what the recording is for, and that they can skip any question or stop at any time.
4. Ask one question at a time and listen without interrupting. Silences are fine.
5. Afterwards, write a short summary: the three most surprising things you learned. Keep the recording private.

Historians and archivists record, summarise and store interviews like this so that ordinary people's memories become part of history.

Adapted from Oral History Society: For beginners.

Also try: Build dig layers in a tub.

Known for it in

Germany, Finland, Ireland, Japan, USA

Related careers

• Anthropologist
• Historian
• Ethnomusicologist
• Archivist
• Paleographer
• Museum Curator