Folklore acts as an art of a people, an ethnic society inhabiting a certain territory. In this regard, it is always local. This national or general ethnic art takes place within the framework of regional (territorial) traditions.
The genres of folklore are different in the expressive means of their language. There is a certain science that studies the complex of verbal-musical, verbal, musical-choreographic, dramatic and play types of folk art. For Russian folklore, the basis is the genres of Russian folklore, peoples living in Russia and abroad.
The field of study of the science in question includes, first of all, the theory of folk art - the formation of a theoretical base.
One of the main subjects of study is the history of folklore. This category includes the study of the historical poetics of creativity, developing in time and manifesting in various forms. In the study of history, there is also a reconstruction of archaic creativity that preceded the formation of subsequent artistic trends. In addition, the study of history involves the study of such a section as small genres of folklore.
The main types of folk art include proverbs, ritual poetry, tales, puzzles, legends. The genres of folklore include demonological stories, historical songs, spiritual poems, theatrical performances, epics, children's works.
In the study of the branches of folk art, some of them develop, specializing, in particular, in the study of certain systems. These branches include epicological studies, fairy-tale studies and others. Moreover, in addition to the fact that some previous folklore genres are developing, new systems are also being formed.
The science of folk art also explores the interpretation of this art in the context of later traditions. Modern genres of folklore represent a certain combination of works that are heterogeneous in composition from different industry systems of creativity.
It should be noted that the study of interactions at its various levels is also of great importance for the development of folk art. In particular, folklore is engaged in the study of mutual influences on the semantic, stylistic, figurative, intra-genre, inter-genre levels. At the same time, new connections are revealed and the old connections of creative industries are systematized.
Of course, the consideration of folk art is impossible separately from the ethnographic, cultural, natural-geographical and historical environment.
Folklore studies and the textology of folklore, clarifying this concept itself, considering it as a phenomenon characterized by a diverse nature. In folk art, the word is associated with a gesture, intonation, facial expressions, costume, dramatic play, music. Along with this, the specificity of the folklore text is also investigated.
Undoubtedly, from ancient times to the present, the genre system of folklore has undergone certain changes. However, the main types of creativity have retained their original structure. In particular, this is characteristic of small genre forms: ditties, jokes, lullabies, bored tales. This group also includes domestic creativity (sentences, calls, teasers), and nursery rhymes (tongue twisters, poddevki, fiction-flip-flops).
Among the main folklore genres , mention should be made of riddles, counters, games. The epic occupies a special place in folk art. This category includes animal tales, short stories (satirical, anecdotal), ridicule tales, heroic, family, social and class stories. Legends, historical songs, tales, epic poems belong to the same category.