Folk Eloquence

Folk eloquence and its expressive tools have not received as much interest as other creative literary genres.

The interest in folk eloquence began in the 19th century with the emergence of different philosophical and intellectual trends, particularly the theories of linguist Ferdinand de Saussure, philosophers Immanuel Kant and Georg Hegel, and philosopher and psychologist Sigmund Freud.  

All these theories focused on anthropological studies and the human experience at all levels in an attempt to explain social aspects and differences in classes and communities. The results of these studies helped to define folk eloquence and its features.

One of folk eloquence’s most prominent features is inevitability, because it is essential for all cultures that use language to communicate, not only at the purely aesthetic and artistic level, but also to express social and cultural needs in daily life.

At all levels, language involves the norms that people adopt in order to live as a community and to organize aspects of their lives.

Folk eloquence continues to develop and it has a significant influence on the collective consciousness.

Another feature is transparency, as folk eloquence represents the people, their needs, wishes, aspirations, thoughts, and attitudes. 

The creative feature of folk eloquence comes from its phenomenological and experiential aspects that help to create a necessary balance between the human mind and natural phenomena. 

This creativity stems from reality with all its conflicts and contradictions, and from cultural legacy.

In many instances, cultural legacy imposes its metaphysical nature and references myths and the subjects of mythology even if, as Carl Jung states, we are no longer living in the age of legends. If heroism is no longer represented by Gods, Goddesses and semi-Gods as it was in the myths, man makes himself the hero. Folk culture describes man as a courageous hero with the power to explore the world, face challenges, and fight visible and invisible powers to ultimately triumph over evil. 

Nabila Ibrahim

Egypt