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TRADITION AND CREATIVITY
William Wells Newell, author of
Games and Songs of American Children
(1883),
suggests that children are both conservative and creative; once they learn tradi-
tional texts, they will pass them along to others, adding some creative changes of
their own. Folklore scholar Gary Alan Fine explains that “Newell’s paradox”—the
combination of tradition with creative variation—makes sense in terms of text,
context, and performance. Texts tend to stay stable while context changes, and
performance brings together imaginative and traditional elements.
Is children’s folklore alive and well, or has it declined in recent years? As tech-
nological advances have moved from television to videogames, e-mail, Instant
Messaging, cellular telephones, and YouTube, educators have asked whether
increasing emphasis on technology is destroying young people’s oral and cus-
tomary traditions. David Sobel, director of teacher certification programs at the
graduate school of Antioch New England in New Hampshire, expresses concern
about “erosion of childhood,” stating that “computers seem like a river in flood,
washing away the soil that roots children to the natural world.” This statement
Children dressed as the Candy Corn Fairy and Harry Potter on Halloween, 2007. Photograph
by Martha Harris.
Introduction 5
of concern is one of many that have emerged in scholarly literature and in the
popular press. While these changes seem worrisome, we should keep in mind
Iona and Peter Opie’s explanation that “the belief that traditional games are
dying out is itself traditional; it was received opinion even when those who now
regret the passing of the games were themselves vigorously playing them” (
Chil-
dren’s Games
14). William Wells Newell bewails the demise of children’s games
in his 1883
Games and Songs of American Children,
stating that his collection
represents “an expiring custom” (1). Some of this continuing concern seems to
come from inevitable changes in children’s play patterns. Games that we played
ourselves as children may change or disappear later on; it is not easy to accept
such changes.
Some contemporary folklorists have observed, however, that patterns of chil-
dren’s play have shifted in alarming ways. In her eloquent essay “ ‘Our Dreams
in Action’: Spirituality and Children’s Play Today,” Carole H. Carpenter explains
how much boys’ involvement in hockey has changed in Canada. Instead of enjoy-
ing the folk version of hockey called Shinny, boys have been drawn into large, ex-
pensive hockey leagues organized by adults, and much of the joy of “folk hockey”
has been lost. Because of such losses, Carpenter suggests that “adults must reshape
their agenda for childhood by withdrawing pressures on the young to grow up,
thereby allowing them to grow” (178). Similarly, Steven Zeitlin, executive director
of City Lore in New York City, observes that “Parents drive children at a very
young age to get them on the right track for success, so every waking moment is
programmed, which doesn’t leave lots of time for play” (Williams and Feldman
M-25). Adults’ attempts to bring back Stickball and other street games, notably
in the Web site Streetplay.com (http://www.streetplay.com), have revived older
forms of play to some extent. Meanwhile, children’s performances of “Light As
a Feather” and other forms of folklore on YouTube show that kids have been
finding new ways to share traditions that interest them.
Proof that children’s folklore is alive and well comes from the 2003 study
Tra-
ditional English Language Genres: Continuity and Change,
1950 –2000,
by Joanne
Green and J.D.A. Widdowson. Finding the dawn of a new millennium to be a
good time to review recent linguistic developments, Green and Widdowson ob-
serve, “As new patterns of life and work succeed the old, so new forms of language
take the place of earlier usage” (1). Their list of 50 rhymes collected from children
clearly demonstrates that some rhymes have circulated more actively than others.
Among the factors contributing to linguistic change, they mention political cor-
rectness and the fact that “the older patterns of rural life have changed beyond
recognition” (10). Green and Widdowson conclude that change has positive ef-
fects; the “constant updating of children’s rhymes, songs, and games” is “the hall-
mark of their extraordinary ability to survive, despite all the pressure on children
to conform.” New forms, such as football chants, “represent a reinvigoration of
6 Children’s
Folklore
the genre as a whole” (519). This insightful and upbeat conclusion reminds us
that children can adapt to change while retaining folk traditions of their own
choosing.
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