What is "folkloristics"

n. The formal academic study of folklore.

Folkloristics is the formal, academic discipline devoted to the study of folklore. The term itself derives from the nineteenth-century German designation folkloristik (i.e., folklore). Ultimately, the term folkloristics is used to distinguish between the materials studied, folklore, and the study of folklore, folkloristics. In scholarly usage, folkloristics represents an emphasis on the contemporary, social aspects of expressive culture, in contrast to the more literary or historical study of cultural texts.

Other terms that may be confused with folkloristics include the adjective “folkloristic,” to mean an academically oriented study, and the term “folkloric", to mean materials having the character of folklore or tradition. Besides, scholars specializing in folkloristics are known as folklorists.