Is Mario Folklore?

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dpatters28

Goomba
Hi everyone,

I was advised to move this post to the "Marioverse" from the off-topic area. Before I begin, I would like to ask:

Do you consider Mario a form of folklore? Why or why not?

Thanks everyone!

My name is Doug and I am a student at Northern Kentucky University. I am currently taking a course on Folklore and Pop Culture, and for my final project I am writing a paper discussing the ways Mario has transcended pop culture and has become a part of folklore. I plan on accomplishing this by 1.) exploring the folklore connections to the original story of Mario (i.e. the idea of a damsel in distress being saved by a "warrior") and 2.) discuss how Mario fits into the realm of modern-day folklore analyzing the groups, performances, authenticity, tradition and the fandom associated with it. My goal is to obtain this information through interviews, observations and already published documentation. I was wondering if anyone would be willing to answer a few questions about your experience being a Mario fan. Anyone who participates in the interview will final say about their contributions before I turn the paper in.

If anyone would be willing to participate, please either contact me here (if this is the wrong place to put pose such a question I apologize - please re-direct me) or e-mail me at: douglas.patterson81@yahoo.com.

Thank you so much for your time. This is a fascinating topic and I look forward to working with you all.
 
Mario has influence over our culture, but I don't view him as folklore. The damsel-in-distress trope has been a thing way before Donkey Kong (the first Mario game), and I don't think Mario made it more ubiquitous. Video games and computers, however, gave rise to a nerdy/geeky fandom.

Anyway, can I see some sample questions?
 
It would have been better if you had asked a mod move the old conversation here instead of recreating it...

Anyway, as I said in the original thread:
Walkazo said:
I feel like the classic definition of folklore is stories told between generations orally. But in modern society, so much of communication is now via text, and communities can be centred around interests rather than geography. The series has also been around long enough to span generations: our userbase alone ranges at least from 11-30, I personally inherited my SNES and Super Mario World from an adult neighbour (having been introduced to videogames by my parents via Atari earlier), and I'll always remember the parting words of one former admin who said he'd like to introduce his eventual kids to the wiki someday. In fanfiction too, you can see how writers often pick things up from earlier stories when it comes to vaguely defined characters like the Koopalings, and in the series as a whole, you can see the propagation of various memes and urban legends (List of rumors and urban legends about Mario), which are in themselves a sort of modern folklore.

Overall, I think it sounds like a very interesting topic to look at Mario and its fandom through a lens like this, and I'd be more than happy to answer questions for your project.
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And to add to that, I think PM-ing interested parties through the forum would be better than trying to do it through email. I for one would rather do it through PMs.
 
dpatters28 said:
I was advised to move this post to the "Marioverse" from the off-topic area.
Click to expand...
Oh, I meant asking a mod to move it from Off Topic to here, but I guess this is fine as long as you lock the old one.
 
Nozomi Toujou said:
dpatters28 said:
I was advised to move this post to the "Marioverse" from the off-topic area.
Click to expand...
Oh, I meant asking a mod to move it from Off Topic to here, but I guess this is fine as long as you lock the old one.
Click to expand...
Topics can be merged, too, iirc.
 
Sorry for the confusion everyone. I'll lock the other post - or if a moderator could do that if I'm not able to? Thanks.

I've sent the questionnaire (through PM) to the folks who have agreed to participate. Would anyone else be willing to answer a few questions? There aren't that many and they pertain to Mario from the perspective that it's folklore because of the groups and traditions that form between people who share a love for the Marioverse. I was hoping to get at least 5 participants and so far I have 3. If anyone else is interested, please let me know.

Thanks in advance!
 
I consider anything fictional that can be used by the public anytime folkore especially if it involves a story.
 
Mario isn't public domain, if that's what you mean.

I don't think of Mario as a folk hero. You don't really see many anymore. I think the closest thing to a modern one is Chuck Norris, due to the various tall tales told of him.
 
I do want to clarify that I'm not just talking about Mario the character from a folklore standpoint. I'm talking about the whole Marioverse. When I first started taking this class, I thought folklore was something archaic. I pictured a bunch of backwoods people sitting on porches strumming banjos and spitting tobacco. But folklore is alive and prevalent in today's society. It's our groups, our traditions, our performances and the authenticity that goes with that. It's our fandoms, our memes and our material culture. It's everywhere - and I can't think of anything that brings today's youth together better than video games. So no, I agree Mario himself isn't necessarily a folk hero in the traditional sense. But the idea of Mario? The culture of Mario? That's definitely folk.
 
in my honest opinion I don't think that mario can be considered folklore, since it isn't really that integrated into earth's history. If mario is considered folklore, then anything can be considered so, from video games to books, and even movies. It's not really something that everyone really cares about, let alone even know about. we don't take mario's adventures to heart, and we certainly don't gather any morals from them. i'd more likely consider video gaming in general as folklore, since that seems to fit the bill better in my opinion, since creating video games in itself is a journey, one which can help people realise who they are, and how well they work with others, and playing video games themselves, whether it be mario or something completely different, brings you closer together with people, and essentially creates their own stories around the games, and sometimes in them, which brings about a sense of ludology.

that's my take on it, granted i'm not majoring in folklore, so you probably have a better overall definition of folklore. In short, I don't think mario can be considered folklore.

I don't know if this helps in any way or everything that i've said is just an irrelevant pile of grandma's old soup, but here's hoping it will be of some help. Good luck on your project, and welcome to the forums, if you are at all interested in staying. :)
 
Oh, finally, you do have to consider that you're getting your opinions on a mainly American standpoint. No doubt the culture of Mario would be different in Japan and perhaps even in Europe.