Abstract: The concept of folklore experienced a general evolution from the old traditions of farmers as the other of modernity to the life culture of average citizens.The configuration of the concept and the evolution of its connotation happened in a dualistic framework where exist the contrasts of tradition and modernity, and small places and large communities.The discipline of folklore has engaged in the process both as an academic study and as a social undertaking.It is part of cultural construction of modern countries as well as a part of the modern project with cultural diversity in the sense of human community, which composes a disciplinary narrative from the opposition to the integration to the modern world.

Key words: tradition and modernity, small places and large communities, the folklore of a nation-state, the folklore of the world