Ethnology and Folklore: A Revised Theoretical and Source-Critical Synthesis

This article reinterprets the relationship between ethnology and folklore through an expanded theoretical synthesis and a renewed source-critical framework suitable for contemporary international scholarship. Although both disciplines historically evolved in parallel, their shared epistemological foundations and methodological intersections remain insufficiently articulated in Central Asian academic literature. This study argues that folklore constitutes an indispensable empirical corpus for ethnological research, while ethnological theory provides explanatory models that illuminate the structural, symbolic, and cultural functions embedded in folklore. Drawing on archival records, early ethnographic accounts, and contemporary oral materials, the research applies multilayered source criticism and comparative analysis to demonstrate the reciprocal analytic value of the two fields. The findings reveal that folklore carries encoded knowledge of social organization, ritual systems, worldviews, and collective memory, whereas ethnology supplies contextual frameworks that deepen the interpretation of these traditions. The study concludes that an integrated ethnology–folklore approach strengthens theoretical innovation, enriches source interpretation, and aligns Central Asian scholarship with global academic standards.