Date: Sun, 05 Jan 97 16:28:56


The brief definition: "Filk is the folk music of the science fiction and
fantasy communities."

If you want a _precise_ definition, you have to define "folk", "music",
"science fiction", "fantasy", and "community" -- any one of which is
virtually impossible by itself, never mind in combination. It's equally
hard to establish a precise definition of any other genre, though.

If you have web access, my web page has one attempted definition and
pointers to a reasonable number of examples (which may constitute a 
more useful practical definition).

See also the FAQ document for this newsgroup, posted here periodically,
for another definition and more references. And Jordin Kare wrote an
article on Filk for Sing Out! magazine some time back (last year?), which
doesn't attempt a precise definition but gives a good description and some
suggestions on where to hear live filk.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Joe Kesselman: keshlam@prodigy.com, http://pages.prodigy.com/keshlam
Team OS/2 Member (OS/2 acronym: "We're Staying Topmost!")
"This note is a production of Novalabs Consulting and O.R.K. Security
Services, which are solely responsible for its content. Opinions are
not necessarily those of the author, never mind anyone else."


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