The forms of relation of the popular creation with the written literature presuppose both an assimilation of the folklore by the literature, and conversely, of the literature by the folklore. We focused our research only on the first perspective, inventorying the historical course of the research of the folklore-literature connection. The actuality of the topic is demonstrated by its interdisciplinary character (folklore-literature), by relating folklore to the literary process, belonging to both the science that studies popular culture and the theory of literature, which required a demanding revision to establish new directions of investigation. Analyzing diachronically the process of theorizing this mutual conditioning (collective creation-individual creation), we discovered a considerable numerical gap of theoretical substantiation between the works aiming at the positions of the science of literature and those of folklore. Much more complex and profound is the scientific-literary aspect; as for the folkloristic one, it still needs a theoretical consolidation and systematization. In accordance with current orientations of folklore research, the present study tends to contribute to the reconsideration of several aspects of the subject under discussion.