During the 20th century folklore research followed two broad lines of interpretation. One of them considers folkloreas a national patrimony. The other line considers folklore as a form of expression of popular culture. This articledeals with the debate arising among the followers of these two lines. In the period comprised between the years 1973-1989 the "nationalist" outlook was imposed in Chile as part of the cultural policies of the military government. Itwas then that the "battle of folklore" was fought by those for whom this concept was linked with the study anddiffusion of folklore as the popular form of relationship between art and life.    El presente escrito indaga en el debate producido entre dos grandes líneas interpretativas sobre elfolclore, definido ya sea como patrimonio nacional o comprendido como formas expresivas de lacultura popular. En el periodo 1973-1989 se produjo la imposición de la mirada "nacionalista", productode las políticas culturales del régimen militar y la "batalla del folclore" fue dada por quienes sehan acercado a este concepto a partir de la búsqueda y difusión del folclore como "arte-vida" popular.