Chapter 4 Culture Folk Culture vs Popular Culture

Chapter 4 Culture! Folk Culture vs Popular Culture

• Habit: repetitive act that a particular individual performs. • Custom: repetitive act of a group, performed to the extent that it becomes characteristic of the group • 2 elements of culture we are going to look at • Daily necessities: food, clothing and shelter • Leisure activities: arts and recreation

Folk Culture

Folk Culture • Traditionally practiced primarily by small, homogenous groups living in isolated rural areas. • More likely to vary from place to place at a given time.

Location and Origins • Origins/hearths are often unknown • Physical Environment • Environmental determinism…what is it? • Limited technology

Diffusion • Transmitted from one location to another relatively slowly and on a small scale • Relocation diffusion

…more on food • Taboo • Restriction on behavior (such as eating certain things) imposed by social customs • Food is a particularly common taboo • Pigs • Not raised in the Mediterranean are or the Arabian Peninsula for various reasons (the meat would spoil, they would compete with humans, etc. ) • Cows • Hindus do not consume cows, partly because they were traditionally necessary to pull carts

…more on food • Terroir: the contribution of a location’s distinctive physical features to the way food tastes • People adapt food preferences to conditions in the environment • Certain foods are eaten because their natural properties are perceived to enhance qualities considered desirable by the society.

Housing and the environment • Think of Native American Indians • Use the materials at a given area. • How do we see climate influencing housing? • May derive from religious and customary beliefs

aka Local Culture • Local culture – group of people in a particular place who see themselves as a collective or community, who share experiences, customs, and traits, and who work to preserve those traits and customs in order to claim uniqueness and to distinguish themselves from others

FOLK LIFE • Material Culture - Artifacts • Physical, Visible Things • Musical Instruments, Furniture, Tools, Buildings • The Built Environment – the landscape created • The Contents of Houses & Shops • Usually represents every day life. • Can it be both? • Soccer

Folk Life • Clothing • In response to distinctive agricultural practices or climatic conditions

Popular Culture

Popular Culture • Found in large, heterogeneous societies that share certain habits despite differences in other personal characteristics. • Access is limited based on income. • Distribution is not uniform.

Location and Origin • Typically are traceable to a specific person or corporation. • Most often in developed countries.

Diffusion • Spreads through a process of hierarchical diffusion • Diffuses rapidly and extensively from hearths or nodes with the help of modern communication

Fads, Trends, Icons • Popular culture varies more in time than in place • What does a place need to have rapid diffusion of pop culture? • MDCs or LDCs? • What are some examples of popular culture?

Clothing • Popular culture habits reflect: • Occupation and Income

Food • Popular food preferences are influenced by cultural values rather than environmental

Examples Popular Culture Folk Culture • Television • Hutterites • Internet • Amish • Jeans/Other clothing styles • Folklore • Mc. Donalds • Traditional Foods • i. Things • Traditional Music • Sports • Handmade Quilts • Celebrity Icons • The Hula • What else? • Pick any given country and you will find aspects of folk culture