Folk and Popular Culture

Chapter 4

Objective: Compare and contrast the origin and diffusion of folk and popular cultures

Folk and Popular Culture

Woman with Oxcart, Myanmar

Insanely Rad Scot, with Kilt and Three-Fin Thruster

The Forbidden CityBeijing, China

2004

Beijing, China2004

“Where do folk and popular cultures originate and diffuse?” Folk Culture – traditionally practiced by a small,

homogeneous, rural group living in relative isolation.

Popular Culture – found in a large, heterogeneous society that shares certain habits despite differences in personal characteristics.

Polish folk culture Simpsons – TV Pop. Culture

Material Culture

The physical objects produced by a culture in order to meet its material needs: food, clothing, shelter, arts, and recreation.

Custom – frequent repetition of an act until it becomes characteristic of a group of people

Habit – repetitive act performed by an individual.

Taboo – a restriction on behavior imposed by social custom

Folk Culture – rapidly changing and/or disappearing throughout much of the

world.

Turkish Camel Market

Portuguese Fishing Boat

Guatemalan Market

anonymous origins, diffuses slowly through migration. Develops over time.

Stable and close knit Usually a rural community

Folk Culture – Where?

Popular Culture – Where?Often product of advances in

industrial technology and increased leisure time

Originates in more developed countries

Diffuses to other MDC as well as less developed countries

Folk Culture - DiffusionRelocation DiffusionMainly through the movement or

migration of the people themselves

Popular CultureHierarchical diffusionTypically from a hearth or node of

innovationEx: Hollywood, California for the

film industry

The Communist Party…

…Loves popular culture…

Why is folk culture clustered?

Previously uncontacted tribe in Amazon jungle, found in 2011

North American Folk Culture Regions

Tradition controls Resistance to changeClustered distributions:

isolation/lack of interaction breed uniqueness

Influence of the physical environment – can be seen in food and shelter choices

Folk Culture

Folk ArchitectureBuildings erected without

architect or blueprint using locally available building materials

Effects on Landscape: usually of limited scale and scope.

FOLK ARCHITECTURE

Agricultural: fields, terraces, grain storage

Dwellings: wood, brick, stone, skins; often uniquely and traditionally arranged

FOLK ARCHITECTURE

Hog Production and Food Cultures

Fig. 4-6: Annual hog production is influenced by religious taboos against pork consumption in Islam and other religions. The highest production is in China, which is largely Buddhist.

Food Taboos: Jews – can’t eat animals that chew cud, that have cloven feet; can’t mix meat and milk, or eat fish lacking fins or scales; Muslims – no pork; Hindus – no cows (used for oxen during monsoon)

Washing Cow in Ganges

Why is popular culture widely distributed?

Objective: Explain the process and the extent of the diffusion of different elements of popular culture

Popular Culture

Wide Distribution: Variances in pop. culture are more in time than in place.

Rapid diffusion requires high level of economic development to acquire the “products” of pop. culture.

Popular Culture

Clothing: Jeans, for example, have become valuable status symbols in many regions including Asia and Russia despite longstanding folk traditions.

Methods of DiffusionTechnology makes widespread

exposure possible, and quickerTV and Internet are instrumental in

spreading items of pop. culture, especially fashion

David Beckham

Diffusion of TV, 1954–1999

Television has diffused widely since the 1950s, but some areas still have low numbers of TVs per population.

Much media is still state-controlled.

Ten Most Censored Countries:1. North Korea2. Myanmar (Burma)3. Turkmenistan4. Equatorial Guinea5. Libya6. Eritrea7. Cuba8. Uzbekistan9. Syria10. BelarusSource: The Committee to Protect

Journalists. www.cpj.org.

Internet Connections

The Internet is diffusing today, but access varies widely. Some countries censor the Internet, but this is much harder to do.

FoodFranchises, cargo planes,

superhighways and freezer trucks have eliminated much local variation

National advertising reaches large audiences

HousingOnly small regional variations,

more generally there are trends over time

U.S. House Types by Region

Small towns in different regions of the eastern U.S. have different combinations of five main traditional house types.

Why does globalization of popular culture cause problems?

Objective: Explain the impact of globalization on folk and popular cultures

Popular Culture

Effects on Landscape: creates homogenous, “placeless,” landscape

· Complex network of roads and highways

· Commercial Structures tend towards ‘boxes’

· Dwellings may be aesthetically suggestive of older folk traditions

· Planned and Gated Communities more and more common

Progress?

Surfing at Disney’s Orlando Typhoon LagoonAre places still tied to local landscapes?

Disconnect with landscape: indoor swimming pools? desert surfing?

Swimming Pool, West Edmonton Mall, Canada

Dubai’s Indoor Ski Resort

Muslim Women in Traditional Dress at Indoor Ski Resort

Problems with the Globalization of Culture

Often Destroys Folk Culture – or preserves traditions as museum pieces or tourism gimmicks.

· Mexican Mariachis; Polynesian Navigators; Cruise Line Simulations

· Change in Traditional Roles and Values

Satellite Television, Baja California

Western Media Imperialism?· U.S., Britain, and Japan dominate

worldwide media.· Glorified consumerism, violence,

sexuality in media· U.S. (Networks and CNN) and British

(BBC) news media provide/control the dissemination of information worldwide.

· These networks are unlikely to focus on or provide third world perspective on issues important in the LDCs.

Environmental Problems with Cultural Globalization

-Accelerated Resource Use through Accelerated Consumption Furs: minx, lynx, jaguar, kangaroo, whale, sea otters (18th

Century Russians) fed early fashion trends. Consumerism evident in most Western Media fashions, including

hip hop and rock and roll. Inefficient over-consumption of Meats, Poultry, even Fish by

meat-eating pop cultures· Mineral Extraction for Machines, Plastics and Fuel· New larger housing desires and associated energy and water

use.· Golf courses use valuable water and destroy habitat worldwide.

Pollution: waste from fuel generation and discarded products, plastics, marketing and packaging materials

Cattle Feed lots – function of corporations needing massive quantities of cheap beef, ex: McDonalds

Beijing, China

Palm Springs, CA

Using water resources for the green grass of golf courses

Marlboro Man in Egypt

Fiji – popular culture has spread to the Pacific Islands

Suburban Sprawl, Arizona

Progress? – Urban Sprawl in Tokyo