1. Folk and Popular Culture
Chapter 4

2. Where are folk and popular leisure activities distributed?
Key Issue #1

3. Culture
Culture combines three things: values, material artifacts, and political institutions
Habit vs. custom
Folk culture vs. popular culture
Important characteristics of culture include its origin, diffusion, and distribution

4. Origin and Diffusion of Folk and Popular Cultures
Origin of Folk Music (2697 B.C. or earlier)
Folk songs are composed anonymously and transmitted orally
Origin of Popular Music (around 1900)
Made for money and to be reproduced
Many eras and genres of popular music

5. Origin and Diffusion of Folk and Popular Cultures
Sports: Hierarchical Diffusion of Popular Culture
Folk culture origin of soccer, the world’s most popular sport
Globalization of soccer (beginning in 1800s)
Started as an English folk custom
British people diffused the sport around the world
Each country has its sport, and many sports have worldwide competitions (Olympics, World Cup, etc.)

6. Where are folk and popular material culture distributed?
Key Issue #2

7. Folk and Popular Clothing
Rapid diffusion of clothing styles
In the west, occupations dictate clothing more than environment
Income also affects clothing style
Other styles of dress influence more developed countries
Jeans are often seen as youthful in the US and have grown in popularity due to globalization

8. Folk and Popular Food Preferences
The environment can have an impact on distinctive food preferences
In folk cultures, social customs or beliefs can influence the foods eaten or avoided
Food taboos are often in place for religious, safety, or social reasons

9. Folk and Popular Food Preferences
Folk Food Culture
The environment can have an impact on distinctive food preferences
In folk cultures, social customs or beliefs can influence the foods eaten or avoided
Food taboos are often in place for religious, safety, or social reasons

10. Folk and Popular Food Preferences
Popular Food Culture
Differences between countries (example: Pepsi v. Coke)
Food preferences can also vary regionally within a country (example: regional differences within the US)
Wine production is often affected by both environmental and cultural factors

11. Distribution of Folk and Popular Housing
Folk Housing
The distinctive building materials available in the environment, climate, and social factors determine what people make their houses from and how it’s designed or shaped
Society determines what goes in a house, where furniture should be placed, and where and how someone sleeps

12. Distribution of Folk and Popular Housing
US Folk Housing
As people moved across the US, they brought their styles for houses with them

13. Distribution of Folk and Popular Housing
Popular housing styles
Modern house styles ( ) include minimal traditional, ranch house, split-level house, and contemporary style
Neo-Eclectic house styles (since 1960) include Mansard, Neo- Tudor, Neo-French, and Neo-Colonial

14. Why is access to folk and popular culture unequal?
Key Issue #3

15. Role of TV in Diffusing Popular Culture
Diffusion of Television
TV diffused from the US to Europe and then to LDCs
In 1970, half of the world had little or no TV broadcasting
By 2000, most LDCs have a large ownership rate of TVs

16. Electronic Diffusion of Popular Culture
Diffusion of the Internet
1995 – 40 million internet users worldwide
2004 – 880 million internet users worldwide

17. Challenges to Accessing Electronic Media
Government control of TV
US – commercial channels get licenses from gov’t
Communist countries – gov’t controls TV and the info the public see
Limiting access to the internet
Countries can limit the political, social, and security content as well as some internet tools

18. Why do folk and popular culture face sustainability challenges?
Key Issue #4

19. The Amish: Preserving Cultural Identity
The Amish are an example of relocation diffusion of folk culture
Have retained their culture, even when other groups did not

20. Threats to Folk Culture
Loss of traditional values
Clothing – rural vs. urban, traditional vs. contemporary clothes for men and women, etc.
Changing roles of women – although there are more opportunities for women worldwide, some groups are resistant to change

21. Threats to Folk Culture
Threat of Foreign Media Imperialism
The US, UK, and Japan influence TV around the world
Some people view this as those countries trying to spread their culture around the world
Some countries block satellite channels or prevent certain shows from being viewed
Some countries in Asia and Africa criticize the western idea of freedom of the press

22. Environmental Impact of Popular Culture
Uniform Landscapes
Fast-food restaurants – immediately recognizable, easy for newcomers to know what to expect, etc.
US culture has diffused to other parts of the world as a part of global diffusion of uniform landscapes

23. Environmental Impact of Popular Culture
Negative Environmental Impact
Increased demand for natural resources
Pollution
Folk cultures can also harm the environment
We can create widespread environmental damage and control it

24. What else do we know about culture?
Key Issue #5

25. The World’s Macrocultural Regions

26. Components of Culture Material culture is made up of:
Artifacts - that which is made, created, produced
Sociofacts - the ways in which people organize their society and relate to one another
Mentifacts - the ideas, beliefs, and values that people hold
Cultural traits are specific customs that are a part of everyday life, and the group of traits that define a particular culture is called a cultural complex.

27. Traditions Traditions are cohesive collections of customs
Traditions can be and often are:
Syncretic – blend cultural traits from different contemporary sources
Dynamic – change over time

28. Cultural Hearths
Hearth = place of origin

29. Cultural Hearths Mesoamerica Andean America West Africa
Nile River Valley
Mesopotamia
Indus R. Valley
Ganges R. Valley
Wei/Huang Rivers

30. Acculturation, Assimilation, and Transculturation
Acculturation occurs when two cultures come into contact with one another, and the “weaker” of the two adopts traits from the more dominant culture
This can lead to assimilation, when the original traits of the weaker culture are completely replaced by the traits of the more dominant culture.
Sometimes transculturation occurs when two cultures of just about equal power or influence meet and exchange ideas and traits.
Transculturation can refer to the broad expansion of cultural traits through processes of diffusion, adoption, and assimilation.

31. Glocalization
Glocalization refers to the adaptation of a product or service to the culture of each region where it’s being sold.