Folk Culture

What is folk culture?

Folk Culture is the practices of a relatively small group of people in a focused area.

Folk Culture Usually relatively isolated Often dependent on the environment Usually practiced by small, homogenous groups in isolated areas. Are often isolated or have multiple hearths Anonymous hearths, anonymous sources, anonymous dates

Groups that practice a Folk Culture can be expressed in three ways:

Indigenous Cultures A culture group made up of the original inhabitants of a territory that is distinct from the dominant national culture.

Folk Culture Region A culture group where norms are traditionally practiced by a small, homogeneous, rural group living in relative isolation from other groups.

Subculture A group that shares in some parts of the dominant culture but has their own distinctive values, norms, language, and/or material culture.

Folk Music

Music composed by unknown composers and transmitted through oral tradition. Contains important life cycle event (birth, death, and marriage) customs. Often used to teach successive generations about culturally relevant topics.

A Vietnamese Folk Song While seedlings for the summer crop are no old when they are three months of age, Seedlings for the winter crop are certainly not young when they are one-and-a-half months old.

Folk Housing Reflect both cultural and environmental influences Often based on the resources available Houses from different regions can be vastly different even in similar environments.

Types of Materials

Materials: Thatching

Materials: Mud brick

Materials: Sod

Materials: Timber

Materials: Stone

Vernacular Housing in the US

New England Salt Box Two Chimney Cape Cod Front Gable and Wing

Salt Box House

Two Chimney House

Cape Cod House

Front Gable and Wing House

Swiss-German Barn House Middle Atlantic I-House Swiss-German Barn House Lower-Chesapeake Steep Roof

I-House

Barn House