Folk and Popular Culture

CULTURE HABIT A repetitive act performed by an individual. CUSTOM A repetitive act adopted and performed by a group. CULTURE A collection of customs shared by group. ACCULTURATION -- A process that happens when one group starts to take on the customs of another culture

CULTURE DEFINED Culture consists of a people’s --Beliefs --Institutions --Technology In other words, culture consists of --Artifacts --Sociofacts --Mentifacts

Artifacts… A. “technologies” or hardware – stuff that archaeologists dig up. The school room is an example. What in here is tangible; what might be excavated years after we are gone? Give examples. B. Artifacts are of low importance to the culture. C. We can throw away an artifact and replace it with “bigger and better.” Example below… Other examples?

Sociofacts… A. Institutions/organizations of culture – the ways of doing things B. Example: At school the bell rings and what happens? Everyone leaves because it’s part of the sociofact (the institution that is school) and we understand the institution. C. Example: The way religions function = sociofact. In the Catholic Church there is a very defined set of actions during a mass – they ways of doing things in the service. D. Sociofacts are of medium importance to the people. It might be troublesome at first to have no bells at school, but eventually we’d get used to it.

Mentifacts… A. There are our world views – our core values and beliefs. B. Example: Our view of time in this country is linear (we are now living and later will die). Other places have more of a circular view of time, like the Hindu belief in reincarnation. C. What are core values and beliefs in the USA? D. People REALLY hold tight to menifacts – these don’t get replaced. Imagine someone asking you to give up your freedom of religion….

Consider the American flag… Where doe it fall as far as category? Discuss

American flag is… an artifact because you can touch it – tangible a sociofact if you consider we do the pledge to it every day (the way of doing things…) a mentifact if you consider that it stands for freedom and independence

DISTRIBUTION OF CULTURE Cultures are distributed across the surface of the Earth in REGIONS… Boundaries of the regions are difficult to define. Many culture regions are “perceptual regions” Along borders, two adjacent cultures may begin to “share” or “trade” customs --This is called ACCULTURATION --It is also an example of DIFFUSION

CULTURE REALMS/MACROCULTURAL REGIONS Share only the most basic elements of culture Language Religion Etc. Sometimes called “Macrocultural regions What language and religion are in this cultural realm?

Another way to divide up the world into cultural realms/macrocultural regions. What language and religion are in this macrocultural region?

European cultural realms

Book: NINE NATIONS OF NORTH AMERICA (Joel Garreau)