1. Where do Folk and Popular Cultures Originate & Diffuse?
Folk & Popular Culture
Where do Folk and Popular Cultures Originate & Diffuse?

2. What is culture? Culture is a learned behaviour of people
It is constantly changing and easily lost because it exists only in our minds
It includes: Belief systems languages, Social relationships, Institutions and organizations, Material goods - food, clothing, buildings, tools, and machines.
Culture consists of four elements that are "passed on from generation to generation by learning alone":
values
norms
institutions
artifacts

3. Values : Comprise ideas about what in life seems important
Values : Comprise ideas about what in life seems important. They guide the rest of the culture.
Norms : Consist of expectations of how people will behave in various situations. Each culture has methods, called sanctions, of enforcing its norms.
Institutions: Institutions are the structures of a society within which values and norms are transmitted.
Artifacts: Things, or aspects of material culture—derive from a culture's values and norms. Clothing Buildings Tools etc .
**This chapter deals with Material Culture

4. Habit vs. Custom Repetitive act by individual
Doesn’t imply that it’s been adopted by majority of pop.
Examples?
Custom
Repetitive act by group
Becomes characteristic
Examples?

6. Popular Culture Folk Culture Practiced by small, homogeneous groups
Isolated/rural areas/clustered
Stable
disappearing
Popular Culture
Large, heterogeneous societies
Larger scale than folk culture/urban
Extensive distribution
conform

7. Remnants of surviving folk culture in the U.S.

8. Origin of Folk & Popular Cultures
Hearth
Folk cultures quite anonymous
Pop. Culture product of MDCs (leisure time)
Folk music vs. Pop music
Evolution of dance

9. Origin and Diffusion of Folk and Popular Music
Folk Music
Originates anonymously
Transmitted orally
Modifications to songs over successive generations to represent changes in conditions.
Content of songs centers on events in daily life that are familiar to the majority of people.
Life-Cycle events
E.g., birth, death, or marriage
Environmental features
E.g., agriculture or climate
Migration of people also diffuses the music.

10. Origin and Diffusion of Folk and Popular Music
Music written by specific individuals with the intent of being…
Sold
Performed in front of a paying audience
Often displays a high degree of technical skill
Musicians often have strong connections with other similar musicians that may span the globe.
Limited connections with local musicians of different genres

11. Folk Origins
Example the song "La Bamba" - many know this as older popular song in the US that initially was recorded by members of the Hispanic community in the 1960s and revived in the late 1980s, in fact La Bamba comes from a dance that entered Mexico along with African slaves perhaps as early as the 16th century
La Bamba

12. Diffusion of Folk & Popular Cultures
Pace of diffusion has sped up tremendously
Pop. Culture – hierarchical diffusion
Rapid, extensive diffusion
transportation & communication
Ex. Sports
Folk Culture – relocation diffusion
Slowly, on a smaller scale
Migration
Ex. The Amish

13. Sports originated as isolated folk customs and diffused like other folk culture via relocation diffusion.
Example:
Football (soccer) originated in England in the eleventh century.
Transformation from folk to popular sport began in 1800s when organized clubs were formed in the UK.
Professional players hired
Standardized rules and organized professional league established in 1863 in UK marks formal transition from folk sport to popular sport.