Culture combines three things: values,
material artifacts, and political institutions.
Habit vs. Custom
Folk culture: practiced by small,
homogenous groups living in an isolated rural
area.
Popular culture: Large, heterogeneous
societies that share certain habits despite
differences in other personal characteristics.
Where Do Folk and Popular Cultures
Originate and Diffuse?
I.
Origin of Folk and Popular Cultures
A. Origin of Folk Music
1. Folk songs are composed
anonymously and transmitted
orally.
2. Probably well before 2697 b.c.
Where Do Folk and Popular Cultures
Originate and Diffuse?
I.
Origin of Folk and Popular Cultures
B. Origin of Popular Music
1. Originated around 1900.
2. Made for money and to be
reproduced.
3. Many eras of popular music:
vaudeville, tinpan alley, swing, rock
and roll, rap
Where Do Folk and Popular Cultures
Originate and Diffuse?
II. Diffusion of Folk and Popular Cultures
A. The Amish: Relocation Diffusion of Folk
Culture
1. Amish are unique
2. roughly 80,000 in the U.S.
3. History of the Amish
a. started in the 1600s in Bern, Switz.
b. Migrated to U.S. in early 1700s and
early 1800s
c. Have retained their culture, even
when other groups did not.
Where Do Folk and Popular Cultures
Originate and Diffuse?
II. Diffusion of Folk and Popular Cultures
B. Sports: Hierarchical Diffusion of
Popular Culture
1. Folk culture origin of soccer
a. world’s most popular sport
b. “Kick the Dane’s Head”
c. Early mob activity
d. Outlawed in England from 1100s
to 1603.
Where Do Folk and Popular Cultures
Originate and Diffuse?
II. Diffusion of Folk and Popular Cultures
B. Sports: Hierarchical Diffusion of
Popular Culture
2. Globalization of Soccer
a. Created in England in the 1800s
b. British people diffused the sport
around the world.
c. Soccer led to the creation of
American Football.
Where Do Folk and Popular Cultures
Originate and Diffuse?
II. Diffusion of Folk and Popular Cultures
B. Sports: Hierarchical Diffusion of
Popular Culture
3. Sports in popular culture
a. each country has its sport
b. Iroquois created lacrosse
c. Competitions in sport are now
world wide: Olympics, World Cup
Soccer, Baseball classic, etc.
Why is Folk Culture Clustered?
I.
Isolation promotes Cultural Diversity
A. Himalayan Art
1. Tibetan Buddhists in the north,
Hindus in the south, Muslims in the
west, and Southeast Asian animists in
the east.
2. Each group has its own style and
focus of art.
3. Each group is influenced by its
cultural institutions.
Why is Folk Culture Clustered?
II. Influence of the Physical Environment
* Physical environment affects
customs.
* Cold climates vs. Warm climates
* Food and shelter are cultural.
Why is Folk Culture Clustered?
II. Influence of the Physical Environment
A. Distinctive Food Preferences
1. Paying attention to the environment
a. food comes from environment
b. Italian vs. Northern Europe
c. Terrior – effect of local
environment on a food item.
d. Bostan farmers in Istanbul,
Turkey
Why is Folk Culture Clustered?
II. Influence of the Physical Environment
2. Food Diversity in Transylvania
a. Food habits are influenced by
culture
b. Many different groups in
Transylvania
c. Have many different ideas about
how to make food.
Why is Folk Culture Clustered?
II. Influence of the Physical Environment
3. Food Attractions and Taboos
a. Social customs determine what
foods one will eat or not eat and
why.
b. food taboos are religious, for safety,
and for social values.
Why is Folk Culture Clustered?
II. Influence of the Physical Environment
B. Folk Housing
1. Distinctive Building Materials.
a. Most common wood and brick
b. Other materials?
c. What people make their houses
from is determined by social
factors and what is available in
the environment.
Why is Folk Culture Clustered?
II. Influence of the Physical Environment
2. Distinctive House form and Orientation
a. Society determines what parts are in
a house.
b. Different groups have different
beliefs about significant parts of a
house. (walls, corners, front
doors, etc.)
c. Society even determines where and
how someone may sleep.
Why is Folk Culture Clustered?
II. Influence of the Physical Environment
3. Housing and Environment
a. How a house is shaped is
determined by environment and
social conditions.
b. even in similar climates, houses can
have different shapes and designs.
Why is Folk Culture Clustered?
II. Influence of the Physical Environment
C. U.S. Folk House Forms
1. People moved across the U.S. and
brought their house styles with
them.
2. New England style spread across
the Northeast.
3. The “I” house in the mid-west
4. Today, housing distinctions are not
as clear.
Why is Popular Culture Widely Distributed?
I.
Diffusion of popular housing, clothing,
and food.
A. Popular housing styles
1. Modern house styles (1945-1960)
a. Minimal traditional
b. Ranch house
c. Split-level house
d. Contemporary style
Why is Popular Culture Widely Distributed?
I.
Diffusion of popular housing, clothing,
and food.
2. Neo-Eclectic House Styles (since 1960)
a. Mansard
b. Neo-Tudor
c. Neo-French
d. Neo-Colonial
Why is Popular Culture Widely Distributed?
I.
Diffusion of popular housing, clothing,
and food.
B. Rapid diffusion of Clothing Styles
* In the West, Occupations dictate
clothing more than environment.
* Income also affects clothing style
* Culture can spread quickly.
* Other styles of dress influence More
Developed Countries.
Why is Popular Culture Widely Distributed?
I.
Diffusion of popular housing, clothing,
and food.
1. Jeans
A. Seen as youthful in the U.S.
B. Globalization has made them popular
C. Can cost a lot of money elsewhere in
the world
D. Most popular brand is Levi Strauss
Why is Popular Culture Widely Distributed?
I.
Diffusion of popular housing, clothing,
and food.
2. Wine production
a. soil, climate, and environment affect
the flavor of grapes.
b. Best to grow grapes in temperate
climates, on a hill side, with coarse
soil.
c. wine gets identified by region, year,
and grape.
d. Only the best regions for wine
production produce wines.
Why is Popular Culture Widely Distributed?
II. Role of Television in Diffusing Popular Culture
A. Diffusion of Television
1. television diffused from the U.S. to
Europe then to LDCs.
2. first in the U.S. in the 1930s. 50 million
t.v.s in the U.S. by 1959.
3. In 1970 half the countries of the world
had little if any television broadcasting.
4. by 2000 most LDCs had a large
ownership rate of television.
Why is Popular Culture Widely Distributed?
II. Role of Television in Diffusing Popular Culture
B. Diffusion of the Internet
1. 1995 40 million internet users worldwide.
2. 2000 400 million internet users worldwide.
3. 2004 880 million internet users worldwide.
4. fifty years for the television to diffuse
around the world. The internet has
only taken a decade.
Why is Popular Culture Widely Distributed?
II. Role of Television in Diffusing Popular
Culture
C. Government Control of Television
1. In the U.S. Commercial channels get
licenses from the government.
2. In other places television is a mixture of
public corporations and public-private
ownership.
3. In communist countries the government
controls the television and the
information that the public sees.
Why is Popular Culture Widely Distributed?
II. Role of Television in Diffusing Popular Culture
D. Reduced Government Control
1. 1984 by George Orwell – television
could control what happens in people’s
daily lives.
2. Many countries have outlawed satellite
dishes because they open a society to
other points of view.
3. the satellite dish was partially
responsible for the fall of communist
Europe.
Why Does Globalization of Popular
Culture Cause Problems?
I.
Threat to Folk Culture
A. Loss of traditional values
1. Clothing – Rural vs. Urban
2. Business suit is worldwide
3. Fundamentalist Muslims favor
traditional clothes for men and
women.
4. Iran and the “Blue Jean” vote.
Why Does Globalization of Popular
Culture Cause Problems?
I.
Threat to Folk Culture
B. Change in traditional role of women
1. Women are no longer traditionally bound to
the house.
2. The Taliban was especially harsh toward
women.
3. Good stuff – More opportunities for
women worldwide.
4. Bad stuff – Increased prostitution. Often
encouraged as a source of currency.
Why Does Globalization of Popular
Culture Cause Problems?
I.
Threat to Folk Culture
C. Threat of Foreign Media Imperialism
1. The U.S., U.K., and Japan influence
television around the world.
2. People from other areas view this as a new
form of spreading those cultures
around parts of the world.
3. Countries around the world may block
satellite channels or not show certain
shows.
Why Does Globalization of Popular
Culture Cause Problems?
I.
Threat to Folk Culture
D. Western Control of News Media
1. AP and Reuters cover most news.
2. Most governments around the world
control the news media.
3. many countries in Africa and Asia criticize
the western idea of freedom of the press.
Why Does Globalization of Popular
Culture Cause Problems?
II. Environmental Impact of Popular Culture
B. Uniform Landscapes
1. Fast-Food Restaurants.
a. franchise
b. immediately recognizable
c. Newcomers to an area
immediately know what to expect.
d. recognize the purpose of the
building.
Why Does Globalization of Popular
Culture Cause Problems?
II. Environmental Impact of Popular Culture
B. Uniform Landscapes
2. Global diffusion of Uniform Landscapes
a. U.S. culture has diffused to other parts
of the world.
b. most people who visit McDonald’s in
Moscow are Russian who want to know
about Western Culture.
c. Cars from Japan are another example
of global diffusion of uniform
landscapes.
Why Does Globalization of Popular
Culture Cause Problems?
II. Environmental Impact of Popular Culture
C. Negative Environmental Impact
1. Increased demand for natural
resources
a. animal skins
b. Meat consumption by humans
c. Grain consumption by animals
rather than humans.
Why Does Globalization of Popular
Culture Cause Problems?
II. Environmental Impact of Popular Culture
C. Negative Environmental Impact
2. Pollution
a. Trash – Most discarded not recycled
b. Folk cultures also harm the
environment. (over hunting, burning
grasslands, etc.)
c. We can create widespread
environmental damage and control it.