Key Issue #2: Why is Folk Culture
Clustered?
• Isolation Promotes Cultural Diversity
o Himalayan Art
• P. Karan & Cotton Mather – isolation led to distinct art forms based
on religion & environment
• 4 religious groups: Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Animists
• Influence of the Physical Environment
o Possibilism vs. Environmental Determinism
o Many in similar environments have different customs &
many in different environments have similar customs
o Folk culture often develop in response to physical
environment (climate, soil, vegetation, agriculture, food,
clothing, shelter)
o Sometimes physical environment is ignored (Ex. Not all
arctic residents wear snow shoes)
Key Issue #2: Why is Folk Culture
Clustered?
• Distinctive Food Preferences
o Paying Attention to the Environment
• Rice in mild, wet climates; wheat in cold, dry regions
• Often adapt food to conditions: soybeans are toxic if raw but
edible with lengthy cooking (also use sprouts, soy sauce, bean curd
to avoid long cooking process)
• Fuel shortage in Italy led to quick frying
• Abundant wood in Northern Europe led to slow stewing & roasting
over fires & to heat homes
• Terroir – physical environment affects food taste (wine)
• Local gardens for fresh produce – bostans in Istanbul, Turkey
o Food Diversity in Transylvania (about 100 years ago)
• Customs affected by availability (don’t eat what you don’t have)
• Also affected by cultural traditions (social, religious, ethnic)
• Romania (Transylvania region) filled with Hungarians, Romanians,
Saxons (German migrants), Jews, Armenians, Szeklers (Germans)
• Soup was consumed by poorer people
Key Issue #2: Why is Folk Culture
Clustered?
o Food Attractions & Taboos
• Food affected by characteristics interpreted by culture (based on
appearance, natural properties, beneficial/harmful perceived
traits)
• Perceived Enhancement Qualities
o Strength, fierceness in battle, lovemaking
o Abipone Indians of Paraguay eat jaguars & bulls for strength, bravery
o Mandrake root in Mediterranean climates thought to be an
aphrodisiac (but used in Middle East & Africa as a drug)
• Negative Forces Perceived
o Restriction imposed by social custom is called a taboo (not just food)
o Ainus in Japan (otters), Potato in Europe 17th & 18th centuries, Mbum
Kpau women in Chad when pregnant (antelopes, goats, chicken),
Trobriand Islands in Papua New Guinea (couples don’t eat together
before marriage)
• Taboos sometimes show concern for natural environment
(protect, conserve) but typically cultural reasons
Key Issue #2: Why is Folk Culture
Clustered?
o Food Attractions & Taboos
• Jews – do not eat animals that do not chew the cud or split the
hoof, cannot eat aquatic animals without scales (Torah)
• Muslims – avoid pork
• Pigs not suited for hot climates or nomadic pastoralism – do not
provide benefit beyond food (no milk, wool, carry loads or pull
plows)
• Hindus – do not eat cows (important for farming and pulling
plows); viewed as sacred
• Environmental factors not only reasons:
o Jews were “set apart” by food laws
o Christians ignore most food laws to distinguish from Jews
(universalizing religion – easier to convert followers w/o food laws)
• Americans avoid eating insects despite nutritional value – eaten
widely in other cultures (SE Asia, Africa, etc.)
Key Issue #2: Why is Folk Culture
Clustered?
• Folk Housing
o Combination of cultural tradition & natural conditions
o Distinctive Building Materials
•
•
•
•
•
Wood, brick, stone, grass, sod, skins, mud, etc.
MDCs – cut lumber, shingles, stucco, vinyl, aluminum
Hot, dry climates – mud, stucco
Stone in Europe, South America
Social factors: desirability, cost (drywall interior)
o Distinctive House Form & Orientation
•
•
•
•
•
Religious values
Sacred walls or corners (Fiji, China, Middle East, India, Africa)
Use of parts of house & furniture arrangement (Madagascar)
Household activities in SE Asia (Java, Laos, Thailand)
Direction house faces (east for rising sun, etc.)
o Housing & Environment
• Pitched roof for rain runoff & snow accumulation
• Windows face sout to maximize sun’s heat/light
• Small window openings in hot climates
Key Issue #2: Why is Folk Culture
Clustered?
• U.S. Folk House Forms
o Older homes – local folk traditions; westward pioneers
build styles similar to East Coast homes
o Newer homes – popular culture influences
o 3 major hearths/nodes of folk housing in U.S.
① New England (upper New England & southern Great Lakes)
• 4 types: Saltbox, Two-chimney, Cape Cod, Front gable & wing
② Middle Atlantic (Ohio Valley & Appalachian)
• I-house, 2 stories with gable to the side, 1 room deep and at least 2
rooms wide
③ Lower Chesapeake (southward along Atlantic coast)
• Tidewater (from VA), 1 story, steep roof, 2 chimneys, often 1 room
deep, on piers or brick foundation near wet/coastal areas
• Regional distinctiveness disappeared today – communication &
transportation provide knowledge of alternate styles (mass
produced by construction companies)