Chapter 4

Folk and Popular Culture

PPT by Abe Goldman

Folk Culture• Folk Culture is

traditionally practiced primarily by small, homogeneous groups living in isolated rural areas.

• Isolation from other groups keeps the scale of territory covered by folk culture typically much smaller than that of popular culture.

Folk Culture Continued• Folk culture is derived

from local natural elements and is more sensitive to the environment.

• Folk culture is more likely to vary from place to place at a given time.

• Folk culture typically does NOT threaten local cultural diversity.

Popular Culture• Popular Culture is found

in large, heterogeneous societies that share certain habits despite differences in other personal characteristics.

• Global connections exaggerate the scale of territory covered by popular culture compared to folk culture and enables frequent changes.

Popular Culture Continued• Popular culture is less

likely to reflect the diversity of local physical conditions and is more likely to modify the environment.

• Popular culture is more likely to vary from time to time at a given place.

• Popular culture threatens local diversity.

Origins and Diffusion of Folk and Popular Cultures

• Origin of folk and popular cultures– Origin of folk music– Origin of popular music

• Diffusion of folk and popular cultures– The Amish: Relocation diffusion of folk culture– Sports: Hierarchical diffusion of popular culture

Origin of Folk Culture

• Folk cultures have anonymous hearths, from anonymous sources, at unknown dates, through unidentified originators.

• They may also have multiple hearths, originating independently in isolated locations.

Origin of Popular Culture

• Popular culture is often the product of more developed countries, especially in North America, Western Europe, and Japan.

• Popular culture often arises from a combination of advances in industrial technology and increased leisure time.

Folk Music• Folk Music is often composed anonymously

and transmitted orally.

• Content is often derived from events in daily life that are familiar to the majority of people.

• Folk songs tell a story or convey information about daily activities such as farming, life-cycle events, or mysterious events like storms or earthquakes.

Origin of Country Music

Fig. 4-1: U.S. country music has four main hearths, or regions of origin: southern Appalachia, central Tennessee and Kentucky, the Ozark-Ouachita uplands, and north-central Texas.

Popular Music

• In contrast to folk music, popular music is written by specific individuals for the purpose of being sold to a large number of people.

• It reflects a high degree of technical skill and is capable of being performed only in a studio with electronic equipment.

Tin Pan Alley and Popular Music

Writers and publishers of popular music were clustered in Tin Pan Alley in New York City in the early twentieth century. The area later moved north from 28th Street to Times Square.

The Armed Forces Radio Network began the diffusion of American popular music during WWII when the music was broadcast to soldiers around the world.

Hip Hop Music• Hip hop music originated in the late 1970’s in

the South Bronx. • Rappers in the low-income neighborhoods of

NYC, Queens, Brooklyn, and Harlem adopted the style with local twists- “thug” rap in Queens and clever lines in Brooklyn.

• Since the late 1980’s, hip hop has diffused to Oakland and Atlanta and other large metropolitan areas.

A Mental Map of Hip Hop

Fig. 4-3: This mental map places major hip hop performers near other similar performers and in the portion of the country where they performed.

Diffusion of Folk Culture

• Folk culture is transmitted from one location to another more slowly and on a smaller scale, primarily through migration or relocation diffusion rather than electronic communication.

Amish Settlements in the U.S.

Fig. 4-4: Amish settlements are distributed through the northeast U.S. and reflect relocation diffusion of folk culture.

Diffusion of Popular Culture

• The spread of popular culture usually follows the pattern of hierarchical diffusion from hearths or nodes of innovation.

• Hollywood, California for film and Madison Avenue, NY for advertising are examples.

• Popular culture diffuses rapidly through modern communication and transportation.

Diffusion of Contemporary Sports

• The transformation of football (soccer) from an English folk custom to global popular culture began in 1800.

• First, schools began to instruct students on “sports.” Then, leisure time allowed for greater participation and spectatorship. In the late 1800s, the British exported association-football to continental Europe and then around the world throughout their colonies.

Diffusion of Contemporary Sports

• Initially, this diffusion was done by individuals but over time diffusion increased by radio and television.

• Organized spectator sports today are part of popular culture, despite folk origins.

• They are transmitted through electronic forms of communication.