“Folk and Popular Culture: Key Issue 1”

“Where Do Folk and Popular Cultures Originate and Diffuse?”

“Rubenstein, p. 107-111”

● “ORIGIN OF FOLK AND POPULAR CULTURE”

“This section looks at the origin and diffusion of specific examples of both folk and popular culture.
Specifically examined examples of folk culture are FOLK MUSIC and AMISH CULTURE. Examples used
to illustrate popular culture are POPULAR MUSIC and SOCCER.”
“1. List elements of the origin and “2. List elements of the origin and diffusion of
characteristics of FOLK MUSIC.” POPULAR MUSIC.”
Most folk music has an anonymous Popular music is written by specific individuals
hearth, originating from an anonymous for the purpose of being sold to a large
source, at an unknown date, through number of people. Popular music originated
an unidentified originator.Most folk around 1900. The diffusion of American
songs tell a story or convey information popular music worldwide began during World
about daily activities such as farming, War II when armed forces radio network
life-cycle events, or mysterious events broadcast music to American soldiers into
such as storms and earthquakes. Folk citizens of countries where American forces
music has been believed to be were stationed or fighting.
originated around 2697 BC.

● “DIFFUSION OF FOLK AND POPULAR CULTURE”

“THE AMISH”
”3a. Where did Amish culture originate and how did it diffuse to the United States?”
The Amish culture originated in the 1600s when a Swiss Mennonite Bishop named Jacob
Ammann gathered a group of followers who became known as the Amish. They originated in
Bern, Switzerland; Alsace, France; and the Palatinate region of Southwestern Germany.The
culture diffused to the United States through relocation diffusion when several hundred Amish
families migrated to North America. the two groups that migrated to North America consisted
of Amish primarily from Bern and the Palatinate and settled in Pennsylvania in the early 1700s.
The second group of Amish migrated from Alsace and settled in Ohio, Illinois, and Iowa.

“3b. In what ways is Amish culture distinct from the popular culture of the United States?”
The Amish live in rural and frontier settlements and relatively isolated places from other groups
and retain their traditional customs.Such as using traditional methods of transportation like
horse and buggy and by shunning mechanical and electrical power Has made the Amish culture
distinct from the popular culture of the United States.

“4. What is happening to the Amish in the United States today?”

Currently the Amish folk culture continues to diffuse slowly through inter-regional migration
within the United States. finding it difficult to be able to afford the land and migrating to places
like Kentucky. they are moving from Lancaster County due to high prices and farmland and also
to escape the influx of tourists who come from the nearby metropolitan areas to gawk at the
distinctive folk culture.
“5. How was soccer transformed from a folk custom into popular culture?”
The transformation of football from an English folk custom to Global popular
culture began in the 1800. the increase of Leisure Time permitted people not only
to view sporting events but also to participate in them. Churches founded football
clubs to provide Factory workers with organized Recreation during Leisure Hours, and public
demand to see first class events caused clubs to begin to hire professional players. The
organization of the sport into a formal structure in Great Britain marks the transition of football
from folk to popular culture.

“6. In the small graphic below, link popular sports with the countries in which they are most
popular and with which they are best associated.”

“Sport” “Country”
“Cricket” Britain and former British colonies
“Ice Hockey” Canada, Northern Europe, and Russia
“Martial Arts” China
“Baseball” North America and Japan
“Lacrosse” The Iroquois Confederation of Six Nations
“Folk and Popular Culture: Key Issue 2”
“Why is Folk Culture Clustered? “
“Rubenstein, p. 111-117”

● “INFLUENCE OF THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT”

“1. How does clothing style (in this case, shoes) indicate the influence of the environment on
folk culture?”
The clothing style shows the intensity of the environment, such as wearing things to protect
from cold, not wearing as much clothing for warmer climates, and clothes that are resistant to
water. Clothing is made to protect them from the environment, not to be of a certain style.

“2. List 3 different examples of food habits and the unique folk cultures each illustrates.”

●The habit of growing over 15 types of vegetables in order to reduce the risk of damage from
poor weather illustrates the unique folk culture of Bostan farmers in Turkey.

●The habit of adopting food preferences to conditions in the environment illustrates the
unique folk culture Of Asia and Europe, where people must learn to eat food in low varieties
such as rice due to lack of resources like fuel or specific environmental factors such as
moistness and the cold.

●People in Asia have adopted the folk culture of creating food that does not require extensive
cooking do to the sky's amount of fuel in Asia.

“3. Indicate some food taboos, along with the cultures that practice them, in the table below.”

“FOOD TABOOS”
“Cultures/regions”
● Hebrew (Pastoral nomads and lands
bordering the Eastern Mediterranean)
● Muslim (The Arabian peninsula)
● Hindu (India)
“Foods/reasons”
● Animals that do not chew their cud or
that have cloven feet and fish lacking
fins and scales
● No pork because pigs are unsuited for
the trial ends of the Arabian peninsula
● No cows as a form of insurance against
the loss of oxygen and increasing
population

● “ISOLATION PROMOTES CULTURAL DIVERSITY”

“4. Briefly summarize how cultural diversity in the Himalayas is displayed in local art.”
Distinctive use of the physical environment merge among neighbor and cultural groups that are
isolated. the four religious groups: Tibetan Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, and Southeast Asian
animists have created art that has illustrated their distinctive folk customs.Thorough testing
showing how folk customs are influenced by the cultural institutions like religion and
environmental processes.
● “BELIEFS AND FOLK HOUSE FORMS”
“5. List 3 examples of house form and the unique folk cultures each illustrates.”
●Sacred walls and corners are an example of house form and include houses like ones in the
south-central part of the island of Java with the front door always facing south in the
direction of the South Sea Goddess, who holds the key to Earth.
●In Madagascar the main door is on the west, which is considered the most important
direction, and the northeast corner is the most sacred. The north wall is for honoring
ancestors, and important guests enter a room from the north and are seated against the
north wall. The bed is placed against the East wall of the house, with the head facing north.
●In Northern Laos, people arrange beds perpendicular to the center ridgepool of the
house. Because the head is considered high and noble and the feet low and vulgar, people
sleep so that their heads will be opposite to their neighbor’s heads and their feet opposite
to their neighbors feet. The principal exception is when a child builds a house next door to
the parents, and they sleep with his or her head towards their parents feet as a sign of
obeying the customary hierarchy.
“Directions: Please brainstorm (come up with as much information as you can) the following
potential APHG FRQ for roughly 5 minutes. Do not worry about possibly getting the question
wrong; just try to come up with as many possible answers as you can. If you get stuck consider
some of the following tools to help come up with more information:”
● “Include vocabulary terms”
● “Provide real-world examples”
● “Explain why examples ARE examples”
● “Come up with NON-examples”
● “This allows students to discover a “backdoor” to information they know”

“Amish culture is identified as a folk culture in North America. Above are photos related to
Amish culture.”

“A. Describe the distribution and diffusion of the Amish in North America.”

“B. Discuss the following in terms of the Amish as an example of folk culture:”
“i) artifacts“
“ii) sociofacts”
“iii) mentifacts”

“C. Explain TWO ways that the Amish preserve their folk culture against the pressures of
popular culture?”
“A. DESCRIBE (Distribution)” “A. DESCRIBE (diffusion)”
Amish are mainly settled in the northeastern Amish arrived from places in Europe and
United States and Southern Canada have continually diffused into the central
United States.

“Bi. DISCUSS” “Bii. DISCUSS” “Biii. DISCUSS”

The Amish primarily use
traditional artifacts in which
are long outdated, but
preserved in the culture.
Socially, the Amish are very
conservative and close in a
family way.
The Amish believe in a
traditional lifestyle and
shun technology true
cooler strong beliefs and
Reliance on their artifacts.

“C1. EXPLAIN” “C2. EXPLAIN”

The Amish have migrated and diffuse to The Amish also shun popular culture and
different parts of the country to avoid the isolate themselves in rural villages in order
influx of popular culture within their own to stay away from popular culture
culture.