Folk Cultures

FolkCulturesAfolkcultureisasmallisolated,cohesive,conservative,nearlyself-sufficientgroupthatishomogeneousincustomandracewithastrongfamilyorclanstructureandhighlydevelopedrituals.Orderismaintainedthroughsanctionsbasedinthereligionorfamilyandinterpersonal.Relationshipsarestrong.Traditionisparamount,andchangecomesinfrequentlyandslowly.Thereisrelativelylittledivisionoflaborintospecializedduties.Rather,eachpersonisexpectedtoperformagreatvarietyoftasks,thoughdutiesmaydifferbetweenthesexes.Mostgoodsarehandmadeandsubsistenceeconomyprevails.Individualismisweaklydevelopedinfolkculturesasaresocialclasses.UnalteredfolkculturesnolongerexistinindustrializedcountriessuchastheUnitedStatesandCanada.PerhapsthenearestmodernequivalentinAngloAmericaistheAmish,aGermanAmericanfarmingsectthatlargelyrenouncestheproductsandlaborsavingdevicesoftheindustrialage.InAmishareas,horsedrawnbuggiesstillserveasalocaltransportationdeviceandthefaithfularenotpermittedtoownautomobiles.TheAmish`scentralreligiousconceptofDemut“humility”,clearlyreflectstheweaknessofindividualismandsocialclasssotypicaloffolkculturesandthereisacorrespondingstrengthofAmishgroupidentity.RarelydotheAmishmarryoutsidetheirsect.Thereligion,avarietyoftheMennonitefaith,providestheprincipalmechanismformaintainingorder.Bycontrastapopularcultureisalargeheterogeneousgroupoftenhighlyindividualisticandapronouncedmanyspecializedprofessions.Secularinstitutionsofcontrolsuchasthepoliceandarmytaketheplaceofreligionandfamilyinmaintainingorder,andamoney-basedeconomyprevails.Becauseofthesecontrasts,“popular”maybeviewedasclearlydifferentfrom“folk”.Thepopularisreplacingthefolkinindustrializedcountriesandinmanydevelopingnations.Folk-madeobjectsgivewaytotheirpopularequivalent,usuallybecausethepopularitemismorequicklyorcheaplyproduced,iseasierortimesavingtouseorleadsmoreprestigetotheowner.FolkCultures,此文章版权归原作者所有!