4.1 Where Are Folk and Popular Leisure Activities Distributed?

Folk Culture is traditionally practiced primarily by small, homogeneous groups

living in isolated rural areas
Popular Culture is found in large, heterogeneous societies that share certain
habits despite differences in other personal characteristics

Two elements of culture

o Daily necessities: Food, clothing and shelter All people must consume
food, wear clothes, and find shelter, but different cultural groups do it in
different ways
o Leisure activities: Arts and recreation Each cultural group has its own
definition of meaningful art and simulating recreation
Habit: repetitive act that a particular individual performs, such as
wearing jeans to class everyday
Custom: repetitive act of a group, performed to the extent that it
becomes characteristics of the group, such as many students
typically wearing jeans to class
Habit doesnt mean its accepted by society in the way a
custom is

Characteristics of Folk and Popular Culture

o Origin
Culture starts at a heart (center of innovation)
Many folk cultures have unknown hearts & starts
Popular culture usually starts in developed countries
Can usually trace to specific person/place
o Diffusion
Folk culture is transmitted from one location to another more
slowly and on a smaller scale, mostly through relocation diffusion
Popular culture usually spreads rapidly
o Distribution
Popular culture is spread through many countries
Bc easy to access
Tibetan Mountain study
P. Karan and Cotton Mather
Distinctive views of physical environment are shown
through cultural groups (religious mostly)
Studied through paintings
o Buddhists: gods, saints, bizarre or terrifying to
represent inhospitable environment

o Hindus: everyday life, deity in domestic scene,

sometimes represent violence and extreme climate
conditions
o Muslims: beauty in plants and flowers bc Muslim faith
prohibits displaying animate objects in art. Dont
show harsh climate conditions
o Animists: symbols and designs from religion instead
of environment
Showed how folk customs are influenced by cultural
institutions

Origin and Diffusion of Folk and Popular Music

o Folk Music
Chinese legend says music was invented in 2697 BC when
Emperor Huang Ti sent Ling Lyn to cut bamboo pols that would
produce a sound that matched the call of a Phoenix
Not written by a single person, orally passed on
Folk songs usually tell a story about life-cycle events
o Popular Music
Written by a specific person
Sold or performed to large group of people
Most pop music sounds the same, lots of electronic stuff in it

Origin and Diffusion of Folk and Popular Sports

o Soccer is most known sport
Origin of Soccer: Folk Culture
Earliest documented was England in 11th century
Danish invasion between 1018 and 1042, workers saw
Danish persons head, kicked it around
Early soccer games would be two villages kicking a ball
and whoever got it in the center of rival village won
Banned in England in late 12th century to 1603.
Was originally an English folk game
Diffusion of Soccer: Popular Culture
Started spreading in 1800s
People started paying to watch games, hired professional
players
1863 the first actual pro league started
Olympic Sports
Sport needs to be practiced in 75 countries (50 for women)
28 sports in 2016 Olympics
Surviving Folk Sports
Cricket

Wushu
Baseball
Aussie Football