Folk culture

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Folk culture refers to the localized lifestyle of a subsistence or otherwise inward looking culture. It is usually handed down through oral tradition and a strong sense of community, and values the "old ways" over novelty. Finally, folk culture is quite often imbued with a sense of place. If its elements are copied by, or removed to, a foreign locale, they will still carry strong connotations of their original place of creation.

Examples of American folk cultures include:

Baptist choral works
Bluegrass music
the cakewalk
Louisiana Creole cuisine cuisine, music, and language
Dixieland jazz
handmade quilts
the islands of Hawaii maintain a dynamic traditional culture including the hula, leis, a pantheon of nature gods, and the concept of aloha
powwows
native tribal regalia
Shaker architecture and furniture
some Alaskan tribes still hunt whales with traditional spiritual rites
tipis
wild rice is still gathered by hand in the traditional manner in the United States' northwoods

Obviously, because they are appearing here, all of the above mentioned items have entered mainstream consciousness to varying degrees, but none of them have been so distorted from their original form as to have lost their culturally specific sense of place. Blue jeans and McDonald's are cultural icons which have, in contrast, been made so international that they have lost their original sense of place and are no longer considered folk culture. Similarly, Federalist architecture was created in the United States, but in a style influenced by, and meant to appeal to, outside interests. It is the emphasis on looking inward without reference to the outside that separates folk culture from pop culture.

However, folk culture has always informed pop culture and even high culture. The minuet and other stately dances of European court society were based on the dances of peasants. Similarly, the European courtly rage for pastoral romance was based on an idealized vision of shepherd's lives. More recently, the consciously self-centered culture of the Amish has been portrayed for comic value in Hollywood films and big media reality shows, and the archetypal costume of the cowboy has been reinvented in gleaming silver for disco dancers and strippers.

Folk culture

See also