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TOEFL Directory > TOEFL writing > 47 Folk Cultures
47 Folk Cultures
A folk culture is a small isolated, cohesive, conservative, nearly self-
sufficient group that is homogeneous in custom and race with a strong
family or clan structure and highly developed rituals. Order is
maintained through sanctions based in the religion or family and
interpersonal. Relationships are strong. Tradition is paramount, and
change comes infrequently and slowly. There is relatively little
division of labor into specialized duties. Rather, each person is
expected to perform a great variety of tasks, though duties may differ
between the sexes. Most goods are handmade and subsistence economy
prevails. Individualism is weakly developed in folk cultures as are
social classes. Unaltered folk cultures no longer exist in
industrialized countries such as the United States and Canada. Perhaps
the nearest modern equivalent in Anglo America is the Amish, a German
American farming sect that largely renounces the products and labor
saving devices of
the industrial age. In Amish areas, horse drawn buggies still serve as a
local transportation device and the faithful are not permitted to own
automobiles. The Amish's central religious concept of Demut
"humility? clearly reflects the weakness of individualism and social
class so typical of folk cultures and there is a corresponding strength
of Amish group identity. Rarely do the Amish marry outside their sect.
The religion, a variety of the Mennonite faith, provides the principal
mechanism for maintaining order.
By contrast a popular culture is a large heterogeneous group often
highly individualistic and a pronounced many specialized professions.
Secular institutions of control such as the police and army take the
place of religion and family in maintaining order, and a money-based
economy prevails. Because of these contrasts, "popular?may be viewed
as clearly different from "folk? The popular is replacing the folk in
industrialized countries and in many developing nations. Folk-made
objects give way to their popular equivalent, usually because the
popular item is more quickly or cheaply produced, is easier or time
saving to use or leads more prestige to the owner.
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