Maintaining Unique Folk Culture

Many fear the loss of folk culture, especially because rising incomes can fuel demand for the possessions typical of popular culture. When people turn from folk to popular culture, they may also turn away from the society’s traditional values. And the diffusion of popular culture from developed countries can lead to dominance of Western perspectives.

Amish Migration: Preserving Cultural Identity

For folk culture, increased connection with popular culture can make it difficult to maintain centuries-old practices. Shunning mechanical and electrical power, the Amish still travel by horse and buggy and continue to use hand tools for farming. The Amish are identifiable by their distinctive clothing and farming practices, but have managed to maintain their religious and language customs as well

Amish

Men bid on farm equipment at a fire department fundraiser, Gordonville, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

Although the Amish number only about one-quarter million, their folk culture remains visible on the landscape in at least 19 U.S. states. The distribution of Amish folk culture across a major portion of the U.S. landscape is explained by examining the diffusion of their culture through migration.

Distribution of Amish

Several hundred Amish families migrated to North America in two waves. The first group, primarily from Bern, Switzerland, and the Palatinate region of southwestern Germany, settled in Pennsylvania in the early 1700s, enticed by William Penn’s offer of low-priced land. Around 37,000 Amish currently live in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Because of lower land prices, the second group, from Alsace, in northeastern France, settled in Ohio, Illinois, and Iowa in the United States and Ontario, Canada, in the early 1800s. From these core areas, groups of Amish migrated to other locations where inexpensive land was available.

According to Amish tradition, every son is given a farm when he is an adult, but land suitable for farming is expensive and hard to find in Lancaster County because of its proximity to growing metropolitan areas. With the average price of farmland in southwestern Kentucky less than one-fifth that in Lancaster County, an Amish family can sell its farm in Pennsylvania and acquire enough land in Kentucky to provide adequate farmland for all the sons. Amish families are also migrating from Lancaster County to escape the influx of tourists who come from the nearby metropolitan areas to gawk at the distinctive folk culture. This geographic diffusion of Amish communities across multiple states has increased the difficulty of maintaining distinctive cultural identities.

Pause & Reflect 4.4.1

In what ways might Amish people need to interact with popular culture?

Marriage in India: Challenging Cultural Values

Rapid changes in long-established cultural values can lead to instability, and even violence, in a society. This threatens not just the institutions of folk culture but the sustainability of the society as a whole.

The global diffusion of popular culture has challenged the subservience of women to men that is embedded in some folk customs. Women may have been traditionally relegated to performing household chores, such as cooking and cleaning, and to bearing and raising children. Those women who worked outside the home were likely to perform agricultural work or trade handicrafts.

Global diffusion of popular social customs has had an unintended negative impact for women in India: an increase in demand for dowries. Traditionally, a dowry was a “gift” from one family to another, as a sign of respect. In the past, the local custom in much of India was for the groom to provide a small dowry to the bride’s family. In the twentieth century, the custom reversed, and the family of a bride was expected to provide a substantial dowry to the husband’s family

Protesting Against Dowry, New Delhi, India

The government of India enacted anti-dowry laws in 1961, but the ban is widely ignored. In fact, dowries have become much larger in modern India and an important source of income for the groom’s family. A dowry can take the form of either cash or expensive consumer goods, such as cars, electronics, and household appliances.

If the bride’s family is unable to pay a promised dowry or installments, the groom’s family may cast the bride out on the street, and her family may refuse to take her back. Husbands and in-laws angry over the small size of dowry payments killed 7,634 women in India in 2015, and disputes over dowries led to 90,000 cases of torture and cruelty toward women by men. The government has tried to ban dowries because of the adverse impact on women. Resentment felt by Indian women was captured in a video game, Angry Brides.

The Future of Folk Culture

Folk cultural traditions are increasingly subject to influences from the outside world as people migrate for economic opportunities, and opt for less expensive and more appealing alternatives that are available as a result of international trade. Movie watchers are drawn to the flashiness and high production quality of Western films. Bamboo housing structures are costlier and less reliable than using concrete blocks. Jeans and t-shirts can be less expensive, and sometimes more durable than traditional clothing alternatives. These popular culture elements are altering and co-mingling with folk culture, even in remote locations

Mixing Folk and Popular Culture

Buddhist monks and nuns from Myanmar wear traditional clothing and check their smartphones while visiting Sri Lanka.

Historically, the variety of folk cultures was a key ingredient ensuring diverse identities and opinions. Folk culture is challenged to preserve the vibrancy and diversity that existed before global economic and communication systems came into being.