Cultural Patterns
Introduced| English | Meaning |
|---|---|
| popular culture/ˈpɒpjʊlə ˈkʌltʃə/ | Widely circulated cultural practices and products shared across large, diverse populations, often through mass media and commercial networks. |
| folk culture/fəʊk ˈkʌltʃə/ | Cultural practices maintained through local tradition and close community ties, while still capable of changing through contact. |
| taboo/tæˈbuː/ | A forbidden act; customs are accepted ways. |
| customs/ˈkʌstəmz/ | The usual, accepted ways of doing things. |
| indigenous culture/ɪnˈdɪdʒənəs ˈkʌltʃə/ | The practices, knowledge and identities of peoples with longstanding ties to a territory and continuity with its earlier inhabitants. |
Folk and popular culture
- Folk culture 民俗文化 is traditional, local, and slow to change (a village craft or dance).
- Popular culture 流行文化 is widespread, fast-changing, and spread by media.
- Folk culture ties to place; popular culture spreads everywhere.
Folk or popular culture?
Sort each example as folk culture or popular culture.
A traditional dance performed only in one region and passed down for generations is...
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Local, traditional, slow-changing = folk culture.
Widespread, fast-changing culture spread by media is ____ culture.
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Popular culture spreads globally through media.
Select all features of folk culture.
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Folk culture is local, traditional, slow; mass media spreads popular culture.
Rules and taboos
- A taboo 禁忌 is something a culture forbids or considers shameful.
- Customs 习俗 are the usual, accepted ways of doing things.
- Both vary hugely between cultures — what is normal in one may be taboo in another.
What is taboo in one culture may be perfectly normal in another.
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Taboos vary widely between cultures.
Local and indigenous
- Indigenous culture 本土文化 belongs to the original people of a region.
- Popular global culture can threaten folk and indigenous traditions.
- Some communities work hard to preserve their language and customs.
Match each term to its meaning.
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Taboo = forbidden; custom = accepted; indigenous = original people.
"Folk" does not mean primitive, and "popular" does not mean better. Folk culture is deeply tied to place and identity; popular culture spreads fast but can flatten local difference. Describe them neutrally, not as a ranking.
A hand-woven regional costume worn only at a village festival is folk culture. A global pop song streamed by millions the same week is popular culture. Eating certain foods may be a custom in one place and a taboo in another.
Folk culture is local, traditional, slow-changing; popular culture is widespread, fast, media-spread. A taboo is a forbidden act; customs are accepted ways. Indigenous culture belongs to a region's original people and can be threatened by global popular culture.
Write from a song as popular culture
- A song is streamed in 40 countries in one week.
- The lyrics change quickly with fashion.
Is this folk culture or popular culture?
Wide, rapid, media-borne spread is popular culture.
What kind of culture is this widely streamed song?
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Forty countries in a week is wide and fast.