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Halloween and Cultural Diffusion
The Basic Idea of Halloween
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One story says that, on that day, the
disembodied spirits of all those who had
died throughout the preceding year would
come back in search of living bodies to
possess for the next year. It was believed
to be their only hope for the afterlife. The
Celts believed all laws of space and time
were suspended during this time, allowing
the spirit world to intermingle with the
living.
Halloween as a Religious
Practice
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The word itself, "Halloween," actually has its
origins in the Catholic Church. It comes from a
contracted corruption of All Hallows Eve.
November 1, "All Hollows Day" (or "All Saints
Day"), is a Catholic day of observance in honor of
saints. But, in the 5th century BC, in Celtic Ireland,
summer officially ended on October 31. The holiday
was called Samhain (sow-en), the Celtic New year.
Stimulus Diffusion and Religion
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The Romans adopted the Celtic practices. In the first
century AD, Samhain was assimilated into
celebrations of some of the other Roman traditions
that took place in October, such as their day to
honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruits and
trees. Pomona's symbol is the apple, which might
explain the origin of bobbing for apples.
The idea of celebrating Halloween survived but the
holiday had to change as it spread and as the
Christians came and converted people. Is this
stimulus diffusion? How is this holiday a folk
culture item at this time?
Relocation and then Expansion
Diffusion and Halloween
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The custom of Halloween was
brought to America in the
1840's by Irish immigrants
fleeing their country's potato
famine. Like most folk
customs it expanded through
relocation diffusion.
Ireland is the hearth area
Halloween as Folk Culture
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The Jack-o-lantern custom
probably comes from Irish
folklore: A man named Jack, who
was notorious as a drunkard and
trickster, tricked Satan into
climbing a tree. Jack then carved
an image of a cross in the tree's
trunk, trapping the devil up the
tree. Jack made a deal with the
devil that, if he would never tempt
him again, he would promise to let
him down the tree.
Halloween as Folk Culture
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After Jack died, he was denied
entrance to Heaven because of his
evil ways, but he was also denied
access to Hell because he had tricked
the devil. Instead, the devil gave him
a single ember to light his way
through the frigid darkness. The
ember was placed inside a hollowedout turnip to keep it glowing longer.
How do the turnip and the character
of Satan make this tale a folk culture
tale?
Folk versus Popular Culture
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Folk- traditionally practiced by
small, homogeneous groups
living in isolated areas (usually
rural)
Popular- found in large,
heterogeneous societies that
share certain habits despite
differences in other areas.
Folk territory is smaller in scale
Folk, Popular
and Halloween
CTD
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Folk- tend to have anonymous hearths and come
from areas that are isolated and can often have
separate areas that independently originate an idea
Popular- tends to come from MDC's + goes along
extra leisure time, disposable income +
industrialization.
Popular culture items tend to stay away from anything
that would identify them with one group
How will the continuing globalization of the world
affect folk and popular cultures?
Folk, Popular and
Halloween CTD
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Hierarchical Diffusion usually plays a role in the
diffusion of a trait that goes from folk to a popular
culture characteristic.
Rap music is an example of hierarchical diffusion of a
folk culture item that became a popular culture item.
Folk cultures usually spread through relocation
diffusion (migration). Example: The Amish.
How can geography explain whether or not a country
has popular culture or folk cultures?
Trick or Treat
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The custom of trick-or-treating is thought to have
originated not with the Irish Celts, but with a ninthcentury European custom called souling. On
November 2, All Souls Day, early Christians would
walk from village to village begging for "soul
cakes," made out of square pieces of bread with
currants. The more soul cakes the beggars would
receive, the more prayers they would promise to say
on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors. At the
time, it was believed that the dead remained in
limbo for a time after death, and that prayer, even by
strangers, could expedite a soul's passage to heaven.
Trick or Treat
Business
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Candy makes the holiday more marketable,
and returns a higher profit while secularizing
the holiday so it can reach a wider base. All of
these items are complaints about globalization
and its effects on folk culture.
In Sweden, even as Halloween's popularity has
increased, so have views of the holiday as an
"unnecessary, bad American custom," said
Bodil Nildin-Wall, an expert at the Language
and Folklore Institute in Uppsala.
Halloween and Clash of Cultures
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Halloween "undermines our cultural
identity," complained the Rev. Giordano
Frosini, a Roman Catholic theologian who
serves as vicar-general in the Diocese of
Pistoia near Florence, Italy.
Frosini denounced the holiday as a
"manifestation of neo-paganism" and an
expression of American cultural
supremacy. "Pumpkins show their
emptiness," he said.
What does the second statement mean?
Halloween and Clash of Cultures
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Halloween went from being folk culture to
popular. A new popular Halloween culture
from America threatens the folk culture
that Europeans have for that time of year.
Critics see it as the epitome of crass, U.S.style commercialism. Clerics and
conservatives contend it clashes with the
spirit of traditional Nov. 1 All Saints' Day
remembrances.
What is it about the American popular
style that would annoy them?
Halloween and MNC's
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Many worry that globalization and big business
will drive out local customs
To be sure, Halloween is big business in
Europe.
Germans alone spend nearly $170 million, on
Halloween costumes, sweets, decorations and
parties. The holiday has become increasingly
popular in Romania, home to the Dracula myth,
where discotheques throw parties with bat and
vampire themes.
How do big businesses quite often undermine
folk values as in the case of Halloween?
Summary of Folk Culture
Folk cultures tend to be:
-Homogeneous in ethnic and cultural
background and leery of outsiders
-Have food and clothing that is locally made
-Have strong family values that promote
having children and go against alternate
lifestyles
-Tend to be male dominated and women
tend to have lower education levels and
not to have a choice of not having
children or being independent and single.
There are low divorce rates in such a
country
-The customs of the group tend to be united
by religion.
-Conflict can often occur with those of
outside cultures or those of differing folk
cultures popular cultures.
Folk Diffusion Methods and the
Reasons for Why it Uses that
Method
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Folk culture countries lack industry,
transportation, and communication networks.
Folk countries also have people that lack leisure
time and extra cash for leisure activities
Folk cultures also tend to be homogeneous.
This tends to limit their ability to think of things
that go outside of that culture or worse yet
these cultures will view modernization as a
threat to their way of life. Some do not like the
idea of becoming a stage 4 country. Why?
Given all of these factors, why is relocation the
main method for diffusion of folk cultures?
Summary of Popular Culture
Popular cultures tend to:
-Be more about individuality and
individual rights
-People have more money and free
time and have the industries that
can exploit this.
-Popular culture items are created
based off of marketing strategies not
religious or ethnic connections. An
example of this can be found in the
differences between a McDonald's
restaurant and an Italian restaurant.
-Have less family values as they allow
for DINKS, higher divorce rates,
LATs, and other alternative lifestyles
Popular Culture Diffusion
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Popular culture countries have all of the things
that folk countries lack: industry, communication
networks, people with leisure time (middle
class) and excellent transportation networks.
Popular culture items are usually based off of
the business market. They try to appeal to all
people no matter what.
Popular culture items
tend to homogenize
the cultural and physical
landscape.
How does this
modernization threaten
folk societies? Or does
it?
Globalization and
Growth
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World economy is taking off. Of the world's six billion
people, five billion have seen a change in their lives
(in terms of economic growth) over the last twenty
years.
More and more countries are becoming developed or
are on their way and more and more people are
travelling.
What changes will happen culturally because of this?
How will this affect folk customs and
holidays?
How will societies react to these
changes?
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Mr. Lewis wonders
how this relates to
the issue of
migration.
Think of what the
migrants have come
from to what they are
going to.
How do chain
migration and ethnic
hoods relate to the
nature of folk versus
popular culture?