陳蕙雅思教材 - 雅思閱讀精選 (Folk Cultures)

Folk Cultures

A folk culture is a smallisolated, cohesive, conservative, nearly

self-sufficient group thatis homogeneous in     custom and race witha strong

family or clan structureand highly developed rituals. Order is maintained

through         sanctions based in the religion orfamily 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 andsubsistence economy prevails. Individualism is

weakly developed in folkcultures as are social  classes. Unalteredfolk

cultures no longer existin industrialized countries such as the United

States and Canada.             Perhaps the nearest modernequivalent in Anglo America

is the Amish, a GermanAmerican farming sect that largely    renouncesthe

products and labor savingdevices  of  the industrial  age.  In Amish  

areas,  horse drawn  buggies  still   serve  as  a local transportation

device and the faithfulare not permitted to own automobiles. The Amish's

central religious conceptof Demut "humility", clearly reflects the

weakness of individualism and social class so   typical of folk cultures and

there is a correspondingstrength of Amish group identity. Rarely do the  

Amish  marry        outsidetheir sect. The religion,  a  variety of the

Mennonite faith, providesthe principal mechanism for           maintainingorders.

By contrast a popularculture is a large heterogeneous group often highly

individualistic andconstantly changing.  Relationships tendto be

impersonal and apronounced division of labor exists, leading to the

establishment of manyspecialized professions. Secular institutions of

control such as thepolice  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          viewedas clearly different from "folk". The

popular is replacing thefolk in industrialized countries and in           many

developing nations.Folk-made objects give way to their popular equivalent,

usually because thepopular item  is more quickly or cheaplyproduced, is

easier or time saving touse or leads more prestige to the owner.

民間文化民間文化是小型的、孤立的、緊密的、保守的、近乎自給自足的群體，具有同 樣的習俗、同樣的人種和強有力的家庭或部族結構以及高度發展的宗教儀式。  

秩序由宗教 或家庭的約束來維持，成員間的關係非常緊密，傳統至高無上，很少有變動且變動緩慢。 勞 動專業分工相對較少。

每個人都要做各類活計，儘管男女兩性分工不同。 絕大多數物品是 手工製造的，經濟一般為自給自足型。  個人主義和社會階層在民間文化群體中的發展十分

薄弱。在象美國和加拿大這樣的工業化國家裡，一成不變的民間文化群體已不復存在了。在 當代美洲的英語區，與民間文化最相似的群體也許算是 Amish。

Amish 是美國的德裔農耕 部落，他們基本上拒絕接受工業時代的大多數產品和節省勞力的設施。  在 Amish 地區，輕

便馬車仍是當地的交通工具，信徒們不允許擁有汽車。 Amish 宗教中的核心觀念 Demut 即 謙卑典型地反映了在民間文化群中個人主義和階級的不發達。

而與此同時，Amish  對群體 的認同性卻十分強。 Amish 人很少和他們宗派以外的人通婚。  其宗教，作為Mennonite 信

仰的一種，提供了維護秩序的主要機制。  相反，大眾文化是包含不同種族的大群體，通常 高度個性化而且不斷在變化。

人際關係冷漠，勞動分工明確，由此產生了許多專門的職業。 世俗的控制機構，比如員警和軍隊，取代了宗教和家庭來維持秩序，而且實行的是貨幣經濟。

由於存在著這些差異，"大眾的"與"民間的"可謂大相徑庭。  在工業化國家以及許多發展中 國家裡，大眾文化正在取代民間文化。  

民間製造的物品正讓位於大眾化產品，這通常是因 為大眾化的物品製造起來更快、更便宜，用起來更容易、更方便或者是能給其所有者帶來更 多的威望。