Vernacular culture
Vernacular culture is the cultural forms made and organised by ordinary, often indigenous people, as distinct from the high culture of an elite.[1] One feature of culture is that it is informal.[2] Such culture is generally engaged in on a non-profit and voluntary basis, and is almost never funded by the state
The term is used in the modern study of geography and cultural studies. It generally implies a cultural form that differs markedly from a deeply rooted folk culture, and also from tightly organised subcultures and religious cultures.
Examples
- the making and shaping of personal gardens, market garden allotments
- amateur photography, family albums
- scrapbooking
- the making and showing of home movies
- self-organising creative circles, such as for knitting, sewing, quilting, storytelling, photography, dance, and painting
- amateur dramatics and youth dance groups
- local history and historical re-enactment groups
- book reading and discussion circles
- local horticultural produce and pet shows
- inventors groups, and leagues of amateur robot builders
- amateur beauty pageants
- local food networks and "annual dinners"
- informal investment clubs, which meet regularly in a social setting to jointly decide which stocks and investment vehicles to invest their money in
- fetes, parades, seasonal and traditional celebrations
- children's street culture
- parent-organised informal child sports and gym teams
- roadside shrines to traffic victims, and small self-made shrines at gravesites
- some forms of weblog and internet culture
One could also include the design of home-made vernacular signage and notices
Some of these activities, such as gardens, family albums, and grave memorials, will be organized on a family basis. Larger activities are usually organized through informal variations of the British committee system, consisting of a chairman, secretary, treasurer, agenda, minutes, and an annual meeting with elections based on a quorum.
See also
- Vernacular (disambiguation)
- Vernacular dance
- Vernacular literature
- Vernacular architecture
- Spirit of place
- Grassroots
- Stuckism
References
- ↑ Douillet, Catherine (Summer 2008). "Constructing Vernacular Culture in the Trans-Caribbean (review)". Anthropological Quarterly. 81 (3): 741–746. doi:10.1353/anq.0.0025. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
- ↑ Chen, Lee Ban. "Vernacular Education System and the Left (Part 1)". Critical Thinking Circle. Retrieved 30 August 2013.