Sunday, March 4, 2007

"Folkways and handicrafts"

From OED:

Folkways: "term coined by William Graham Sumner in his treatise Folkways (1906) to denote those group habits that are common to a society or culture and are usually called customs. The word provided a useful contribution to the development of the concept of culture and is still used in its technical sense in sociological literature. Fashions in clothing or modes of recreation exemplify folkways. The term has failed to maintain the currency it once enjoyed among the other social sciences but has gained acceptance as a colloquial term."

I would add "systems of oral/aural knowledge." Ways of knowing things and doing things that are passed on through person-to-person contact, typically involving demonstration and imitation, and the carrying of information and knowledge of how to do things in the memory--not in books or other objectified knowledge systems.

From Wikipedia:

"Handicraft, also known as craftwork or simply craft, is a type of work where useful and decorative devices are made completely by hand or using only simple tools. Usually the term is applied to traditional means of making goods. The individual artisanship of the items is a paramount criterion, such items often have cultural and/or religious significance...Handicrafted items are intended to be used, worn, et cetera, having a purpose beyond simple decoration. Handicrafts are generally considered more traditional work, created as a necessary part of daily life."

I would add, typically handicrafts represent the knowledge and physical skills necessary to create (typically "by hand") objects and items for everyday use: tools, clothing, ornaments, and so on. Handicrafts tend to be very localized: that is, they differ in productions and details from place to place. Thus, they are a part of "material culture," and analysis of how they are made and the purposes to which they are put can tell us how people think about their day-to-day existence. See Hanry Glassie tools, food, buildings, ways of working the land, and so on.

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