Folk Art as it is

“Folk art” is a form of art that expresses a culture.  Members within a culture express not only their culture but also their selves. Folk art is more over looked than regular folklore.  I didn’t realize all the things folk art pertained to until I read this article.  In the article they explain that something as little as young kids drawing pictures is a traditional form of art within a folklore group.  There is a wider range of miscellaneous forms of folk art sculptures; quilts, paper ornaments, and baskets all are considered a form of folk art. Normally these forms of artistic expressions are passed down from generation to generation and have some type of historical and personal meaning.  While reading the article I became curious about a few things. For example in the old southern culture they produce quilts as a form of traditional and educational folklore.  Each peace of the quilt symbolizes something that is significant to that specific culture.  Today many cultures continue to make this significant pieces of folk art, but bedding companies also make them.  Can a store bought quilt still posses the same cultural symbolism as a handcrafted one even if the members choose to pass it down from generation to generation?  Even though all the folk art originated from the members of the culture there a lot of outsiders that either enjoy the product or enjoy creating the form of art for their own personal entertainment. A create example of this is in the African culture they make pottery and carve symbols that pertain to their culture and their experience.  They then use the pottery to make their lives more convents.  In America many Americans who are unfamiliar with the meaning behind pottery make and sale it to outsiders for decoration or house hold task.  Art and crafts are embedded within a folklore group.  It is also interesting to know that many cultures relate certain forms of art with gender roles.  In many instances females make things such as blankets’, quilts, jewelry, and baskets while the males make weapons, arrowheads and more strenuous complicated forms of art.  There are some things that both men and woman create such as painting, sculptures, and pottery.  Americans normally share the tasks among gender roles opposed to other more strict cultures.  Many forms of art produced where produced for a certain purpose and with the resources that were provided.  Even child hood toys are a form of folk art. Things such as whistles, rattles, and fiddles were produced by children and or their parents.  These products are still made and passed down to children for entertainment.  Woodcrafts and pottery are two of the most universally used forms of art all cultures use and create a large variety of these products.

An Insider

Brunavard who started off being an outsider of the Navajo tribe adapted to their culture and declared himself an insider.  He made close relationships, married a Navajo woman, and engaged in Navajo duties.  He even gave tours to the Americans as if he new everything about the area and was a true member of the Navajo culture.  As he began to feel comfortable within the culture it came to his attention that he had not mastered the language, which is the most important part of the culture.  Not knowing the language set him back to the stage of being an outsider.  Eager to learn the language he received help from a Navajo graduate student.  During this time Brunavand became the interviewer all over again he asked questions and recorded every thing that was said so that he would miss anything.  One thing that I observed from reading the article is that when interviewing and recording people you have to abide by the rules of their beliefs and culture out of respect.  In the article the graduate student was reluctant to tell Burnavand the tales that were to only be told in the winter in concern that Burnavard would repeat them at an inappropriate time.  Burnavard promised to obey the rules of their culture and agreed to not even replay the recordings of the stories unless it was in the winter.  Brunavard was very intrigued to learn everything about the culture and language, him asking so many questions would have made him looked suspicious of witchcraft to any other Navajo member.  Witch Craft was a very serious issue in the Navajo culture.  Even though it was not easily understood by outsiders it had a huge impact on the members within the culture. Witchcraft can cause death, poverty, insanity, poor health, and isolation.   Another thing that greatly confused Brunavard was the purpose and the meanings of the coyote stories.   As an outsider it is hard to grasp the main moral of the coyote story.  In the begging of the class when we began to observe the writings of Tolken and Brunvand we observed that the coyote stories where told as a form of education to educate the children about how natural occurrences and features happen.  For example the story about the coyote getting sap in his eyes, we took the meaning of that story to describe to us why coyotes have brown fur around their eyes but the Navajo tribe not only uses those stories for those meanings but for life long meanings.  These stories are way beyond children stories they are told to people of all ages at appropriate times.  In most stories the coyote possess characteristics of selfishness, self-destructive, foolish, and gluttonous.  All of these characteristics lead to destruction and wont allow you to prosper.  In the article the Navajo graduate continues to tell Brunavand the coyotes story about how he killed and cooked the prairie dogs that insulted him.  I believe that the Navajo graduate continues to tell Brunavard this story in hopes that he will be cautious in what he says so that he will not insult the other Navajo members on accident, while trying to collect his findings.

HOMECOMING (Extra Credit)

Homecoming is a largely broadcasted event throughout high schools and colleges in America.  This event is classified as a form of folklore because it is passed down from generation to generation throughout the American culture.  Mizzou was the first college to ever have a homecoming.  Because they were the first to initiate it Homecoming is a very big deal amongst Mizzou students, alumni, and fans.  This has been my first homecoming at the University.  The African American community on campus participated in a separate itinerary of events.  The week began with students preparing outfits, posters, and plans for the fun filled weekend. 

Thursday was the begging of the events.  The LBC massacre homecoming ball took place in a hotel where hundreds of Mizzou’s African American students joined to eat, dance, and reveal the winners of homecoming court. Every one dressed in formal clothing the males wore suits and ties and the females wore formal evening dresses.  The court consisted of popular males and females that sought to gain recognition from their peers.  There was a pair chosen from each grade. The winners won a sash and a crown.  After the revealing ceremony was over everybody began to dance to ethnic modern music until the ball was over.

 Friday, the day before the game, friends and family of the students began to arrive to join in on the festivities.  The campus of over 30,000 students began to quickly flood with eager and excited foreigners.   The homecoming comedy show was the first event planed for the day. Everyone joined in Jesse auditorium to be entertained by some the most entraining famous African-American comedians.  After the comedy show everyone went to their friends dorms to prepare their selves for the homecoming parties that where taking place.  The females wore provocative clothing, make up, and spent hours arranging their hair.  The parties did not begin until ten o’clock that evening.  As an observer I noticed the behavior of the men and women at this event.  The female’s dances in a circle with their immediate friends until a male would approach them for a dance.  The pair would dance until the song is over, potentially exchange contact information and continue this process with many people until the party comes to an end.  The party ended at three o’clock in the morning.  Everyone danced to their cars and began to discuss how much they fun they had experienced.

            The most intense day of the weekend is Saturday, which is game day. As I walked out side all I saw was swarms of yellow as almost every person on campus supported the school by wearing the traditional school colors.  The parade began that afternoon.  The parade consisted of thousands of Mizzou fans that walked the streets of Columbia with music and festive cheering.  After the parade was over the African-American Greek steep show began.  Greek fraternities and sororities joined in the quad to perform rehearsed steeps and dances.  Former fraternity and sorority members form chapters as far back as 1965 came to join the performance.   The crowd roared in excitement as the steppers preformed intensely.  After the step show many people went to the game to whiteness the Mizzou tigers claim victory over America’s number one ranked college football team of the year. After the game was over the opposing team walked sluggishly to their cars as the Mizzou fans ranted and raved around the campus to their next destination.  There where dozens of parties where young college students from almost every college in Missouri attended.  Students swarmed the small town of Columbia until the sun arose. 

            Sunday was basically a rest day as the friends and families packed up to return back to their homes and school and the students began to recoup from the intense weekend.  

Meat Preservatives

Food brings people together it is a universal cultural characteristic.  In many cultures the members use their other members together.  Food is provided for birthdays, thanksgiving, Christmas, and many other group gatherings.  The foods that different cultures consume derives from what was provided for them by the geographical area they are around.  Cultures in different cultures eat different animals, plants, and fruits that may not be available in other countries.  Also the way food is prepared and preserved is different due to technology and rituals.  In the reading the early American culture had to preserve their meats with salt and sugar to prevent spoilage.  Today some grocery stores sale salted meat such as salt pork.  Because of highly advanced technology many Americans use other preservatives and electronics and appliances to preserve meats.  Even though the World has greatly improved in technology, people choose lifestyles that comply with their culture and their selves as a whole.  There are may people in the central part of Missouri who still use the old cultural process of salt preservation.  The Little Dixie is a small part of Missouri where people still live their lives like people did in the south in the 1800’s.  They refuse to use the technology that is offered to them for their benefit.  Most cultures do things because that’s what they were taught by the earlier members of the culture.  The technique of preserving meat is imbedded within the culture because it is a type of tradition that is passed down through out the years.  In the reading they preserved meat such as pork and beef. These two meats reveal a lot about the culture.  The reader can assume that this culture does not originate from origins of Asia because cows and cattle are sacred in all Middle East cultures and pigs are thought of to be dirty and forbidden animals.  Even though food can bring cultures together on a common level it can also divide them.  

THE BLUES

Music is a form of folklore because it validates a culture.  Different cultures have different forms of music with different meanings.  Within in the American culture music is a way of life every American listens to some form of music.  The American culture is more diverse than any other culture; every citizen comes from a different ethnic background.  In the reading the author discusses the ownership behind blues music.  In my opinion within the American culture it is not right to assign a certain race with a style of music.  Even though African-Americans may have the originators of blues, jazz, R&b, and rap music, it doesn’t mean that other races cannot master those forms of music.  During the time of segregation and racism Caucasian people still enjoyed African American music.  There were also Caucasian people such as Elvis who could sing the blues and different genres of music that sounded as well as African-American blues.  Some African-Americans such as my grandfather believe that the “Whit man” stole jazz and blues from us and tried to make it their own.  He is bitter because he believes white people can never let black people have anything.  In the late 1940’s white music groups used to steal the songs of African-American groups and claim it as their own which caused white groups to make more money and fame than the African-American groups.  I believe the ability of ones vocals to sing blues, jazz, country, or gospel is based on genetics and not the color of their skin.  In regards to the reading when it comes to authenticity then I believe that is where the racial claims play apart.  African-Americans and Caucasians are sub cultures within the American culture.  Both races have been experienced different struggles and are accustomed to different cultural backgrounds.  Music has always been a major part of the African-American culture dated all the way to slavery and beyond.  Africans used music and dance to relate an issue rather good or bad.  When slaves came America they sang songs in code so their slave masters couldn’t not understand what they where discussing.  They also sang about their awful struggles, which were passed down from generation to generation and where conformed to different styles of music such as the blues.  On the surface Blues is not a racial thing anyone can sing the blues regardless of nationality, but within a certain culture which it derived from then I would have to agree with it being authenticated by African-Americans.

TL;DR MEME

Tl;dr means “to long, don’t read”.  This meme describes aspects that relate to the American Culture.  Wikipeda is an informational website that Americans use to find research about nearly any topic of concern. This image depics how much Wikipedia offers.  This shows how reliable the internet is in America, unlike other countries who’s technology is not as advanced as ours.  This meme also shows a factor of laziness.  Reading is not a popular hobby among Americans.  When it comes to strenuous work or lengthy readings Americans try to find the easy way out. Wikipedia is used for educaional 

purposes within a folklore group.  It informs and also entertains.  Due to the fact that Wikipedia is open for the public to add information it is not an professional or institutioanl form of work. Wikiepia is an unofficial form of communication that is distrbuted to a group of people who seek to discover the same information about intersting topics.  Even though Wikipedia is an American bades website they also offer information in other languages to accomidate other cultures who may me curious about certain issues. This meme is entertaining and humorous because as an American I can relate to the joke behind the image. I find myself using Wikipedia whenever I need to know an answer.  It is alot eaiser to go online and read information about a topic by just typing in the name rather than reading an encylopidia.  If wiipedia was converted into a book this image wouldnt even compare to the information that Wikipedia provides. 

Is 9/11 Really Funny?

               The Bombing of the world trade center on 9/11 was a major disaster that will always be apart of the America culture.  Due to the fact that other countries were involved, this event is well known to the entire world. Reading this article made me realize that folklore is apart of everything.  This event will be known as a legend in the American culture because it is written down in history and taught in schools to the younger generations. Kuiper’s observation of the disaster and the behavior of Americans showed that humor had died after the attack.  As an American I actually experienced the event.  I believe that humor will always be a major part in American culture. At this tragic time it brought Americans closer together. Humor was used to lighten up the situation.  Many jokes where related through the Internet, which shows how the Internet is a necessity to Americans. Other countries may forbid or think it is disrespectful to make jokes or laugh about a disaster so tragic.  It wasn’t until a year later when Americans felt comfortable to make jokes about the attack. Now nine years later you can find an array of 9/11 jokes on the Internet, in stand up comedic shows, and on television.   I think that these jokes are a way to cope with the pain.  This is still a very sensitive issue for many Americans because this event was the cause of the war against America and Iraq.  Thousands of Americans are still loosing their lives due to 9/11.  The jokes told about 9/11 are also considered to be a form of folklore because it is a form of entertainment that offers escape from the real world.