ABSTRACT
If everyone in a given society shared the same culture; there would be no need to use the term ‘popular culture’ at all. This is, or was, the situation in many tribal societies, as they used to be described by social anthropologists. These descriptions might be summarised, in simplified form, as follows. A tribal society is small, isolated and selfsufficient. Carvers, singers, storytellers and their public form a faceto-face group sharing basic values and the myths and symbols in which these values are expressed. The craftsman or singer hunts, fishes or tills the soil like other members of the community, and they too carve or sing, even if they do this less frequently and less well. Audience participation in performance is important. They answer riddles and they sing choruses. Even carving may be a semi-communal activity; among the Tiv of Nigeria, if a man carving a stick is called away, a bystander may pick up the knife and carry on the work.1
