Folk and Popular Culture

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Folk and Popular Culture

• Key Issues
• Where do folk and popular cultures originate and
  diffuse
• Why is folk culture clustered?
• Why is popular culture widely distributed
• Why does globalization of popular culture cause
  problems?

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Key Issue 1 Where do folk and pop cultures
originate and diffuse?

• Habit- a repetitive act that a particular
  individual performs.
• Custom- a repetitive act that a particular group
  performs.
• Folk culture- the culture traditionally practiced
  primarily by small, homogenous groups living in
  isolated rural areas. Amish, Basque
• Popular culture- the culture found in large,
  heterogeneous societies that share certain habits
  despite differences in other personal
  characteristics.
• Material Culture the physical objects produced
  by a culture in order to meet its material needs
  food, clothing, shelter, arts, and recreation.
  Carl Sauer (Berkeley, 1930s 1970s).

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What is Culture?

• The study of lifestyles, creations, relationships
  and supernatural-
• Cultural Geography- all encompassing- Why culture
  is expressed in different ways
• Anthropocentrism- interpreting or regarding the
  world in terms of human values and experiences
• Enculturation is the process by which a child
  learns his or her culture.

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Features of Culture

• 1. Styles of Dress
• 2. Ways of Greeting People
• 3. Beliefs about Hospitality
• 4. Importance of Time
• 5. Paintings
• 6. Values
• 7. Literature
• 8. Beliefs about Child Raising (Children Teens)
• 9. Attitudes about Personal Space/Privacy
• 10. Beliefs about the Responsibilities
• 11. Gestures
• 12. Holiday Customs
• 13. Music
• 14. Dancing
• 15. Celebrations

• 16. Concept of Fairness
• 17. Nature of Friendship
• 18. Ideas about Clothing
• 19. Foods
• 20. Eating Habits
• 21. Facial Expressions and Hand Gestures
• 22. Concept of Self
• 23. Work Ethic
• 24. Religious Beliefs
• 25. Religious Rituals
• 26. Concept of Beauty
• 27. Rules of Polite Behavior
• 28. Attitude Toward Age
• 29. Beliefs about the Importance of Family
• 30. General World View

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Cultures around the world
Source Johns Hopkins Photo Share
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The Fundamentals of Culture

• The fundamental ways cultures differ is in the
  way they view
• The concept of time (e.g., How important is
  punctuality? Are peoples lives driven by the
  clock, or do people have a more relaxed view of
  time?)
• The concept of the self (e.g., Is the culture
  more individualist, or is it more collectivist?
  Is individual self-reliance and independence more
  important, or is ensuring the well-being of the
  group more important?)
• The concept of focus of control (e.g., Do people
  believe they control their own lives and their
  own destinies, or do people believe things just
  happen to them due to fateor due to outside
  forces they cannot control?)
• The concept of personal vs. societal obligations
  (e.g., Do the same rules apply to everyone,
  regardless of the situation, or are exceptions
  made for certain individuals depending on the
  circumstances?)

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• The Basics
• Material vs. Non-Material Culture- Songbook vs.
  Song- Belief vs. Temple
• Carl Sauer- The Cultural Landscape (Built
  Environment)- Humans footprint on their space
• Sequent Occupancy- left over culture

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Levels of Culture

• National culture refers to those experiences,
  beliefs, learned behavior patterns, values, and
  institutions that are shared by citizens of the
  same nation.
• International culture refers to cultural
  practices that extend beyond and across national
  boundaries.
• Cultural practices may be transmitted through
  diffusion.
• Subcultures are identifiable cultural patterns
  and traditions associated with particular groups
  in the same complex society.

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French Wine Regions
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Features of Culture

• Cultural universals are certain biological,
  psychological, social, and cultural features that
  are found in every culture.
• Cultural generalities include features that are
  common to several but not all human groups.
• Cultural particularities are features that are
  unique to certain cultural traditions.
• Culture Trait- the simplest form of culture- a
  single attribute of culture
• A handshake as a greeting- bowing for respect
• Culture Complex- Combination of all culture
  traits
• USA- Culture

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• Values Comprise ideas about what in life seems
  important. They guide the rest of the
  culture. Norms Consist of expectations of how
  people will behave in various situations. Each
  culture has methods, called sanctions, of
  enforcing its norms.Institutions Institutions
  are the structures of a society within which
  values and norms are transmitted. ArtifactsThin
  gs, or aspects of material culturederive from a
  culture's values and norms. Clothing Buildings
  Tools etc 

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Mechanisms of Cultural Change - Acculturation

• Acculturation is the exchange of cultural
  features that results when groups come into
  continuous firsthand contact.
• Dominate cultures usually push
• Acculturation- the weaker of the two adopts the
  dominate- Colonialism- Imperialism
• This leads to Assimilation- the weaker culture
  adopts all of the dominate culture-
  African-Americans in the 20s
• English Language vs. the USA
• A pidgin is an example of acculturation, because
  it is a language form that develops by blending
  language elements from different languages in
  order to facilitate communication between
  populations in contact (e.g. in trade
  relationships).

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Assimilation, Transculturation

• Diffusion happens as we come into contact with
  each other
• Cultural Convergence- two cultures adopting each
  others traits- Swahili
• Transculturation- Mutual exchange-

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• Independent Innovation- Creating similar
  innovation without interaction- Pyramids,
  Agriculture, domestication- Aliens???

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Folk and Pop Culture

• Folk Culture- Smaller region and Number
• Isolated- Long lasting Cultural traits
• Amish, Geisha, Music, Housing, Country Music in
  the Appalachian Mountains
• Spread through Relocation Diffusion
• Pop Culture- Mass Diffusion-
• Folk usually do not accept or have never been
  exposed
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v5SnR-e0S6Ic

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• Maladaptive Diffusion- Impractical cultural trait
• Blue Jeans, Rap Music,
• Cultural Imperialism- Imperialized the culture-
  McDonalds, KFC etc..
• USA- Star bucks
• Rises to Cultural Nationalism
• Cultural Homogeneity- Destruction of Pop Culture
• Pop Culture and Consumption- Cars, Golf Courses,
  Water Bottles,
• Taboo- Against the Cultural Norm- Judaism,
  Hinduism, Islam
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vs_iwrt7D5OA

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• Sentinelese-
• Sentinelese exercise complete autonomy over their
  affairs and the involvement of the Indian
  authorities is restricted to occasional
  monitoring, even more infrequent and brief
  visits, and generally discouraging any access or
  approaches to the island. It is therefore de
  facto autonomous.
• In 2006, Sentinelese archers killed two fishermen
  who were fishing illegally within range of the
  island. The archers later drove off, with a hail
  of arrows, the helicopter that was sent to
  retrieve the bodies

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Types of Social Customs

• First type
• Customs which are derived from basic human needs
  especially food, clothing and clothing
• The methods people choose to meet these needs
  result in varying landscapes around the world.
• Second type
• Related to peoples choices in leisure activities
• Leisure activities arts recreation

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Customs

• Arts literature, performing arts visual arts
• Leisure activities involves recreation, both
  active, such as sports, and passive, such as
  television viewing or listening to music.
• Cultural Landscapes
• In monochronic cultures, the belief is that time
  is fixed and people need to regulate their lives
  by it
• In polychronic cultures, the belief is that time
  is the servant and tool of people.

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Space Concepts

• The western cultures focus their attention on
  objects, and neglect the space in between.
• The Japanese, on the other hand, honor the space
  in between as ma.
• In a different system, the Hopi Indians have in
  their language no words for a fixed room all
  objects are described in their relation to each
  other, but no concept of a three dimensional
  space exists.
• Also the way we deal with space is different.
• The concepts of the private space, the space
  orientation, the interpersonal distance and the
  space design.

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Culture Regions and Realms

• Cultural Regions- drawn around people with
  similar culture
• People often share regional identity- regional
  identity common culture or emotional attachment
• Leads to perceptual regions (Vernacular)- China
  Town- Alabama vs. Tennessee
• Cause problems so we often use a cultural icon-
  Cowboy- Jersey Shore
• Cultural Realm (geographic)- Merging large
  cultures together- Anglo-America, Latin America,
  Europe, Sub-Saharan, Slavic, Sino Japanese,
  Indic, austral-European

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Wine Production per year
The distribution of wine production shows the
joint impact of the physical environment and
social customs.
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Hog Production Food Cultures
Annual hog production is influenced by
religious taboos against pork consumption in
Islam and other religions. The highest
production is in China, which is largely Buddhist.
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• A social custom originates at a hearth, a center
  of innovation.
• Folk customs tend to have anonymous sources, from
  unknown dates, through multiple hearths
• pop culture generally has a known originator,
  normally from MDCs, and results from more
  leisure time and more capital.
• EX Folk music tells stories or conveys
  information about daily activities.
• That terrible polka music you listen to at a
  family reunion
• Call out songs from slavery, chariot
• Pop music is written by specific individuals for
  the purpose of being sold to a large number of
  people.
• TI, Katy Perry, Gagnam Style

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• Diffusion of folk and pop culture differs
• Folk customs tend to diffuse slowly and then,
  primarily through physical relocation of
  individuals.
• Pop customs tend to diffuse rapidly and primarily
  through hierarchical diffusion from the nodes.
  (Certain fads can diffuse contagiously)

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Questions

• Give an example of each region using a global
  relationship (country)
• Draw an example of a cultural Icon for each
  region
• Explain and give a current example of
  Acculturation- Assimilation- and Transculturation
  

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• Popular Music Popular music is written by
  specific individuals for the purpose of being
  sold to a large number of people. It displays a
  high degree of technical skills and is frequently
  capable of being performed only in a studio with
  electronic equipment Origin of Popular music It
  originated around 1900.The first music industry
  was developed in New York along the 28th streets
  between fifth avenue and Broadway, to provide
  songs for the music hall and vaudeville. This
  area later came to be known as Tin Pan
  Alley.Diffusion of American popular music
  started during the World War II. English became
  the language of popular music.
• Hip Hop A more recent form of popular music.
  Originated in the south Bronx, New York, in the
  late 1970s.It spread to Oakland and Atlanta in
  the late 1980s.Then to large cities in the South,
  Midwest and West

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• Blue Grass
• Mumford and Sons
• Julia Fallows
• Prince Royce
• Kpop
• Fine China- Chris Brown

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Key Issue 2 Why is folk culture clustered?

• ISOLATION- promotes cultural diversity as a
  groups unique customs develop over several
  centuries.
• Folk culture varies widely from place to place at
  one time. Since most folk culture deals in some
  way with the lives and habits of its people, the
  physical environment in which the people act has
  a tremendous impact on the culture.

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Clustering of Folk Cultures

• Isolation promotes cultural diversity
• Himalayan art
• Influence of the physical environment
• Distinctive food preferences
• Folk housing
• U.S. folk house forms

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Himalayan Folk Cultural Regions
Cultural geographers have identified four
distinct culture regions based on predominant
religions in the Himalaya Mountains.
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Broadly Defined Cultural Areas
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The 5,000 Worldwide Indigenous Cultures
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• Folk Culture rapidly changing and/or
  disappearing throughout much of the world.

Guatemalan Market
Portuguese Fishing Boat
Turkish Camel Market
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• People living in folk culture are likely to be
  farmers growing their own food, using hand tools
  and/or animal power.
• Local food preferences are a large part of the
  folk customs of that region.
• Pork vs. Beef, Fish vs. Red Meat, Bread, Chicken
  etc..
• Religious, social, or economic factors often
  determine the type and amount of food consumed in
  a given region.

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Hog Production and Food Cultures
Fig. 4-6 Annual hog production is influenced by
religious taboos against pork consumption in
Islam and other religions. The highest production
is in China, which is largely Buddhist.
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FOLK FOOD
How did such differences develop?
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• Housing preference is another major contributor
  to folk culture. Local traditions, as well as
  environmental factors determine the type of house
  that is built in a region.

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FOLK ARCHITECTURE
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House Types in Western China
Four communities in western China all have
distinctive house types.
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FOLK ARCHITECTURE
Effects on Landscape usually of limited scale
and scope. Agricultural fields, terraces, grain
storage Dwellings historically created from
local materials wood, brick, stone, skins often
uniquely and traditionally arranged always
functionally tied to physical environment.
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The Cultural Landscape and Identity

• Land Survey- parceling methods of land
• Nucleus- English Settlements including the USA-
  Nucleus and farm around it
• Metes-and-Bounds- Natural boundaries
• Leads to issues when the boundaries move
• Rectangular land survey- USA after England
• Put it on a grid
• Long Lot System- found in French areas of the USA
  and areas the Spanish came
• Found with a river at the front for the soil

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• Derelict Landscape
• Consumption Landscape
• The Citarum River in Indonesia.
• Corn Belt
• Nodes Navigation

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• Taboo a restriction on behavior imposed by
  social custom.
• Ex little to no pork is consumed in
  predominantly Muslim countries.

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Food Taboos Jews cant eat animals that chew
cud, that have cloven feet cant mix meat and
milk, or eat fish lacking fins or scales
Muslims no pork Hindus no cows (used for
oxen during monsoon)Taboo Project
Washing Cow in Ganges
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Folk Culture Review

• Stable and close knit
• Usually a rural community
• Tradition controls
• Resistance to change
• Buildings erected without architect or blueprint
  using locally available building materials
• anonymous origins, diffuses slowly through
  migration. Develops over time.
• Clustered distributions isolation/lack of
  interaction breed uniqueness and ties to physical
  environment.

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North American Folk Culture Regions
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Key Issue 3 Why is popular culture widely
distributed?

• Pop culture, compared to folk, varies widely from
  time to time in a given place. This is due to
  its widespread and rapid diffusion, and the
  relative wealth of the people to acquire the
  materials associated with pop culture. Pop
  culture flourishes where people have sufficient
  income to acquire the tangible elements of the
  culture and the leisure time to make use of them.

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• Housing in the US, from the 1940s on, has been
  less dependent on what type of house is
  appropriate for what site or region, but more on
  what the dominant trend is in the architectural
  field at the time of construction.

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U.S. House Types by Region
Small towns in different regions of the eastern
U.S. have different combinations of five main
traditional house types.
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• The most prominent example of pop culture in the
  realm of clothing is the mighty blue jeans. They
  have become a symbol of youth and
  westernization throughout the world. Many
  people in foreign countries are willing to depart
  with a weeks earnings just for a pair of Levi
  jeans.

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• Clothing Jeans, for example, and have become
  valuable status symbols in many regions including
  Asia and Russia despite longstanding folk
  traditions.

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• Food preferences in pop culture depend on high
  income and national advertising. The spatial
  distribution of many food or beverage trends are
  difficult to explain.
• Wine is generally consumed in areas where the
  vineyards grow best, and where people can afford
  to drink it.
• Religious taboos often are responsible for
  certain areas preference or dislike of specific
  foods, much as in folk custom.
• Ex Wine is rarely consumed outside Christian
  dominate countries.

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Beijing, China2004
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• TELEVISION IS THE MOST IMPORTANT MECHANISM FOR
  THE RAPID DIFFUSION OF POP CULTURE. It is also
  the most popular leisure activity in MDCs
  throughout the world. There are four levels of
  television service
• Near universal ownership. US, Japan, Europe,
  etc.
• Ownership common, but not universal. Latin
  American countries, etc.
• Ownership exists, but is not widely diffused.
  Some African and Asian countries,
• Very few televisions. Sub-Saharan Africa, some
  regions of Mid East.

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Diffusion of TV, 19541999
Television has diffused widely since the 1950s,
but some areas still have low numbers of TVs per
population.

• Much media is still state-controlled.
• Ten Most Censored Countries
• North Korea
• Myanmar (Burma)
• Turkmenistan
• Equatorial Guinea
• Libya
• Eritrea
• Cuba
• Uzbekistan
• Syria
• Belarus
• Source The Committee to Protect Journalists.
  www.cpj.org.

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Diffusion of TV1954 - 2005
Television has diffused widely since the 1950s,
but some areas still have low numbers of TVs per
population.
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• Diffusion of the Internet is following roughly
  the same pattern as TV did at the start, which is
  the U.S. has a disproportionately large share of
  the Internet hosts compared to its share of the
  world population. As the Internet increasingly
  becomes the peoples resource of choice, pop
  culture will have yet another conduit to rapidly
  and effectively diffuse to nearly every inhabited
  place on the planet.

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Distribution of Internet Users, 1990 - 2005
Internet users per 1000 population. Diffusion of
internet service is following the pattern of TV
diffusion in the 20th century, but at a much
faster rate.
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Internet Connections
The Internet is diffusing today, but access
varies widely.
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Internet Connections
The Internet is diffusing today, but access
varies widely. Some countries censor the
Internet, but this is much harder to do.
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Key Issue 4 Why does globalization of popular
culture cause problems?

• DOMINANCE OF WESTERN PERSPECTIVES
• Three MDCs, the U.S., the U.K., and Japan,
  virtually control the television industry.
• At least one of the three serves nearly every LDC
  on Earth.
• The U.S. serves primarily Latin America
• the U.K. serves primarily Africa
• Japan serves mainly S. and E. Asia.
• Many LDC leaders claim that because the
  westerners own nearly all of the TV broadcast
  within their countries, a fair, unbiased report
  of local news is not presented. Instead, the
  media focuses only on sensational,
  rating-boosting stories.

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Why Does Globalization of Popular Culture Cause
Problems?

• The basic problems related to social customs
  derive from
• the increasing dominance of popular culture,
  originating in more developed countries, and
• the diffusing more rapidly around the world than
  in the past due to modern communications.
• This increasing dominance of popular culture
  poses two problems
• the threat to survival of distinctive folk
  customs and
• increasing pollution.

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Impacts of the Globalization of Popular Culture

• Threats to folk culture
• Loss of traditional values
• Foreign media dominance
• Environmental impacts of popular culture
• Modifying nature
• Uniform landscapes
• Negative environmental impact
• NIMBY

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The Generational and Cultural Divide

• Theyre well-off, well educated, widely traveled,
  fluent in several languages.
• The elder woman, mother of the younger, is a
  biochemist, married to a prosperous businessman
  in Mumbai.
• Her daughter (in a PVC catsuit of her own design)
  is a model and former host on the music video
  channel VTV.
• Parents vs. You!!

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Marboloro Man in Egypt
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Problems with the Globalization of Popular Culture

• Western Media Imperialism?
• U.S., Britain, and Japan dominate worldwide
  media.
• Glorified consumerism, violence, sexuality, and
  militarism?
• U.S. (Networks and CNN) and British (BBC) news
  media provide/control the dissemination of
  information worldwide.
• These networks are unlikely to focus or provide
  third world perspective on issues important in
  the LDCs.

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Abu Dubai
New York City
Tokyo
Bilbao
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• ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
• Pop culture is less likely than folk to be
  considerate of physical features.
• For many popular customs, the environment is
  something to be modified to enhance a product or
  promote its sale.
• Ex golf courses, destruction/modification of
  large expanses of wilderness to promote a popular
  social custom.

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Problems with the Globalization of Culture

• Often Destroys Folk Culture or preserves
  traditions as museum pieces or tourism gimmicks.
• Mexican Mariachis Polynesian Navigators Cruise
  Line Simulations
• Change in Traditional Roles and Values
  Polynesian weight problems

Satellite Television, Baja California
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Popular Culture

• Effects on Landscape creates homogenous,
  placeless (Relph, 1976), landscape
• Pop culture also promotes uniformity of
  landscape, as evidenced by the prevalence of
  nearly identical fast-food restaurants at
  convenient stops along highways.
• Complex network of roads and highways
• Commercial Structures tend towards boxes
• Dwellings may be aesthetically suggestive of
  older folk traditions
• Planned and Gated Communities more and more common

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Surfing at Disneys Orlando Typhoon Lagoon Are
places still tied to local landscapes?
Disconnect with landscape indoor swimming pools?
desert surfing?
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McDonalds Restaurant, Vencie
Swimming Pool, West Edmonton Mall, Canada
Dubais Indoor Ski Resort
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Muslim Women in Traditional Dress at Indoor Ski
Resort
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Environmental Problems with Cultural Globalization

• Accelerated Resource Use through Accelerated
  Consumption
• Furs minx, lynx, jaguar, kangaroo, whale, sea
  otters (18th Century Russians) fed early fashion
  trends
• Inefficient over-consumption of Meats (101),
  Poultry (31), even Fish (fed other fish and
  chicken) by meat-eating pop cultures
• Mineral Extraction for Machines, Plastics and
  Fuel
• New Housing and associated energy and water use.
• Golf courses use valuable water and destroy
  habitat worldwide.
• Pollution waste from fuel generation and
  discarded products, plastics, marketing and
  packaging materials

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Beijing, China
Palm Springs, CA
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Marlboro Man in Egypt
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Benefits of Economic and Cultural Globalization

• Increased economic opportunity?
• Higher standards of living?
• Increased consumer choice
• More political freedom?
• More social freedom?
• Is Globalization good or bad?
• Explain using the text to back your answers

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World Values Survey
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Everyone Has a Culture Everyone is Different

1. What languages do you speak?
2. What music do you listen to?
3. What dances do you know?
4. What food do you eat at home?
5. In your family, what is considered polite and
   what is considered rude? (what manners have you
   been taught?)
6. What do you wear on special occasions?
7. How important is your extended family (e.g.
   grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins)?
8. What holidays and ceremonies are important to
   your family?
9. What things are most important to you?
10. Based on your answers, how would you describe the
    characteristics of the culture of which you are a
    part?

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The End

• Sources cited
• Rubenstein, James M. An Introduction to Human
  Geography. Prentice-Hall, Inc. Upper Saddle
  River, New Jersey. 2002.
• Jordan-Bychkov, Terry G. The Human Mosaic. New
  York. W. H. Freeman and Company. 2003.
• Paradis, Tom. Architectural Styles of America.
  http//jan.ucc.nau.edu/ntwp/architecture/index.htm
  l.

106

• Rubenstein, James- Cultural Landscape An
  Introduction to Human Geography
• http//www.glendale.edu/geo/reed/cultural/cultural
  _lectures.htm
• http//www.quia.com/pages/mrsbellaphg.html
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  105syllabus.html
• Google