Folk and popular culture

1. Folk and popular culture Chapter 4

2. Key Issue #1 Where do Folk and Popular Cultures Originate and Diffuse

3. Culture • The combination of three things: • Values • **Material artifacts • Survival activities such as food, clothing, shelter • Leisure activities such as the arts and recreation • Political institutions

4. Material Culture • Two basic categories: folk and popular culture • Folk culture • Traditionally practiced by small, isolated, homogeneous groups in rural areas • Popular culture • Characterized by large, heterogeneous groups of people who share common habits despite differences in other personal characteristics • Geographers are interested in two aspects of culture: • Where cultures are located in space • How cultures interact with the environment

5. Where Do Cultures Originate and Diffuse? • Origin of folk and popular cultures • Folk culture = hearth area; originators are usually unknown • Popular culture = hearth area comes from more developed countries (MDCs) • People in MDCs have disposable income and leisure time that allow for these innovations

6. Where Do Cultures Originate and Diffuse? • Origin of folk and popular music • Folk music characteristics • Tells a story or recounts important life events or activities • Is personal in nature • Popular music characteristics • Written by individuals for the purpose of selling to a large audience • Highly technical

7. Origin of Country Music Fig. 4-1: U.S. country music has four main hearths, or regions of origin: southern Appalachia, central Tennessee and Kentucky, the Ozark-Ouachita uplands, and north-central Texas.

8. Tin Pan Alley and Popular Music Fig. 4-2: Writers and publishers of popular music were clustered in Tin Pan Alley in New York City in the early twentieth century. The area later moved north from 28th Street to Times Square.

9. Popular Music Map Figure 4-2

10. Hip-Hop Map Figure 4-3

11. Where Do Cultures Originate and Diffuse? • Diffusion of folk and popular culture • Folk culture diffuses slowly, primarily through migration, and at a small scale • Example: Diffusion of Amish culture • Popular culture diffuses rapidly, via hierarchical diffusion, and over a large scale • Example: Sports

12. Distribution of Amish Figure 4-4

14. Amish Settlements in the U.S. Fig. 4-4: Amish settlements are distributed through the northeast U.S.

16. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omftL4fWRHs • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Vxy_-e_hZ8 • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqnimvUMCAk

17. Powwow

18. Hoop Dancers are featured at some Pow Wows. The hoop has no beginning or end; it represents the continuity of the spirits of all living things.

22. Key Issue #2 Why is Folk Culture Clustered?

23. Why Is Folk Culture Clustered? • Isolation promotes cultural diversity • Examples: • Himalayan art • Beliefs and folk house forms • Sacred spaces • U.S. folk housing

24. Himalayan Folk Cultural Regions Fig. 4-5: Cultural geographers have identified four distinct culture regions based on predominant religions in the Himalaya Mountains.

25. Why Is Folk Culture Clustered? • Influence of the physical environment • Folk culture = close connection to the environment • Most folk cultures are rural and agricultural • Clothing is often tied to environmental conditions • Example: Wooden clogs in the Netherlands • Folk cultures can ignore environmental conditions

26. Why Is Folk Culture Clustered? • Influence of the physical environment • Food preferences and the environment • Food preferences are adapted to the environment • Example: In Asia, rice is grown in milder, wetter environments whereas wheat is grown in colder, drier environments • Food taboos may be especially strong • People avoid certain foods because of negative associations with that food • Terroir = the sum effects of the local environment on a particular food item

27. Istanbul Vegetable Garden Figure 4-6

28. 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.

29. Why Is Folk Culture Clustered? • Influence of the physical environment • Folk housing and the environment • Housing = a reflection of cultural heritage, current fashion, function, and the physical environment • Two most common building materials = wood and brick • Minor differences in the environment can produce very different house styles

31. Home Locations in Southeast Asia Fig. 4-7: Houses and sleeping positions are oriented according to local customs among the Lao in northern Laos (left) and the Yuan and Shan in northern Thailand (right).

32. House Types in Four Western Chinese Communities Figure 4-9

33. Why Is Folk Culture Clustered? • Influence of the physical environment • U.S. Folk House Forms • Fred Kniffen identified 3 major hearths of folk house forms in the U.S. that have influenced homes throughout the U.S. • New England • Middle Atlantic • Lower Chesapeake

34. Hearths of House Types

35. Diffusion of New England House Types Fig. 4-10: Four main New England house types of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries diffused westward as settlers migrated.

36. Key issue #3 Why Is Popular Culture Widely Distributed?

37. Why Is Popular Culture Widely Distributed? • Diffusion of popular housing, clothing, and food • Popular culture varies more in time than place • Food customs: consumption of large quantities of snack foods and alcohol • Clothing styles: reflect occupation rather than environment • Housing: reflects fashion trends since the 1940s in the United States

38. Consumption of Canadian Whiskey and Tequila Figure 4-14

39. Wine Production per Year Fig. 4-13: The distribution of wine production shows the joint impact of the physical environment and social customs.

40. U.S. House Types (1945–1990) Figure 4-16

41. Why Is Popular Culture Widely Distributed? • Electronic diffusion of popular culture • Watching television • The most popular leisure activity in MDCs • Diffusion from the United States to the rest of the world = 50 years • The Internet • Diffusion from the United States to the rest of the world = 10 years

42. Diffusion of TV Figure 4-18

43. Diffusion of Facebook Figure 4-21

44. Distribution of Internet Hosts Fig. 4-15: The U.S. had two-thirds of the world’s internet hosts in 2002. Diffusion of internet service is likely to follow the pattern of TV diffusion, but the rate of this diffusion may differ.

45. Key issue #4 Why Does Globalization of Popular Culture Cause Problems?

46. Why Does Popular Culture Cause Problems? • Threats to folk culture • Loss of traditional values • Media imperialism • Satellites • Limit to government control of information

47. Why Does Popular Culture Cause Problems? • Environmental impact of popular culture • Modifying nature • Golf courses • Uniform landscapes • Negative impacts • Increased demand for natural resources • Pollution

48. Golf Courses in Metropolitan Areas Fig. 4-16: The 50 best-served and worst-served metropolitan areas in terms of golf holes per capita, and areas that are above and below average.