Chapter 4: Folk and Popular Culture The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography

Culture Combination of 3 things: Values Material artifacts Political institutions This chapter: material artifacts

Material Culture 2 categories: Folk culture Popular culture Small, isolated, homogeneous groups in rural areas Popular culture Large, heterogeneous groups of people with common habits regardless of different personal characteristics Geographers: interested in 2 aspects of culture: Where cultures are located in space How cultures interact with the environment

Where Do Cultures Originate and Diffuse? Origin of folk and popular cultures Folk culture = hearth area; originators are usually unknown Popular culture = hearth areas in MDCs MDC populations have disposable income & leisure time

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

Where Do Cultures Originate and Diffuse? Diffusion of folk & popular culture Folk culture Diffuses slowly, mostly through migration, on small scales Amish culture Popular culture Diffuses rapidly, by hierarchical diffusion, & over large scales Sports

Why Is Folk Culture Clustered? Influence of physical environment Close connection to environment Most are rural & agricultural May ignore environmental conditions

Why Is Folk Culture Clustered? Influence of the physical environment Food preferences are adapted to environment Food taboos may be very strong Terroir = sum effects of local environment on a food item

Swine Stock Figure 4-8

Why Is Folk Culture Clustered? Influence of physical environment Folk housing & the environment Reflects cultural heritage, current fashion, function, & physical environment Most common building materials = wood & brick Minor differences in environment can produce very different house styles

Why Is Folk Culture Clustered? Isolation promotes cultural diversity Himalayan art Beliefs & folk house forms

Why Is Popular Culture Widely Distributed? Diffusion of popular housing, clothing, & food Popular culture varies more in time than place Food customs: consumption of snack foods & alcohol Clothing styles: reflect occupation, not environment Housing: reflects U.S. fashion trends since 1940s

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

Why Is Popular Culture Widely Distributed? Electronic diffusion of popular culture Watching television Most popular leisure activity in MDCs Diffusion from U.S. to rest of the world in 50 years The Internet Diffusion from U.S. to rest of the world in 10 years

Diffusion of Facebook Figure 4-21

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

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

The End.