CULTURE: PART 2 END OF POP VS. LOCAL FOLK CULTURE

Factors that Affect Diffusion  Distance  Population Density  Means of Communication  Nature of the Innovation  Prestige of the Node

Stemming the Tide of Popular Culture  Rapid diffusion of popular culture from major hearths  United States  Europe  Japan  Resistance  Government subsidies: Media in local languages  Dominant cultures of wealthy countries: Fundamentalism  Minorities in wealthy countries: Cultural preservation  Political elites in poorer countries: Nationalist ideologies  Social and ethnic minorities in poorer countries: Greater autonomy

Hearths of Popular Culture Traits  Typically begin with an idea or good and contagious diffusion  Creation or manufacture of popular culture by  Companies (for example, MTV)  Individuals (for example, Dave Matthews)

How Can Local and Popular Cultures Be Seen in the landscape according to carl sauer?  Cultural Landscape is our visible human imprint on the land. Sauer, professor of Geography at University of California at Berkeley, considered how cultural landscapes are made up of "the forms superimposed on the physical landscape.”

Popular Culture=“placelessness” Global-cultural homogenization Wide Distribution: differences from place to place uncommon, more likely differences at one place over time. Housing: only small regional variations, more generally there are trends over time Food: franchises, cargo planes, superhighways and freezer trucks have eliminated much local variation. Limited variations in choice regionally, esp. with alcohol and snacks. Substantial variations by ethnicity.

Convergence of Cultural Landscapes  Diffusion of skyscrapers as a mark of a city

Convergence of Cultural Landscapes  The widespread distribution of businesses and products

Convergence of Cultural Landscapes  Borrowing of idealized landscape images

Problem of converging cultural landscapes: Commodification and lack of authenticity  Process of making something that was not previously bought and sold a commodity in the marketplace  Material culture objects for sale to outsiders  Tourist value of culture as a whole  Question of authenticity of places  Mystical images  Creation of identity from cultural traits Claims of authenticity abound – how do consumers determine what experience/place is “authentic” and what is not?

Example of commodification and lack of authenticity: Irish Pub Company Pubs Irish Pub Company and Guinness Brewing Company created 5 models of pubs and export them around the world.

Folk Culture  Folk Culture – traditionally practiced by a small, homogeneous, rural group living in relative isolation.

Folk Culture – rapidly changing and/or disappearing throughout much of the world. Almost nonexistent in the developed world. Turkish Camel Market Portuguese Fishing Boat Guatemalan Market

Folk Culture  Stable and close knit  Homogeneous in customs, ethnicity  Usually a rural community and cohesive  Subsistence economies; Goods are made by hand according to tradition  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.  Some folk traits/customs utilize: astrology, songs, dances, and food

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.

FOLK ARCHITECTURE

Terraced Rice Fields, Thailand Hogan, Monument Valley, AZ Cohokia Mounds, Illinois Folk Culture and the Land

North American Folk Culture Regions

FOLK FOOD How did such differences develop?

Hog Production and Food Cultures Fig. 4-6: Annual hog production is influenced by religious taboos against pork consumption in Islam and other religions (Judaism). The highest production is in China, which is largely Buddhist.

Taboo – a restriction on behavior imposed by social custom. Food Taboos: Jews – must have cloven hooves and chews its cud; can’t mix meat and milk, or eat fish lacking fins or scales; pigs, camel, rabbits are not “kosher” Muslims – no pork; Hindus – no cows (used for oxen during monsoon) Washing Cow in Ganges

Problems with the Globalization of Culture 1) 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

Problems with the Globalization of Popular Culture 2) Western Media Imperialism?  U.S., Britain, and Japan dominate worldwide media.  Glorified consumerism, violence, sexuality, and militarism?  U.S. (Networks, FoxNews, 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.

Environmental Problems with Cultural Globalization 3) Accelerated Resource Use through Accelerated Consumption  Furs: minx, lynx, jaguar, kangaroo, whale, sea otters (18 th Century Russians) fed early fashion trends  Inefficient over-consumption of Meats (10:1), Poultry (3:1), 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

“They’re growing houses in the fields between the towns.” - John Gorka, Folk Singer

Beijing, China Palm Springs, CA