1. LOCAL CULTURE, POPULAR CULTURE, AND CULTURAL LANDSCAPES

2. What Are Local and Popular Cultures?
Local culture: A group in a particular place that sees itself as a community, shares experiences, customs, and traits, and works to preserve those traits and customs to distinguish the group from others
Popular culture: A large, heterogeneous population, typically urban, with rapidly changing culture

3. Local Cultures Acceptance vs. rejection of popular culture traits
Impact on the landscape
Nonmaterial culture: Beliefs, practices, aesthetics, values
Material culture: Constructed items, frequently expressing nonmaterial culture
Establishment of neighborhoods, construction of places of worship and community centers

4. Popular Cultures Practiced by large, heterogeneous group
Rapid spread of new traits, often by hierarchical diffusion from a hearth, through transportation, communication, and marketing networks
Interaction between local and popular cultures
Patronage by local cultures of popular culture services
Adoption by popular culture of local culture traits

5. How Are Local Cultures Sustained?
Assimilation policies: To force people of indigenous cultures to adopt dominant cultures
Preservation of customs: Practices that people routinely follow
Preserving boundaries to keep other cultures out
Avoiding cultural appropriation to keep control over their own culture
Importance of place

6. Commodification
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

7. How Is Popular Culture Diffused?
Distance-decay: More interaction between closer places than between more distant places
Time-space compression: Interaction dependent on connectedness among places

8. 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

9. How Can Local and Popular Cultures Be Seen in the Cultural Landscape?
Visible human imprint on the land
Placelessness: Similarity of places of popular cultures everywhere

10. Cultural Landscapes of Local Cultures
Persistence of local cultural landscapes
Presence along “back roads” of wealthy countries

11. IDENTITY: RACE, ETHNICITY, GENDER

12. What Is Identity, and How Are Identities Constructed?
Identity: “How we make sense of ourselves” – Rose
How identities are established
Through experiences, emotions , connections, and rejections
A snapshot of who we are at a point in time
Fluid, constantly changing, shifting, becoming
Vary across scales, and affect each other across scales
Identifying against (defining the other and then defining ourselves as “not that”)

13. Gender
“A culture’s assumptions about the differences between men and women: their ‘characters,’ the roles they play in society, what they represent.”
– Domosh and Seager

14. Race
A categorization of humans based on skin color and other physical characteristics
Social and political constructions
Based on ideas that some biological differences are more important than others
Major element in colonialism and imperialism
Typically imposed on people through
Residential segregation
Racialized divisions of labor
Racial categories defined by governments

15. How Do Places Affect Identity, and How Can We See Identities in Places?
Sense of place: Infusion of places with meaning and feeling, with memories and emotions
Becomes part of our identity
Effect of identity on ways we define and experience place

16. Ethnicity A constructed identity that is tied to a place
Comes from idea that people are closely bounded, even related, in a place over time
Often result of migration
May change in meaning with migration

17. Changes in Ethnic Space
Few Chinese residents in Mexicali’s Chinatown
Continued important place for the region’s Chinese population

18. Identity and Space Space: “Social relations stretched out”
Place: “Particular articulations of those social relations as they have come together, over time, in that particular location”
Massey and Jess
Place making in the context of surrounding social relationships

19. Women in Subsaharan Africa
Populate much of the rural areas, as men migrate to cities for work
Produce 70% of the region’s food
Small percentage of women have legal title to their land

20. Dowry Deaths in India
Murders of brides (often by burning) when a dispute arises over a dowry
Difficult to “legislate away” the power relationships that lead to dowry deaths
Female infanticide
also tied to the
disempowerment of
women

21. Ethnic Groups in Los Angeles
Barrioization: When the population of a neighborhood changes over largely to Hispanics.
Changes in cultural landscapes to reflect changing populations.
Strife usually tied to economic change

22. LANGUAGE

23. What Are Languages, and What Role Do Languages Play in Culture?
Language: A set of sounds, combinations of sounds, and symbols used for communication
Standard language: A language that is published, widely distributed, and purposefully taught
Role of government in standardizing a language

24. Non-English Speakers
Political issue of speakers of Spanish and other languages vs. those desiring English only

25. Mutual Intelligibility
Criterion for a language: Speakers can understand each other
Problems
Measuring “mutual intelligibility”
Standard languages and government impact on what is a “language” and what is a “dialect”
Dialect: variant of standard language by ethnicity or region
Vocabulary
Syntax
Cadence, pace
Pronunciation

26. Example of Dialect

27. Nigeria More than 400 languages Nigeria a colonial creation
Choice of English as “official” language rather than any indigenous language

28. How Do Languages Diffuse?
Human interaction
Print distribution
Migration
Trade
Rise of nation-states
Colonialism
Elizabeth J. Leppman

29. Effects of Spatial Interaction
Lingua franca: A language used among speakers of different languages for trade and commerce
Pidgin language: A language created when people combine parts of two or more languages into a simplified structure and vocabulary
Creole language: A pidgin language that has developed a more complex structure and vocabulary and has become the native language of a group of people

30. Multilingualism
Monolingual state: A country in which only one language is spoken
Multilingual state: A country in which more than one language is in use
Official language: Government-selected language or languages to try to enhance communication in a multilingual state

31. Global Language English as lingua franca for Commerce Science Travel
Business
Popular culture
Continued use of native languages for day-to-day activities

32. RELIGION

33. What Is Religion, and What Role Does It Play in Culture?
Religion: “A system of beliefs and practices that attempts to order life in terms of culturally perceived ultimate priorities”
-- Stoddard and Prorak
“Perceived ultimate priorities” often
Things a follower “should” do
Ways a follower “should” behave

34. Manifestations of Religion
Worship
Belief that certain people possess special divinely granted abilities
Belief in one or more deities
Practices
Ritual and prayer
Marking life events
Rituals at regular intervals
Secularism: Decline in organized religious observances

35. Where Did the Major Religions of the World Originate, and How Do Religions Diffuse?
Concepts of divinity
Monotheistic religions: Worship a single deity
Polytheistic religions: Worship more than one deity, even thousands
Animistic religions: Belief that inanimate objects posses spirits and should be revered

36. Classification of Religions
Universalizing religions: Religions that actively seek converts because members believe they offer belief systems of universal appropriateness and appeal
Ethnic religions: Religions whose adherents are born into the faith and whose members do not actively seek converts

37. Religions of the World

38. Diffusion of Religions

39. From the Hearth of South Asia
Hinduism
Originated in Indus River Valley over 4000 years ago
Practices and beliefs: Ritual bathing, karma, reincarnation
Sacred text: Vedas
Sacred site: Ganges River
Social manifestation: Caste system
Diffusion
South Asia
Southeast Asia

40. From the Hearth of South Asia
Buddhism –
Splintered from Hinduism 2500 years ago
Originated in a region from Nepal south to the Ganges River area
Beliefs: Anyone can achieve salvation, reach enlightenment
Founder: Siddartha (the Buddha)
Sacred sites: Stupas
Diffusion
Tibet in the north
East Asia

41. In Japan, Buddhism has mixed
with Shinto, which originated in
Japan. A Shinto shrine in
Kyoto
Buddhist stupas in Indonesia

42. From the Hearth of Huang He (Yellow) River Valley
Taoism
Originated in China more than 2500 years ago
Belief in oneness of humanity and nature
Founder: Lao-Tsu (Laozi)
Sacred text: Book of the Way (Daode Jing)
Social manifestation: Feng shui
Diffusion: East Asia

43. From the Hearth of Huang He (Yellow) River Valley
Confucianism
Originated in China about 2500 years ago
Belief that the real meaning of life lies in the present
Founder: Confucius (Kong Fuzi)
Sacred text: Confucian Classics
Diffusion:
East Asia
Southeast Asia

44. From the Hearth of the Eastern Mediterranean
Judaism
Originated in Southwest Asia about 4000 years ago
Beliefs
First major monotheistic religion,
Covenant between God (one God) and Abraham (the chosen people)
Sacred text: Torah
First patriarch, or leader: Abraham

45. Judaism (continued) Jerusalem (Western Wall)
Sacred sites
Jerusalem (Western Wall)
Land between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River
Social manifestation: Zionism
Diffusion
European cities during the diaspora
Ashkenazim: Central Europe
Sephardim: North Africa and Iberian Peninsula
North America
Return to Israel over last 100 years

46. From the Hearth of the Eastern Mediterranean
Christianity
Originated in Southwest Asia about 2000 years ago
Beliefs
Monotheistic religion
Follow teachings of Jesus to achieve eternal life
Sacred text: Bible
Founder: Jesus Christ

47. Christianity (continued)
Sacred sites
Bethlehem
Jerusalem
Divisions
1054: Split into
Eastern Orthodox
Roman Catholic
1400s–1500s: Protestants
Diffusion:
Western Europe
World wide during colonialism and after

48. Divisions in Christianity
First division (1054)
Western Roman Empire: Roman Catholic
Eastern Roman Empire: Orthodox

49. From the Hearth of the Eastern Mediterranean
Islam
Originated on Arabian Peninsula about 1500 years ago
Beliefs
Monotheistic religion
Revelations Muhammad received from Allah (God)
Five Pillars
Sacred text: Qu’ran
Founder: Muhammad

50. Islam (continued) Sacred sites Mecca Medina Jerusalem
Divisions: Shortly after Muhammad’s death
Sunni Muslims (great majority)
Shi’ite Muslims (concentrated in Iran)
Diffusion
Arabian peninsula
Across North Africa, into Spain
East to South and Southeast Asia

51. The Diffusion of Islam

52. Indigenous Religions Local in scope Passed down in families
Under pressure from global religions

53. Shamanism A community faith tradition
Shaman: A religious leader, teacher, healer, and visionary
Have appeared in
Africa
Native America
Southeast Asia
East Asia
Lack elaborate organization

54. Secularism
Indifference to or rejection of organized religious affiliations and ideas
The case of the Soviet Union
Had an official policy of atheism
Discouraged religious practice
Drew boundaries for political control that separated ethnic groups in small areas (Armenia and Azerbaijan)
Revival of religion after fall of communism

55. How Is Religion Seen in the Cultural Landscape?
Sacred sites: Places or spaces people infuse with religious meaning
Pilgrimage: Purposeful travel to a religious site to pay respects or participate in a ritual

56. Sacred Sites of Jerusalem
Sacred to three major religions
Judaism (Western Wall)
Christianity (Church of the Holy Sepulchre)
Islam (Dome of the Rock)

57. Sacred Landscapes of Hinduism
Pilgrimages along prescribed routes, and rituals by millions
Varanasi, India on the
Ganges River where Hindus perform morning rituals

58. Sacred Landscapes of Buddhism
Swedogon Pagodo in Yangon, Myanmar
Eight hairs of the Buddha are preserved under the dome (chedi)

59. Sacred Landscapes of Christianity
Catholic churches are often located in the center of European cities, with spires reaching far above other buildings.

60. Sacred Landscapes of Christianity
Protestant Churches
This church in Singapore is a Church of England church in a city surrounded by Buddhists, Hindus, and Muslims

61. Religious Distribution in the United States

62. Sacred Landscapes of Islam
Muslim Mosques
Dome of this mosque in Isfahan, Iran, demonstrates the importance of geometric art evident in Muslim architecture.

63. What Role Does Religion Play in Political Conflicts?
Interfaith boundaries: Boundaries between the world’s major faiths
Intrafaith boundaries: Boundaries within a single major faith

64. Interfaith Boundary in Africa

65. Israel and Palestine British mandate of Palestine
Partition of Palestine by United Nations
Israeli state
Palestinian state
1967: Israeli control over West Bank, Gaza
2005: Withdrawal from Gaza
Control over movement
Multitude of interfaith boundaries

66. Religious Fundamentalism and Extremism
A return to the basics of a faith
Found worldwide
Religious extremism: Fundamentalism carried to the point of violence.
Impact of globalization
Increased conservative reaction
Increased liberalism and accommodation

67. Fundamentalism in Christianity
Catholicism
Birth control, abortion, and family planning
Role of women
Sects that continue to use Latin in services
Protestantism
Literal interpretation of the Bible
Opposition to abortion
Opposition to gay marriage
Political influence

68. Fundamentalism in Judaism
Orthodox Judaism
Most conservative
Includes several varieties
Kach and Kahane Chai
Followers of Rabbi Meir Kahane
Anti-Arabism

69. Fundamentalism in Islam
Shari’a law
Rule by ayatollahs in Iran
Rule by Taliban in Afghanistan
Jihad
Wahhabi Islam (hearth in Saudi Arabia)
Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda