2. Religion: Diffusion and Landscape
Classification of Religions
Paths and Types of Diffusion
Sacred Spaces on the Landscape
Religion
systems of formal or informal worship, faith, ritual … influences cultural landscapes –
values and attitudes, rhythms of everyday life, calendar events, consumption of food/drink …

3. CULTURAL (SPATIAL) DIFFUSION
(spread of ideas, innovations) – two models
Expansion – ideas spread to new places as different cultures adopt idea
Has “Contagious” & “Hierarchical” Subtypes
Relocation – ideas spread to new places as culture groups migrate there

4. Percentage of Population That Adopts the Idea or Innovation
Laggards
S-Curve of Adoption of Innovations
(non-spatial diffusion model)
Percentage of Population That
Adopts the Idea or Innovation
Majority
Adopters (early and late)
DISCUSSION:
* Why is the S-curve considered a temporal rather than a geographic issue?
* At what point in time on the S-curve does the number of adopters increase the fastest?
* Think about your personal life? Are you an innovator or a laggard in fashion? What about technology purchases?
Innovators
Time

5. Spatial Models of Cultural Diffusion

6. West Indies (combined team) Won 1975, 1979
Canada
England
Netherlands
Pakistan
Won 1992
Bangladesh
India
Won 1983
West Indies (combined team) Won 1975, 1979
Pakistani cricketer
Sri Lanka Won 1996
Kenya
Zimbabwe
Australia Won 1987, 1999, 2003
New Zealand
Namibia
South Africa

7. Diffusion - Two related concepts
1. The two-way blending of cultures that results from increased interaction is called cultural convergence
2. The fusion of two distinctive cultural traits into a unique new hybrid trait is called syncretism

8. Religion’s Characteristics that Geographers Focus on
Hearth
Diffusion
Distribution
Landscape expression
Administration
Cosmogony: a view of God, Man and Nature

9. Deity/Nature
Humans
Examples: Animism

10. Examples: Hinduism, Buddhism
Deity
Humans
Nature
Examples: Hinduism, Buddhism

11. Examples: Christianity, Judaism, Islam
Deity
Nature
Humans
Examples: Christianity, Judaism, Islam

12. Classification of Religions
Universalizing: claim to the “universal truth” – seen as applicable to all humans
Seek to convert new members; open to all people
Spread mainly by expansion diffusion (any sub-type)
Examples: Christianity, Islam, Buddhism
Ethnic: associated with a particular culture; membership by birth or identity with that ethnic group
Not evangelical (don’t actively seek to convert new members)
Spread mainly by relocation diffusion from origin area
Examples: Hinduism, Judaism, Sikhism, East Asian religions, folk and traditional (tribal/Animist) practices

13. Message for all (goal is to get everyone to become a part of it)
Taxonomy: Geographers have our own classification system for religions.
Universalizing
Message for all (goal is to get everyone to become a part of it)
Exclusivist
Renounce all ties to other religions (Christianity, Islam)
Non-Exclusivist (Buddhism)

14. Ethnic Tied to a specific ethnicity, usually tied by kinship Tribal
Not written, different everywhere (Animism, Hinduism)
Compound
Books, structure, hierarchy (Judaism)

15. How does religion affect
Geographers don’t care so much about specific beliefs so much as how they affect humans.
How does religion affect
Population
Language
Politics
Economics

16. Approximate Membership of Selected Religions (estimated number, in millions, as of 2003)
Christianity (total all forms) 2,025
Islam (total all forms) 1,215
Hinduism 820
Buddhism (total all forms) 360
Other Asian religions (various syncretic) 125
Sikhism 25
Judaism 20
Chinese folk religions (syncretic) 390
All other ethnic/tribal religions (hundreds) 265
Non-Religious and Atheist 1,100

17. Principal World Religions

18. Religious Regions of Lebanon
Small-scale world religion maps fail to show local details
Understanding religion regions is key to several current conflicts

19. Innovation and Diffusion of World Religions
Note hearth areas and diffusion paths of four largest religions (contrast Hinduism to 3 universalizing religions)

20. Diffusion Paths of Christianity
Spread mainly by hierarchical process, then by contagious expansion in Europe … then by relocation & expansion to European colonies

21. Diffusion Paths of Islam
Spread mainly by expansion diffusion through 17th century through Asia, North Africa. Now world’s fastest growing religion; spread by both expansion and relocation diffusion.

22. MOSQUE STYLES IN INDONESIA
Melang, Java
Grand Mosque, Banda Aceh, northern Sumatra
MOSQUE STYLES IN INDONESIA
Jepara, southern Sumatra

23. Diffusion Paths of Different Forms of Buddhism
Origin in Northern India; different forms spread by expansion and hierarchical diffusion outward; blended in East Asia (syncretism). Hinduism later reclaimed dominance in India.

24. Examples of Religion on the Cultural Landscape Places of worship
Shrines, pilgrimage sites
Cemeteries, mausolea
Sacred spaces
Stonehenge, southern England (Druid site)

25. Sites of special religious significance (experiences, events)
Sacred Spaces
Sites of special religious significance (experiences, events)
Hallowed grounds that are preserved across generations
For believers, places endowed with divine meaning
Paha Sapa Kin Wiyopeya Unkiyapi kte sni yelo!! We never sold the Black Hills!!
(Lakota expression)

26. Shrine at Lourdes, southern France
Cathedral at Chartres, France
Shrine at Lourdes, southern France

27. (Russian Orthodox), Red Square, Moscow
Methodist-Congregationalist (Protestant) church, southwest Quebec, Canada
St. Basil’s
(Russian Orthodox), Red Square, Moscow

28. Recoleto Cemetery
Buenos Aires
Mid-City Cemetery
New Orleans

29. Synagogue, Jewish quarter, Prague Western (Wailing) Wall, Jerusalem
(13th century)
Western (Wailing) Wall, Jerusalem
Jewish cemetery, Chicago
Temple Beth El (1973), Bloomington Hills, Mich.

30. Buddhist stupa, Thailand
(Hemispherical shape is typical, but different forms of Buddhism use differing types and levels of ornamentation.)
Statue of Buddha

31. Hindu temple, Northern India
Taj Mahal (Agra, India) – Islamic mausoleum
Hindu cremation ceremony, India

32. Friday prayers, Grand Mosque, Mecca, Saudi Arabia: The Hajj

33. How similar to, and how different from, “sacred space”?
Memorial Spaces
How similar to, and how different from, “sacred space”?

34. Memorial Spaces
Monuments, memorials, shrines, museums, and preserved sites used to commemorate and sanctify the past
From D. Alderman (2000): “Public commemoration is a socially directed process: before historical events and figures can be regarded as memorable, people must judge them worthy of remembrance and have the influence to get others to agree.”
“Places of memory make history visible and tangible. … Memorial sites shape how we interpret and value the past.”
“Memorial landscapes are in a constant state of redefinition as governments rise and fall, as the heritage and cultural tourism industry continues to expand, and as marginalized populations seek public recognition.”
From O. Dwyer (2000): “The narrative content of these memorials reflects the types of archival materials that survive, the intentions of their producers, and contemporary politics regarding [historical events]. In turn, through their symbolic power and the large number of visitors who travel to them, these landscapes play a role in contemporary America’s ... politics.”