LOCAL (FOLK) AND POPULAR CULTURES ON THE LANDSCAPE What story is being told about the world through the study of local (folk) and popular culture?

Definition of Culture  A group of belief systems, norms and values practiced by a people  Recognized in 1 of 2 ways 1. People call themselves a culture 2. Others label a certain group of people as a culture

Local (folk) and popular culture  Material Culture – the physical objects produced by a culture in order to meet its material needs: food, clothing, shelter, arts, and recreation. Carl Sauer (Berkeley, 1930s – 1970s).  Nonmaterial culture: beliefs, practices, aesthetics and values of a group of people

 Stable and close knit (homogenous)  Usually rural  Tradition controls  Resistance to change  anonymous origins, diffuses slowly through migration. Develops over time.  Clustered distributions: isolation/lack of interaction breed uniqueness and ties to physical environment. Folk Culture

Folk Culture – Very slow to Change and disappearing throughout much of the world. Turkish Camel Market Portuguese Fishing Boat Guatemalan Market

FOLK ARCHITECTURE Effects on Landscape: usually of limited scale and scope. Does have some impact 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

Popular Culture  Large  Diffuses rapidly  Incorporates heterogeneous populations  Typically urban  Experiences quickly changing cultural traits  Practiced by people across identities and across the world  Also encompasses material and nonmaterial culture

Local (folk) and popular cultures  Do they exist alone or converge?

Cultural Landscape Walking Tour  How is Geography evident on the cultural landscape?

Key Terms  Distance decay  Time-space compression  Global-local continuum  Habit  Custom  Cultural trait  Hearth  syncretism

Key Terms  Local (folk culture)  Popular culture  Diffusion  Placelessness  Commodification

CULTURE REGION  Area where shared distinctive cultural traits exists  Borders?  Historically –  Post-industrial world –

Regional Identity  Express cultural beliefs through symbols –  Usually symbols of the majority –  Consider a decreasing influence from culture region center:  Core:  Centralized zone of concentration, possess all culture traits to define region  Domain:  Particular culture is dominant but less intense  Sphere:  Zone of outer influence where people can be a minority in other culture region

Core, Domain, Sphere One culture’s core can lie within another culture’s sphere ex. Tibet

Core, Domain, Sphere One culture’s core can lie within another culture’s sphere ex. Tibet

New Zealand

Bhutan

Toledo, Spain

French Polynesia

Chincheros Natives, Peru

Frafra People, Ghana

Vietnam

Link to Local Culture Images  U:\My Documents\AP Human Geography\Culture\Folk Customs from Around the World.mht