Popular Culture Characteristics: -large -found in heterogeneous populations -typically urban -quickly changing cultural traits, can change in days

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQLCZOG202k

Popular culture on the landscape -Fake McDonalds called “Yak”donalds and imitation 7-11 found in a small village at the gateway to the Himalayan Mts. Notice the internet Access! Time-Space Compression…

Time-Space Compression Paths of Diffusion -transportation - place marketing -communication networks=globally interlocked Globalization= Time-Space Compression

Time-Space compression: internet usage in a region of MDCs (More Developed Countries compared to a region of LDCs (Lesser Developed Countries) The northern hemisphere vs. the southern hemisphere called the north-south divide or Core-Periphery --

Social networking in a country that tries to control the flow of western values http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/email/the-politics-of-facebook-in-iran

http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/south_korea802/

http://www. newseum. org/todaysfrontpages/flash/default http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/flash/default.asp Newseum: click on the region you wish and then put your arrow over a dot and the newspaper will appear. Click on the paper and you will have access to the entire edition.

http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/india/ Bringing instant communication to India’s children

http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/bhutan/ Television diffuses to Bhutan

Hierarchical Diffusion Hearth originates the idea Diffuses node to node Ex: New style of clothing 1. seen on a runway in Milan 2. Then seen on models in Paris 3. Seen on celebrities in large metropolitan areas 4. then seen in a magazine distributed in cities and towns 5. then seen in upscale stores 6. then seen as knock-offs in dept. stores in local areas

http://www. pbs. org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/view/1_hi http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/view/1_hi.html PBS Merchants of Cool: Using teens to create the newest trends in pop culture

Examples of Popular Culture Traits -Blue Jeans -McDonalds Coke -music -sports A. baseball B. soccer C. golf Coke and a Buddhist Monk in Nepal

Globalization: Diffusion of Coke and the internet

http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/iceland/ Diffusion of pop music

Diffusion of pop culture traits: Elvis Memorabilia, fraternal orders, and cigarette usage. What is the spatial distribution of each?

Breweries

What is the spatial distribution of fast-food restaurants which create a uniform landscape across the U.S.

©Valerie Morgan Mervine What clothing items are folk, home-made and hand-sewn, and which are stemming from the diffusion of pop culture? Indigenous people waiting to go to Catholic mass in Quito How did Catholicism come to Ecuador? What type of diffusion? ©Valerie Morgan Mervine

©Valerie Morgan Mervine What items of pop culture and the effects of interconnecting in a global world can you find in this picture? ©Valerie Morgan Mervine

Folk Culture becomes Pop Culture -South Asia, henna tattooing -Practicing Kaballah Belief systems that come from an ancient period to global pop culture through a pop culture icon, Madonna OR Media Industries that work to construct pop culture.

UNIFORM LANDSCAPES Halifax, Nova Scotia Fast Food Hotels Department Store Chains Globalization of Uniform Landscapes: AKA: Placelessness

A Buddhist Ronald McDonald

Uniform Landscape

It’s “finger-licking good” in China too.

What store is this?

It might be Wal-Mart but they cater to Chinese cultural tastes!

What pop culture elements can you pick out in China?

Problems of globalization of Popular Culture -tourism -environmental problems -mass media influences -negative responses against “Western Values”

Tourism: KFC in Ecuador Pros: familiarity with hotels, restaurants Brings income, provides jobs, economic stimulus Place preservation Cons: Placelessness, uniform landscape, sameness, place marketing Hotels and restaurants take up space Pollution, ruins environment

One Response: Slow Cities, a solution to globalization, fast-paced, uniform places Case Study: Italy The Rejection of the North Americanization of European cities. 28 charter members -pop less than 50,000 -promote organically produced, traditional foods, a clean environment, quiet neighborhoods, urban charm, and the good life, keep piazzas free of advertising billboards and neon, no car alarms, noise pollution, improve public transport, preserve distinct built environment.

Problem with slow cities? -becomes isolated -then rich people want to move there and buy property -property values rise and poor people are forced out -charm of slow pace of these cities attracts tourists and this leads to change

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMnk7lh9M3o

Resources: De Blij, Harm, J. (2007). Human Geography People, Place and Culture. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc. Domosh, Mona, Neumann, Roderic, Price, Patricia, & Jordan-Bychkov, 2010. The Human Mosaic, A Cultural Approach to Human Geography. New York: W.H. Freeman and Company. Fellman, Jerome, D., Getis, Arthur, & Getis, Judith, 2008. Human Geography, Landscapes of Human Activities. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Pulsipher, Lydia Mihelic and Alex M. and Pulsipher, 2008. World Regional Geography, Global Patterns, Local Lives. W.H. Freeman and Company New York.   Rubenstein, James M. (2008). An introduction to human geography The cultural landscape. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Benewick, Robert, & Donald, Stephanie H. (2005). The State of China Atlas. Berkeley: University of California Press.