WORLD GEOGRAPHY Oct. 7, 2014
Today Culture - Culture diffusion, cultural landscapes - Mini-presentations/discussions
Culture defined Culture is… Sum total of knowledge, attitudes, habitual behavior patterns shared and transmitted by the members of society.
Korea: Then vs. Now
Elements of culture - Language English words (loan words) - Slang - gender roles - Religion- architecture - Customs and practices less traditional - Clothing/fashion designer fashion (foreign brands) - Cuisine/food - Music Hip hop K-pop
Mind association - What place do you think of when you see each of these images?
Local & 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.
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
Rural local cultures Isolation Common economic activity among members Anabaptists Mennonites Amish Hutterites Makah Indians, Neah Bay, Washington Little Sweden, U.S.A.— Lindsborg, Kansas
Example – the Amish - Originated in Europe - Anabaptists: separated from Catholic and Protestant Christianity. - Live in their own farm-based communities Maintain own culture: religion, education, technology
Example – the Amish
Urban local cultures Ethnic neighborhoods within cities: - Creates a space to practice customs - Can cluster businesses, houses of worship, schools to support local culture
Example – Williamsburg (Brooklyn) Large Hasidic Jewish community
Example – Williamsburg (Brooklyn) Large Hasidic Jewish community
Urban local cultures - Migration into ethnic neighborhoods can quickly change an ethnic neighborhood
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
Popular culture
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
Irish Pub Company Pubs Irish Pub Company and Guinness Brewing Company created 5 models of pubs and export them around the world.
Outback Steakhouse
TGI Friday’s
Hard Rock Cafe
Hill tribes in Thailand
Native American Reservations
The very first “documentary” “Nanook of the North” (1922)
Diffusion of Popular Culture Distance-decay: More interaction between closer places than between more distant places. Time-space compression: Interaction dependent on connectedness among places.
Diffusion of Popular Culture Distance decay
Diffusion of Popular Culture Distance decay
Diffusion of Popular Culture Time space compression
Diffusion of Popular Culture Time-space compression (connectedness)
Diffusion of Popular Culture Time-space compression (connectedness)
Diffusion of popular culture
Stemming the tide of popular culture Rapid diffusion of popular culture from major hearths - United States - Europe - Japan -…South Korea?
Stemming the tide of popular culture Resistance - Government subsidies: Media in local languages - Policies (e.g. language policies in Quebec) - Minorities in wealthy countries: Cultural preservation - Political elites in poorer countries: Nationalist ideologies - Social and ethnic minorities in poorer countries: Greater autonomy
Culture and the Cultural Landscape Cultural landscape: Visible human imprint on the land Placelessness: Similarity of places of popular cultures everywhere
Culture and the Cultural Landscape Convergence of cultural landscapes: 1. Diffusion of skyscrapers as a mark of a city
Culture and the Cultural Landscape Convergence of cultural landscapes: 2. The widespread distribution of businesses and products
Culture and the Cultural Landscape
Convergence of cultural landscapes: 3. Borrowing of idealized landscape images
Culture and the Cultural Landscape Convergence of cultural landscapes: 3. Borrowing of idealized landscape images
Culture and the Cultural Landscape Convergence of cultural landscapes:
Interaction b/w pop and local culture
McDonald’s regional items Shaka Shaka Chicken Singapore
Interaction b/w pop and local culture McDonald’s regional items McLobster Eastern Canada
Interaction b/w pop and local culture McDonald’s regional items Bulgogi Burger South Korea
So….who cares?
GroupParticipants 1 Sun-Jin, Yun Sung: K-Pop Min Kyung, Da eun: Audition Dong-gyun, Hyun-Rock: Hollywood Drama Gyeongnam, Dain: Korean café culture 2 Jessica, Boogun: Black Friday Jeolmir, Eden: Hollywood movies Sori, Sunny: Halloween Yong Ju, Dong Hyun, Jae Yoon: Korean Wedding 3 Jeongmin, Hee Sang: St. Patrick’s Day Jeongin, Sohee: Animation Jeewon, Jungeun: Fast Food Doeun, Myunghwa: Christmas Min, Hyun Chul: Coffee industry in Korea 4 Eugene, Jungho: SNS Jefferson, George: Football Juhee, Kyung Eun: Korea’s Doljanchi Hyunseo, Gyuwon: Jeans
Before next class Do the reading (Identity)