Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Folk and Popular Culture

Folk & Popular CultureI. Intro

A. Culture combines values, material artifacts, & political institutions

B. Habit vs. Custom• Collection of social customs produces a group’s

material cultureC. Basic Categories of Material Culture1.Folk2.Popular• Questions:

– Where are Folk & Popular culture located in space?– Why are distributions of Folk & Popular culture

different?

II. Origins and Diffusion of Folk & Popular Cultures

A. Origin of folk and popular cultures

• Customs• Origin of folk music• Origin of popular music

– Originated– Spread WWII– English becomes international language– Hip-Hop

II. Origins and Diffusion of Folk & Popular Cultures

B. Diffusion of folk and popular cultures

• The Amish: Relocation diffusion of folk culture

• http://digitalunion.osu.edu/r2/summer07/eellis/index.html

Sports: Hierarchical diffusion of popular culture

Tin Pan Alley & Popular

Music

Fig. 4-1: Writers and publishers of popular music were clustered in Tin Pan Alley in New York in the early 20th c. The area later moved north from 28th St to Times Square.

A Mental Map of Hip Hop

Fig. 4-2: This mental map places major hip hop performers near other similar performers and in the portion of the country where they performed.

Amish Settlements in the U.S.

Fig. 4-3: Amish settlements are distributed through the northeast U.S.

Amish Settlements in the U.S.

Clustering of Folk CulturesC. Sports: Hierarchical diffusion of popular

culture1. Folk Culture origin of soccer2. Globalization of Soccer3. Sports in Popular culture

II. Why is Folk Culture Clustered?A. Influence of the physical environment

1. Food preferences and the environment2. Folk Housing

D. Isolation promotes cultural diversity1. Himalayan Art

1. Buddhists2. Hindus3. Muslims4. Animists

2. Beliefs and Folk House Forms1. Sacred Spaces

3. US Folk Housing 1. Lower Chesapeake 2. The Middle Atlantic

3. New England

Himalayan Folk Cultural Regions

Fig. 4-4: Cultural geographers have identified four distinct culture regions based on predominant religions in the Himalaya Mountains.

Senegal Family Lunch

Traditional Vegetable Garden, Istanbul

Fig. 4-5: The bostan, or traditional vegetable garden, provides fresh vegetables in a large city such as Istanbul

Hog Production & Food Cultures

Fig. 4-6: Annual hog production is influenced by religious taboos against pork consumption in Islam and other religions. The highest production is in China, which is largely Buddhist.

Home Locations in Southeast Asia

Fig. 4-7: Houses and sleeping positions are oriented according to local customs among the Lao in northern Laos (left) and the Yuan and Shan in northern Thailand (right).

House Types in Western China

Fig. 4-8: Four communities in western China all have distinctive house types.

Diffusion of House

Types in U.S.

Fig. 4-9: Distinct house types originated in three main source areas in the U.S. and then diffused into the interior as migrants moved west.

Diffusion of New England House Types

Fig. 4-10: Four main New England house types of the 18th & 19th centuries diffused westward as settlers migrated.

III. Wide Dispersion of Popular Culture A. Diffusion of popular housing, clothing, & food

1. Popular food customs2. Rapid diffusion of clothing styles3. Popular Housing styles

B. Television and diffusion of popular culture

1. Diffusion of television2. Diffusion of the internet3. Diffusion of the facebook

U.S. House Types, 1945-1990

Fig. 4-11: Several variations of the “modern style” were dominant from the 1940s into the 1970s. Since then, “neo-eclectic” styles have become the dominant type of house construction in the U.S.

Alcohol Preferences in the U.S.

Fig. 4-12: Per capita consumption of Canadian whiskey (left) and tequila (right) show different source areas and histories of diffusion.

U.S. House Types by Region

Fig. 4-1.1: Small towns in different regions of the eastern U.S. have different combinations of five main house types.

Wine Production per year

Fig. 4-13: The distribution of wine production shows the joint impact of the physical environment and social customs.

Diffusion of TV

1954 - 2003

Fig. 4-14: Television has diffused widely since the 1950s, but some areas still have low numbers of TVs per population.

TV Distribution, 1954

TV Distribution, 1970

TV Distribution, 2003

Distribution of Internet

Users, 1995 - 2003

Fig. 4-15: Internet users per 1000 population. Diffusion of internet service is following the pattern of TV diffusion in the 20th century, but at a much faster rate.

Internet Users, 1995 per 1000 population

Internet Users, 2000 per 1000 population

Internet Users, 2004 per 1000 population

IV. Impacts of the Globalization of Popular Culture

A. Threats to folk culture1. Loss of traditional values2. Foreign media dominance

B. Environmental impacts of popular culture

1. Modifying nature2. Uniform landscapes3. Negative environmental impact

Golf Courses in Metropolitan Areas

Fig. 4-16: The 50 best-served and worst-served metropolitan areas in terms of golf holes per capita, and areas that are above and below average.

McDonald’s in Beijing, China

Route 66, U.S.