Unit 4-Culture and Language J. Brumbelow Alvin High School
Dec 14, 2015
Unit 4-Culture and Language
J. Brumbelow
Alvin High School
Unit 4
Culture
What is culture?
Culture is the complex mix of values, beliefs, behaviors, and material objects that form a peoples’ way of life.
Cultural landscape-the modification of the natural landscape by human activities.
Cultural Ecology is the field that studies the relationship between the natural environment and culture.
Adaptive culture
How a person adapts to a new culture. We all use adaptive strategies.
People moving from the North to the South
Ex. People in the south using the word Ma’am
Material Culture
A wide range of concrete human creations, sometimes called artifacts that reflect values, beliefs and behaviors.
Non-material culture (cultural geography)
Consists of abstract concepts of:
Values-culturally defined standards that guide the way people assess desirability, goodness, beauty and serve as guidelines for moral living.
Beliefs-statements people hold to be true, and they are almost based on values.
Behaviors or actions that people take based on beliefs, values and norms (rules and expectations by which a society guides the behavior of members.)
Customs and habits are different
A habit is a repetitive act that a particular individual performs.
Example: jeans on Friday, getting dressed.
A custom is a repetitive act of a group performed to the extent that it becomes a characteristic of the group.
Example: 4th of July fireworks
Culture Region
An area marked by culture that distinguishes itself from other regions
Culture Trait
A single attribute of a culture
Culture Complex
A related set of culture traits descriptive of one aspect of a society’s behavior.
Nationalism is a culture complex.
Example: Proud to be American.
Cattle herding among African tribes.
Culture System
A group of interconnected cultural complexes.
China is a culture system-life in different parts of China can be different , dialects of Chinese are different.
Cultural Hearth
Areas where civilization first began.
Mesopotamia
Indus Valley
Nile Valley
Cultural diffusion
Diffusion-the movement of goods, people or ideas.
Cultural diffusion has spread culture traits to most parts of the world.
Independent inventions
Developments that can be traced to a specific civilization.
Greek democracy.
Carl Sauer and Torsten Hagerstrand
Both Geographers wrote about Cultural Diffusion.
Expansion Diffusion
An innovation or idea develops in a source area and remains strong there while spreading outward.
Types of expansion diffusion
Contagious Diffusion: nearly all adjacent individuals are affected (like dropping a rock in water).
Time –distance decay-trait weakens as distance increases.
Hierarchical Diffusion
Ideas and artifacts spread first between larger places or prominent people and only later to smaller less prominent people.
Diffusion
Your own
Example of these?
Stimulus Diffusion
A genuine invention sparked by an idea that diffused in from another culture.
The invention of a unique Cherokee writing system by Sequoyah around 1821 after seeing English is an example.
Relocation Diffusion
Relocation Diffusion: the actual movement of individuals who have already adopted an idea or innovation and carry it to a new, perhaps distant locale, where they proceed to disseminate it.
Migrant diffusion: when an innovation originates somewhere and enjoys strong but brief adoption there
Italian immigrants to New York City taught Irish-Americans how to make pizza (pizza, of course, originated in Italy).
Acculturation
A less dominant culture adopts the traits of more influential ones.
Americans adopting Indian Culture
Assimilation
The dominant culture completely absorbs the less dominant one.
Portrait of Native Americans from the Cherokee, Cheyenne, Choctaw, Comanche, Iroquois, and Muscogee tribes in American attire. Photos dates from 1868 to 1924.
Transculturation
There is an exchange between two cultures, with both cultures functioning as sources and adopters.
When the Spanish overthrew the Aztec kingdom, Spanish culture prevailed in religion, Aztec crops taken back to Spain-corn and chocolate.
Regional holiday differences.
Syncretism
The fusion of old and new cultures.
Culture A
Culture C
Culture B
Kwanzaa It is an African American and pan African culture
Culture
Culture can be categorized according to spatial distribution into two basic types:
Folk CulturePopular Culture
Folk Culture
Folk Culture is traditionally practiced by small, homogenous groups living in isolated rural areas.
Folk Culture
Small
Incorporates homogeneous population
Typically rural
Cohesive in cultural traits
Work to preserve those traits in order to claim uniqueness
Folk Culture
Folklore-stories passed on from generation to generation.
Folk culture is in a relatively small area.
Popular Culture
Popular Culture is found in large heterogeneous societies that are bonded by a common culture despite the many differences among the people who share it.
Popular Culture
Practiced in wider area, popular culture usually spreads through contagious diffusion.
Popular Culture
Large
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
Culture
Let’s look at several segments of culture:
Music
Food
Sports
Architecture
Hip Hop Map
Music
Culture can be analyzed through music.
Music
Listening habits of a particular group of people is to analyze the radio stations they listen to.
What radio station do you listen to?
What’s your ringtone?
Music
Country
Bluegrass
Blues
Tejano
Cajun
Polka
Motown
Dance
dance2
Food
Food is a terrific way to understand culture because certain areas have dishes that are distinct to their cuisine
Think USA
Chowder
NE-is a white chowder
NY- is tomato based
BBQ—some sauces are mustard, ketchup, tomato or vinegar based.
Dry BBQ-sauce cooked in
Wet BBQ-sauce added after meat is cooked.
Meat-port or beef?
Food attractions and Taboo
Taboo to eat things that are thought to embody negativity
May establish food taboos to protect the environment
Religion and social values also play a role in food taboos
The nutritional value is one of the determining factors in whether someone eats something or not
Some things are eaten because they enhance some characteristic the culture deems important
Food Taboos
USA-swan, dog, cat, elephant, rats, mice
Hindu’s-Cow
Judaism-shellfish, elephant, pork
Somali Clans-fish
Quebec-horse meat
Muslim’s-pork
England, Ireland-snails
Rastafarians-no salt
Food around the world
Denmark-sandwiches called smorrbrod, eaten open face with a knife and fork.
Iceland
Rotted Shark-Once the shark is “ripe” enough it is eaten.
Yummy?
Andes of South America
Guinea pigs called cuy are a delicacy. Served for special occasions such as anniversaries and birthdays.
Food
Blowfish or Fugu is a delicacy in Japan. Costing as much as $200/plate.
You can die, if prepared incorrectly.
UK--Fish and chips
Pica
Clay
Paint chips
Cornstarch
Coffee grounds
Cigarette ashes
Glue
Hair
Feces
Paper
sand
Geophagy
The habit of eating clay, mud or dirt.
Many say there are health benefits and that dirt from different areas tastes different.
El Santuario de Chimayo
People travel to this site in New Mexico.
They believe the ground is sacred and travel here to eat dirt.
Sports
Sports are associated with culture.
The spread of baseball and basketball around the world from the USA is a form of hierarchical diffusion.
Sports
Soccer is the #1 sport in the world.
Sports
Football
Soccer
Baseball
Basketball
Lacrosse
Cricket
Tennis
Golf
What sports fan are you?
Architecture
The architecture of residential, commercial and spiritual structures vary greatly throughout the world.
Housing
Housing styles vary according to climate and available building materials.
Brick/wood
Flat/peaked roof
Basement?
One story/multi-story
Single/multi family
Mongolian Yurts
Onion Domes
Popular Culture
Popular Culutre
Popular culture flourishes in countries here people have sufficient income to acquire the tangible elements of popular culture.
Pop culture is ever changing
Food
American fast food has invaded the world.
Jeans
1960’s jeans were associated with low status laborers and farmers.
Levi’s are a status symbol in may parts of the world.
TV and popular culture
TV is the most popular leisure activity in MDC’s throughout the world.
TV is the most important mechanism by which popular culture such as sports is rapidly diffused throughout the earth.
TV Ownership/internet
TV
Diffusion from the USA to Europe and other MDC’s then to LDC’s.
In the USA, TV stations are owned by private corporations, who are licensed by the government.
In most of the rest of the world the government owns the TV Stations.
British Broadcasting Corporation
Have you ever watched the BBC?
It’s very different than American TV.
Government Control of TV
Many governments see TV as a way to foster cultural integration.
Show what leaders are doing and accomplishments of political system.
People watch what the government wanted them to see.
Satellite TV has enabled people to see stations other than government controlled.
The internet
Diffusion of internet follows a pattern of television diffusion.
The internet connects the world, making cultural diffusion happen at a rapid pace.
Without the internet, what would you do?
Globalization of popular culture
Threat to folk culture
Subserviance of women in folk customs threatened.
Women acting and becoming “westernized”.
Threat to folk culture
Increasing incomes fuel the demand for possessions of popular culture.
Uniform Lanscapes?
Environmental Impact
1. Uniform landscapes-buildings look alike, arranged on uniform streets.
2. Increased demand for natural resources-Fads increase demand for items like animal skins, eating habits (chicken wings).
3. Pollution-high volumes of wastes, solids, liquids and gasses. Ex. Plastic bottles.
Chapter 5
Language
Language
Language is a system of communication through speech.
Oldest cultural trait on earth.
Language not only allows for communication, but continuity of culture
In most cases language is spoken and written.
Language
Official language-language used by government for laws, reports, and public documents.
A country can have more than 1 official language.
Standard language-a particular variety of a language that has been given either legal or quasi-legal status.
Languages of the world
Languages of the world
Top 10 Most Commonly Spoken Languages
1. Chinese-14.9%(Mandarin, Wu)
2. Spanish-5.05%
3. English-4.84%
4. Hindi
5. Arabic
6. Portuguese
7. Bengali
8. Russian
9. Japanese
10. Standard German
Linguistic Geography
The study of speech areas and their local variations by mapping word choices, pronunciations or grammatical constructions.
All languages are grouped into language families that have a shared by distant origin.
English Speaking Countries
English
Spoken by more than ½ a billion people.
The British were responsible for the diffusion of English.
Migration of British to other parts of the world diffused English.
Dialects
You may not be able to understand the regional dialects.
Dialects
Differences between American and British English
American English
Line
Motor home
Fries
Parking lot
Sweater
Highway
Apartment
Cookie
British English Queue
Caravan
Post
Chips
Car park
Jumper
Motorway
Flat
Biscuit
Language group
A collection of languages within a branch that share a common origin in the relatively recent past.
Displaying a relatively few differences in grammar and vocabulary.
Romance Languages
Evolved from Latin.
Spain, Portugal, France and Italy- are the countries of the original Romance Languages. Romanian is the 5th Romance Language
Latin and Hebrew have literary traditions.
Dialects exist within the Romance Languages-Castilian.
Romance Languages
Other language families
Sino-Tibetan-Mandarin Chinese
Afro-Asiatic-Arabic
Austronesian-SE Asia
Dravidian-India
Altaic
Asia
Niger-Congo-Africa
Japanese
Chinese ideograms
Represent concepts rather than sounds
240 characters build are built into complex words.
Preserving Local Languages
Thousands of extinct languages-once in use but no longer spoken or read in daily activities anywhere.
Examples include: Gothic-E/N Europe
Welsch-Wales
Quechua-Peru
Hebrew
Multi Lingual States
Belgium is a language divided country.
Multi Lingual States
Belgium-Flemish( dialect of German)in North
French in South
The division between the two languages is difficult to determine.
Switzerland
4 languages in the country.
German, French, Italian and Romansh
Canada
English for the majority of the country.
Quebec is the French speaking province.
Isolated languages
A language unrelated to any other and therefore not attached to any language family.
Basque-Pyrenees Mts. of Spain/France.
Icelandic-less need for new words and change to language.
Global Domination of English
Need for common language for communication.
Lingua Franca-language of international communication is English.
Mix elements of two languages into a common language.
Global diffusion of English
Pidgin-mixing of lingua franca and their native language.
90% of all students in the European Union learn English.
Expansion diffusion of English
Ebonics-a combination of Ebony and phonics. Example: She be at home
Ebonics is controversial.
Appalachian dialects-
Quick, call an am-bew-lance.
Many are considered a sign of poor education by outsiders.
Diffusion into other languages
Franglais-a combination of French and English. Le Jogging
Spanglish-Spanish and English. The word carpeta is "folder" in standard Spanish. In some Spanglishes
it means "carpet" (room rug).
Denglish-German and English
Ich musste den Computer neu booten / rebooten, weil die Software gecrasht ist.I had to reboot the computer because the software crashed.
Toponymy
The study of place names.
Cultural identity and history can be revealed by noticing names of geographic and political features.
New York
Rio Grande-”Big River” in Spanish
Rock Mountains
Language Barriers
Language can be a barrier for many international travelers.
Language barriers for immigrants.
Language dialects as a part of regional culture.
Literacy-the ability to read and write.