Folk and Pop culture

Italic intro, p. 201

Human Geography

Chapter 7

Folk and Popular Culture:

Diversity and Uniformity

Insert figure 7.21

© 1997 IMS Communications Ltd/Capstone Design. All Rights Reserved

Human Geography 11e

Folk Culture

• Folk and Popular Culture: Are they Polar Opposites?

• Folk Life refers to:- Collective heritage of

institutions- Stable and close knit Usually an isolated,

rural community …The Amish for

instance.

• Tradition controls• Resistance to change• The homemade and

handmade dominate in tools, food, and music

* Buildings erected without architect or blueprint and use locally available building materials

Material Culture• Physical, visible

things• Tools, buildings,

instruments, and furniture

• Collectively material culture comprises the built environment

Non-Material Culture• The intangible part• Mentifacts• Sociofacts• Oral traditions• Songs• Customary behavior

Elements of Folk Culture

What is Folklore?

• Definition of Folklore– Why is “informal” important?– What is “expressive” culture?- Why “small groups”

What does he mean by “elite culture”

Folklore part 1

Human Geography 10e

What is Folklore?

Human Geography 10e

What is Folklore?

• Definition of Folklore– Why is “informal” important?– What is “expressive” culture?- Why “small groups”

What does he mean by “elite culture”

Folklore part 1

Human Geography 10e

What is Folklore Part 2?• Definition of Vernacular culture

- Language, Architecture, Music, Food

What is Folklore Part 3?• Difference between:

– Elite culture, Commercial culture, Folk culture

Anglo American Hearths

• Early European colonists established footholds along the East Coast

• Relocation of concepts and artifacts from Europe

• Early European colonists brought with them clear ideas of what tools they needed, how they should fashion their clothes, cook their food, and practice their religion (menitfacts and sociofacts to shape the artifacts of the “new world”)

Anglo American Hearths• European material and nonmaterial culture

frequently underwent immediate modification in the New World– Climates and soils were often different from

their homelands– European colonists modified tools and

ideas as they adapted and adjusted to different materials and terrains

Human Geography 11e

Architectural DiffusionsThree Source Regions1. New England

Vernacular houses are heavily framed structures with steep roofs and massive central chimneys

2. Middle AtlanticThe most influential of the North American housing stylesLog cabins, later carried into Appalachia

2. Middle AtlanticThe one room deep I house with two rooms on each floorTwo-story floor plan with four rooms on each floor

3. SouthernHeat and humidity were an environmental problem requiring distinctive housing solutions

Human Geography 11e

Folk Building Traditions1. The Northern Hearths

– The Lower St. Lawrence Valley

– Southern New England

2. The Middle Atlantic Hearths– The Delaware

Valley– Chesapeake Bay

3. The Southern Hearths• The Southern

Tidewater• The Mississippi Delta

4. Interior and Western Hearths

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.

Folk Building Traditions• Native societies established types of

housing, means of construction, and use of materials appropriate to their economic and family needs and materials available to them.

Terraced Rice Fields, Thailand

Hogan, Monument Valley, AZ Cohokia Mounds, Illinois

Folk Culture and the Land

Pueblo Ruins Taos NM and Mesa Verde CO

Human Geography 10e

Modern Adaptations

Hotel Loretto, Sante Fe, NM

Single Family Home, Phoenix AZ

Human Geography 11e

The Passing of Folk Cultural Regionalism

• Decline during 20th century• Urban – Rural contrasts • Widespread adoption of new

inventions

True Folk Culture Today?• North Sentinelese Contact w/ true "Folk" culture

Amish True Folk Culture in America

True Folk Culture Today?

• Anishinabe With Reservations– Examples of Folk Culture preserved– Examples of Commercial Culture on Reservations today?– Examples of Elite culture resisted and adopted

Human Geography 10e

Human Geography 11e

Popular Culture

• Urban• Ever changing• The general mass of people• Global uniformity

Human Geography 11e

Patterns of Popular Culture

• Popular versus mass culture

• Placelessness– The replacement of

local identity and variety with a homogeneous and standardized landscape

Insert figure 7.24

© Michael Dwyer/Stock Boston

Human Geography 11e

National Uniformities and Globalization

• International standardization

• Expanding markets• Appeal to local tastes• Local resistance

Insert figure 7.22

Jon C. Malinowski/Human Landscape Studio

Human Geography 11e

The Shopping Mall

• Consumption as a way of life

• Changing trends: Enclosed malls versus lifestyle centers

• Quick diffusion of fashion and style

• Big box stores

Regional Patterns of Popular Culture

• Sports: viewing and participation

• Drink and music• Globalization of

Reggae• Vernacular regions

Folk and Popular Culture

Woman with Oxcart, Myanmar

Insanely Rad Scot, with Kilt and Three-Fin Thruster

Beijing, China2012

Popular CultureFashion: as a status symbols in many regions including Asia and

Russia despite longstanding folk traditions.

Media, Sports, Entertainment

Diffusion of TV, 1954–2004

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

Diffusion of Internet

• Internet spread

Popular CultureEffects on Landscape: breeds homogenous,

“placeless” (Relph, 1976), landscape Complex network of roads and highways Commercial Structures tend towards ‘boxes’ Dwellings may be aesthetically suggestive of older

folk traditions• Planned and Gated Communities more and more

common

Disconnect with landscape: indoor swimming pools, desert surfing.

Surfing in Tempe, Arizona

Are places still tied to local landscapes?

Swimming Pool, West Edmonton Mall, Canada

McDonald’s, Tokyo, Japan

McDonald’s, Jerusalem

Problems with the Globalization of Culture

Often Destroys Folk Culture – or preserves traditions as museum pieces or tourism gimmicks.

Mexican Mariachis as Cruise Line Entertainment

Satellite Television, Baja California

Western Media Imperialism? U.S., Britain, and Japan dominate

worldwide media.

Think, Pair Share: Identify three specific problems that may arise as a result of media imperialism.

Problems with the Globalization of Popular Culture

Western Media Imperialism? U.S., Britain, and Japan dominate

worldwide media. Glorified consumerism, violence, sexuality,

and militarism? U.S. (Networks and CNN) and British

(BBC) news media provide/control the dissemination of information worldwide.

These networks are unlikely to focus or provide third world perspective on issues important in the LDCs.

Problems with the Globalization of Popular Culture

Environmental Problems with Cultural Globalization

Accelerated Resource Use through Accelerated Consumption

• Furs: minx, lynx, jaguar, kangaroo, whale, sea otters (18th Century Russians) fed early fashion trends

• Inefficient over-consumption of Meats (10:1), Poultry (3:1), even Fish (fed other fish and chicken) by meat-eating pop cultures

Mineral Extraction for Machines, Plastics and Fuel New Housing and associated energy and water use. Golf courses use valuable water and destroy habitat

worldwide.

7 billion people living the “American Dream”Pollution: waste from fuel generation and discarded products,

plastics, marketing and packaging materials

“Progress?”

“They’re growing houses in the fields between the towns.”- John Gorka, Folk Singer

Beijing, China

Palm Springs, CA

Fiji

Marboloro Man in Egypt

Critical Thinking: Think, Pair Share

1. Why should society preserve folk culture traditions?

2. What are some examples of folk culture traditions that have become part of the popular culture?

3. Besides housing, what other folk traditions might be useful to distinguish among regions in the United States?

4. How can sports be used as a window to other aspects of a society’s culture?