Cultural Geography

AP Human Geography

The Meaning of Culture• Culture – way of life of a particular people• Material Culture – anything that can be seen on the landscape (houses,

furniture, musical instruments, etc)• Built environment – tangible impact of human beings on the landscape• Nonmaterial Culture – anything that makes up culture that cannot be

touched (language, religion, folklore, philosophies, superstitions, etc)• Folk Culture – practice of a particular custom by a relatively small group

of people in a focused area• Folklore – stories that are passed from generation to generation• Jack Tales – stories that involve the character “Jack” and his adventures

(jack and the beanstalk)• Popular Culture – practice of customs that span several different cultures

and may even have a global focus

Cultural Landscape

• Cultural Landscape – interactions of a group in relation to their own cultural practices as well as to the values of a society as reflected thru artifacts and architecture

• Natural Landscape – the physical earth and is often associated with the field of physical geography

• Adaptive Strategy – how a person adapts to a new culture

Music and Culture

• Folk songs – describe a group of people• Country music – roots in South US• Bluegrass music – closely related to country• Blues music – developed from African-American

music• Tejano music – Tex-Mex – in SW US• Cajun music – Creole – Louisiana • Polka music – upper Midwest• Motown music – Detroit, MI – Motor City

Food and Culture

• International food culture – different food preferences from around the world say a lot about a culture

• Folk food – attributed to a particular people or culture

• US food cultures – New England (clam chowder), Maine (lobster), South (fried chicken)

• Barbeque – the South – art form for cooking meat; KC, Memphis, known for unique styles and over 100 bbq restaurants in metro areas

Sports and Culture

• Baseball – US, Japan, Caribbean• Basketball – US, Europe• Soccer – world’s most popular sport, FIFA,

World Cup• Football – US • Hooligans – fans who incite violence at

football matches – hurling racial or religious epitaphs against opposing players and fans

Architecture and Culture

• Indigenous architecture – architecture of Native Americans as well as first settlers (log cabins)

• Anglo-American landscape – long rows of roads are laid out on the flat landscape in square or rectangular patterns

• Folk landscape – what people perceive the landscape to be based on their cultural notions of an area

• Traditional architecture – the structures built as it was being established

Language and Culture• Language – ability to communicate with others orally and/or in writing• Monolingual country – one official language in which all government

business is conducted• Multilingual country – more than one official language• 6,000 languages spoken in the world today• Lingua francas – language used as a common tongue among people who

speak diverse languages, often to conduct business (very often in English)• Adaptive strategy – learning a new language, makes communication

process easier when entering another language region• Learning languages – involves skills

– Speak and sound out words– Ability to write the symbols that are associated with each sound or meaning– Comprehension – vocab acquisition

Language and Culture• Linguistic Divisions within States – countries divided by language barriers• Dialects – form of a language that is different in sound, speed, syntax, and

vocabulary• Syntax – grammatical arrangement of a language• Isogloss – boundary of a dialect – can be difficult to determine because

patterns of speech vary among members of people of the same group• Pidgin, Trade, and Creole

– Pidgin – mixture of languages, elementary in grammar and vocab but still useful– Trade Language – made up language that is used by people who want to trade –

modified language to communicate and conduct trade– Creole Language – stable language resulting from the blend of two or more

languages which often does not include features of either• Official Language – language in which all government business is

conducted

Language and Culture• Linguistic Diversity – learning more languages, can operate on

large or small scale – when person speaks more than one language, he/she has diversity, but if a society speaks more than one language that diversity can be seen as hindering unification

• Language Extinction – elderly speak language and when they die, they take the language with them

• Language Families – groups of languages organized by their common heritage

• Language Subfamilies – smaller groups of languages within a language family

• Language Groups – people whose languages are descended from common tongue

Language and Culture

• Indo-European Language Family• Sino-Tibetan Language Family• Afro-Asiatic Language Family• Niger-Congo Language Family• Origins of Language Families – hearth of

human settlement was in Iraq• Languages and Landscape• Toponyms – place names

Religion and Culture• Religion – value system that people place on themselves and others based on

a spiritual or divine aspect of the world• Faith – belief in things not seen or the things that cannot be proven• Monotheistic – belief in only one god• Polytheistic – belief in many gods• Ethnic religion – person is born into a faith and little to no effort is put into

converting others to the religion• Universalizing religion – members actively try to convert others• Proselytic faith – another name for universalizing religion• Atheist – people who do not believe in any god or god-like figure• Secularist – person who wants to separate religion from all other aspects of

society• Jainism – religion that is based on nonmaterialism but at its core is considered

a form of atheism

Top 5 Religions

• Christianity – world’s largest religion with over 2 billion followers– Architecture – cross, church – Foundational Beliefs – Jesus Christ lived on earth, died on cross,

resurrected, followers can be saved, the Bible – Old Testament and New Testament

– Structure – varies by denomination – priest, pastor, minister– Distribution – one justification for colonization was the opportunity

to convert “unsaved” populations– Denominations – branches of a religion that different on specific

aspects of the principles of the religion• Roman Catholic• Protestants – Baptists, Lutherans, etc

Top 5 Religions• Islam – second largest religion (Muslims are followers) – approaching 2 billion

– Architecture – mosque – place of worship and is focal point, minarets – extend from sides of mosque and reach up to Allah (god)

– Foundational Beliefs – Koran – Muslim Holy Book, • One God, Allah (Shahadah)• Prayer 5 times daily facing Mecca (Salah)• Taxes paid to poor or mosque (Zakat)• Fast during Ramadan (Sawm)• Pilgrimage to Mecca (holiest city) in lifetime (Hajj)

– Structure – leader of mosque is imam– Distribution – began in Saudi Arabia– Denominations – Shiites (Shiahs) and Sunnis– Theocracy – state that is ruled by religious leaders, religion plays an integral part in the

administration of the country– Sharia Law – does not separate church and state, based on Koran and teachings of

Muhammad– Fundamentalism – based on literal interpretation of a holy book and urges strict behavioral

guidelines to comply with the basic principles of a religion

Top 5 Religions

• Judaism – one of oldest world religions– Architecture – Star of David, synagogues – Foundational Beliefs – Yahweh (God in Hebrew),

Jewish bible is Tanakh and based on Torah and Talmud – two holy books, rabbi is leader

– Distribution – US, Israel– Denominations – Orthodox (traditional – Haredi),

Reform, American based Reconstructionist, Humanistic, Flexidox

– Holidays – Passover, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur

Religious Conflict in the Middle East

• Christianity, Judaism, Islam – roots in Israel, Jerusalem is holy city

• Wailing Wall/Western Wall – what is left to remember the site of the temple – Temple Mount, most holy site to Jews

• Many conflicts here

Monotheism vs Polytheism (West vs East)

• Monotheistic – Judaism, Christianity, Islam – belief in one god

• Zoroastrianism – belief that Zarathustra as the father of religion and the concept of good and evil – at heart of all three Western faiths

• Polytheism – belief in many gods

Top 5 Religions

• Hinduism – oldest religion on earth – you can practice a religion but you can’t become Hindu unless born to Hindu parents – India – Foundational Beliefs – 3 deities (Brahma – created universe, Shiva

– destroys the universe, Vishnu – preserved the Earth and universe), temples devoted to worship gods, Shakti – mother goddess – female personification of god and means energy, power of femininity , Parvati – married to Shiva and keeps Shiva in balance, Vedas – holy texts

– Sects – Vaishnava (Vishnu worshippers),– Reincarnation – belief that one has lives a previous life and will

continue to live another life after death, cows are seen as life builders

Top 5 Religions• Buddhism – elimination of unwanted desires from the human soul thru meditation,

worship of a god is not part of Buddhist religion, personal devotion, East Asia• Syncretic religion – combining two ore more faiths into one belief system

– Architecture – pagodas – ornate design, made for individual worship rather than congregational worship

– Foundational Beliefs – Siddhartha Gautama – prince, lived life of luxury as teen, then left palace when saw poverty, and then lived life focused on getting rid of material possessions to obtain state of nirvana, 4 Nobles Truths:• All living beings should experience and endure suffering• Suffering leads to desire to live…reincarnation• Goal is to leave suffering by reincarnation• Nirvana can be achieved thru practicing 8 steps – rightness of belief, resolve, speech, action,

livelihood, effort, thought, and meditation

– Structure – monks live in monasteries– Distribution – spread from Nepal and India across East Asia– Sects – Mahayanist (northern branch – 56% - China, Japan, Korea), Theravadas (southern

branch – SE Asia), Tantrayanists (Tibet/China and Mongolia)

Other Universalizing Religions• Sikhism – belief in one god formed as a rejection of India’s caste system, Guru

Nanak, India/Pakistan• Bahai – Africa/Asia – similar to Sikh, no class distinction• Mormonism – Utah in US, Church of Latter Day Saints, Book of Mormon,

Polygamy (marriage of one man to more than one wife) is illegal in US and church outlawed practice

• Ethnic Religions – every society needs some supernatural worship figure in culture

• Animism – belief in luck and spirits, shaman – ability to intermediate between supernatural and real world

• Confucianism – based on teachings of Confucius, focuses on relationships, feng shui (geomancy) – maintaining proper relationships in life thru positioning of items to keep the flow of energy in harmony, yin and yang

• Taoism/Daoism – based on release of personal desires, Lao Tzu founder• Shintoism – Japan – believe that nature is divine

Sacred Places and Spaces in Religion

• Sacred spaces – certain locations hold spiritual significance for the faithful

• Taj Mahal – Agra, India – built by Muslim prince as a mausoleum for deceased wife, great structure in world

• Ganges River – Hindus holiest river in the world• Burial rites• Religious toponyms – place names

Religion and Conflict• Religious conflicts – battles fought and blood shed in the name of religion• Interfaith boundaries – boundaries between people of different faiths• Enclave – group of people with particular religion surrounded by people of a

different religion• Exclave – group of people who are physically separated from their religious

hearth (missionaries)• Hierarchical Diffusion – the diffusion of something from a minority to the

majority – rap music• Contagious Diffusion – rapid spread of an idea, internet• Stimulus Diffusion – application of a concept to another product – pizza • Relocation Diffusion – spread of a cultural aspect thru migration - language• Acculturation – use of cultural aspect fading away over generations as elderly die

out• Assimilation – gradual dying out of the old culture and its replacement with the

new culture

Observing the Cultural Landscape

• City park – assess cultural values of the society – statues, ethnicity in public artwork, how the land is being used (socializing, benches, trails, etc)