cultural patterns and processess · –language, religion, myths, superstitions . folk culture...
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Cultural Patterns and Processes
Unit 3 Essential Question: How do cultural
patterns and processes vary across the planet?
The Meaning of Culture
• Culture-the way of life of a particular people. – Language, religion, food, and music
• Culture and ethnicity are often intertwined – What is ethnicity?
– What is the difference between race and ethnicity?
• It is important to remember that geographers look at trends over time and analyze the patterns of cultures.
Material Culture
• Anything that can be seen on the landscape
• Built environment-how people impact the landscape (seen)
Nonmaterial Culture
• Anything that makes up culture that can’t be touched
– Language, religion, myths, superstitions
Folk Culture
• Practice of a particular custom by a relatively small group of people in a specific area
– Makes a place unique
– Passed from generation to generation, usually through oral histories
• Folklore-stories passed from generation to generation
– Values and legends
Folklore
Good vs. Evil
Popular Culture
• Opposite of folk culture, this is the practice of customs that span several different cultures
• Folk culture could potentially become part of popular culture, if its popularity grows.
Folk Culture Popular Culture
The Cultural Landscape • Interactions of a group in
relation to their own cultural practices as well as to the values of a society as reflected through artifacts and architecture.
• Natural Landscape-physical Earth (field of physical geography)
Adaptive Strategy
• How a person adapts to a new culture
Music and Culture
• Musical styles and lyrics can tell a geographer a lot about the culture in an area.
• Religion also plays a key role in musical expression.
• Radio stations give information about the listening habits of people.
• Folk songs- describe a group of people
Food and Culture
• Favorite and least favorite foods describe people and their culture.
• Where a restaurant is located relative to a food source can determine the menu.
• Our diet depends on the agriculture around us.
Sports and Culture
• Baseball and basketball have spread worldwide from the US
– Hierarchical diffusion
• World’s most popular sport?
• Hooligans- fans who incite violence at football (soccer) matches.
– Racial, religious epithets
Architecture and Culture
• Societies are based on family structures, which are typically some time of house.
– Home can be the foundation for culture
• Folk housing is constructed with materials that are nearby
– Usually depends on climate
Architecture and Culture
• Indigenous architecture-any structure on the landscape that is not built by a professional craftsperson or artist.
• Different regions focus on different parts of the house.
– Muslims have a special wall that faces Mecca
Architecture and Culture
• 3 Styles in the US
– New England
• Saltbox, 2 Chimney, Cape Cod, and front gable and wing styles.
– Middle Atlantic
• “I” house- 2 stories with gables on either end
– Lower Chesapeake
• 2 stories with chimneys located on both sides.
Architecture and Culture
• Anglo-American landscape – Township and Range System
• Folk landscape-what people perceive the landscape to be based on their cultural notions of an area.
• Traditional architecture-structures built as area was being established – Ex: traditional architecture of a city would be the original
industrial plants established as the city was founded.
Language and Culture
• Ability to communicate with others orally and/or in writing. – Unites and divides
• Language in school: US vs. European countries • Monolingual country-has only one official
language in which all gov. business is conducted. • Multilingual country-has more than one official
language. • Linguistic diversity-learning of more languages • Language extinction-As young ppl move out of a
local area, the elderly are the only ones to continue to use their language. After they die, the language disappears.
Lingua Francas
• A language used as a common tongue among people who speak diverse languages, often to conduct business
– What is the current lingua franca?
– What was the last lingua franca?
– What do you think the next lingua franca will be?
Learning Languages
• First skill:
– Ability to speak and sound out the words
• Second skill:
– Ability to write the symbols that are connected w/ each sound or meaning
• Third skill:
– Comprehension
Dialects • A form of a
language that is unique in sound, speed, syntax, and vocabulary
• Isogloss-boundary of a dialect
– “You guys” vs. “You’uns” vs. “Y’all”
Pidgin, Trade, and Creole Languages
• Pidgin- Mixture of language – Very simple grammar and
vocab. – Allow trade and interactions to
occur – Can become an entirely new
language\ • Trade-made-up language that is
used by ppl who want to trade. – Each party learns the modified
language to communicate • Creole-stable language resulting
from the blend of two or more languages that often does not include features of either. – Broad choice of vocab
Language Families
• Groups of languages organized by common heritage
• Language subfamilies- smaller groups of languages within a language family
• Language groups- ppl. Whose languages are descended from a common tongue
– French and Spanish (Romance languages)
Languages and the Landscape
• Toponyms-different place names
– Tells us a lot about the culture of a place and people
Religion and Culture
• Value system that people place on themselves and others based on a spiritual or divine aspect of the world.
• Religion can impact the world’s landscape and the cultures of billions.
• Faith-belief in things that you cannot see or prove.
Religion and Culture
• Monotheistic-One god
• Polytheistic-Many gods
• Ethnic religions-person is born into the faith, little to no effort is put forth to convert others.
• Universalizing religions-members actively try to covert others
Religion and Culture • Atheists-do not believe in any god
• Secularist-person who wants to separate religion from all aspects of society
One thought on religion vs. atheism by British celebrity Ricky Gervais
Major Religions of the World
• Buddhism
• Hinduism
•Christianity •Islam •Judaism
Christianity • World’s largest religion
• Monotheistic, universalizing.
• 3 Branches: Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox
• Symbols:
– Cross located within the church
– Steeple of the church points upward towards Heaven. Cross usually on top of steeple
Christian Beliefs
• Jesus Christ: – Born on Earth
– Died on Cross
– Resurrected
– Showed that all Christians can be saved
• The Bible – Old and New Testament
• Old: Israelites, Moses, Abraham, David. Before the coming of the Savior
• New: life of Jesus and foundation of the new faith
• Holy Trinity: God, Son, Holy Spirit
Structure of Christianity
• Catholic Church – Pope
– Cardinals
– Bishops
– Priests
• Protestant Church – Pastor, Minister
• Orthodox Church – Patriarch
Denominations
• Branches of a religion that differ on specific aspects of the principles of the religion
– Catholicism is the oldest and largest branch
– Martin Luther created the Protestant Reformation which broke away from Roman Catholicism
• Lutheran, Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, etc.
Islam
• Second largest religion. Starting to gain on Christianity
• Muslims
– Mostly live in the Middle East, Northern Africa, Southeast Asia
• Universalizing, monotheistic
• Shares some of the major people with Christianity and Judaism
Islam • Islam believes that Jesus was a prophet, but
not the main prophet. For Muslims, this person is Muhammad.
• Muhammad was spoken to by Allah (God) and wrote down Allah’s word in the Koran.
• Koran is the Islamic holy text.
Islam
• Muslims worship inside of a mosque
– Minarets-towers that extend upward toward Allah
• The leader of a mosque is an imam.
– They lead prayers at different times of the day
Beliefs of Islam
• Five Pillars of Islam: 1. Shahadah: There is only one God, Allah
• When you accept the creed of Allah, you officially become a Muslim
2. Salah: Prayer must be done five times daily facing the city of Mecca
3. Zakat: Taxes must be paid directly to the poor and needy or the mosque
4. Sawm: One must fast during Ramadan
5. Hahjj: One must make a pilgrimage to Mecca once during one’s life
Salah and Sawm
Hajj
Denominations
• Shiites, Shiahs, Shi’a
– 15-20% of Muslim population
– Conservative
– Interpret the Koran literally
• Sunnis make up the largest percentage of Muslims
– Liberal
– Looser interpretation of the Koran
Denominations • Shiite Muslims live mainly in Iraq and Iran • Sunni Muslims live in the rest of the Middle East,
Northern Africa, and Southeast Asia • Theocracy-state ruled by religious leaders
– Religion plays a key role in the administration of the country
– Koran plays an important role in the institutional laws of society
• Islamic theocracies are ruled by Sharia Law – Do not separate church and state – Based on Koran and teachings of Muhammad.
• Fundamentalism-literal interpretation of a holy book, urges strict behavioral guidelines to comply with basic principles of religion – See this in Christianity .
Judaism
• One of the oldest religions
• Not just a religion, but an ethnicity
Judaism
• Worship inside of a synagogue
• The Star of David is a major symbol in the religion.
• David was one of the major leaders in the faith
Beliefs of Judaism
• Ethnic, monotheistic religion
• God figure is Yahweh
• Jewish bible is the Tanahk, based on the Torah and the Talmud
• Rabbi leads the service on Saturday
Distribution
• Majority of population lives in the US along the East Coast
• Israel was founded in 1948 as a homeland for the Jewish after WWII
– 14 Million Jews live there today
Denominations of Judaism • Ultra-Orthodox/ Haredi
– Isolated – Avoid modern society (sin)
• Orthodox – Can live within society – Believe that the Torah’s message can change with the times
• Reform – Believe Torah is open to continuous interpretation
• Reconstructionist – Personal autonomy over customs
• Humanistic – Belief in Jewish roots, not Yahweh as a supernatural figure
• Flexidox – Very liberal, but still keeps some practices (kosher, Saturday as
holy day)
Jewish Holidays
• Passover
– Biblical Story
• Rosh Hashanah
– Reflect on sins
• Yom Kippur
– Fast
– Atonement
Monotheistic vs. Polytheistic
• Monotheistic – Belief in one god figure
– Believers will go to heaven, nonbelievers to hell
• Zoroastrianism – Belief in Zarathustra as father of religion and in the
concept of both good and evil. • Core of Western religions
– Mostly in Iran and India
• Polytheistic – Many gods
Hinduism
• Oldest religion on Earth
• Ethnic religion
– You can practice, but you are only Hindu if you’re born into a Hindu family
• Majority in India
• 3rd largest religion
Beliefs of Hinduism
• 3 primary deities
– Brahma
– Shiva
– Vishnu
• Practice faith in a temple
• Vedas-holy texts
• Reincarnation
Deities
Triumvirate:
• Brahma – Created the
universe
• Shiva – Destroys the
universe
• Vishnu – Preserver of Earth
and universe
Buddhism
• Focus on elimination of desires through meditation
• No focus on a specific god
– Instead: personal devotion of the individual follower.
• Located in East Asia, Northeast, Southeast Asia
• Universalizing but…
– Syncretic religion: combining 2+ faiths into one belief system
Buddhism
• Pagodas
– Individual rather than congregational
– Not social
– Burn incense to release spirits/meditate
Beliefs of Buddhism
• Siddhartha Gautama – Prince who lived in
Nepal
– He left his palace and observed the poverty in the region and was disgusted.
– He lived a life without material possessions
• Nirvana: enlightenment
Beliefs of Buddhism
• 4 Universal Truths – All living beings should experience and endure
suffering
– Suffering leads to the desire to live, which leads to reincarnation
– The goal is to leave the suffering of this Earth perpetuated by reincarnation
– Nirvana can be achieved through practicing the following eight steps: • Rightness of belief, resolve, speech, action, livelihood, effort,
thought, meditation.
Other Universalizing Religions
• Sikism
– One god formed as a rejection of India’s caste system.
– India
• Bahai
– No class distinctions, equality
– Africa
Mormonism
• Christian religion, but distinct differences between Mormonism and other sects of Christianity
• Founded by Joseph Smith, prophet of God
• Continued by Brigham Young
• Mostly in Utah
Mormonism
• Book of Mormon: used in addition to Old and New Testaments
• Polygamy-marriage of one man to more than one wife – Outlawed the practice,
excommunicates anyone who practices this
– Some groups still do this and call themselves Mormons.
Other Ethnic Religions
• Animism
– Luck and spirits
– Shaman is a leader who intermediates between the supernatural and real world
• Can remove evil spirits
– Southeast Asia, Africa
Confucianism
• Based on teachings of Confucius
• China
• Focus on relationships, makes up the major societal rules of China
• Feng Shui/Geomancy- keeping flow of energy in harmony
Daoism
• Release of personal desires
• Lao Tzu
• China
• Things happen that cannot be explained by rational thought
• Mystical understanding of the harmony of life
Shintoism • Japan
• Polytheistic and Monotheistic
• Nature is divine or holy
– Rivers, mountains, etc have spirits
• Ancestors play an important role
• Official religion in Japan in 1900s
Sacred Places & Spaces • Sacred spaces-
locations with significant meaning – Taj Mahal: built by
Muslim prince as a mausoleum for wife
– Ganges River: Hindu holy river; bodies are burned and scattered over river
– Death and how to care for the dead
Conflict
• Battles fought in the name of religion happen frequently – Why is this ironic?
• Interfaith boundaries-fighting over the boundaries of people of different faiths – Christians vs. Muslims – Iran vs. Israel – Christians vs. Christians – Muslim Pakistan vs. Hindu India
• Nuclear Weapons…
– 9/11 and other terrorist attacks (worldwide) – Northern Ireland: Protestant vs. Catholic