the nature of cultural geography

8/12/2019 The Nature of Cultural Geography

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The Nature of Cultural

Geography

Chapter 1

The Human Matrix


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Discussion

Pair up into dyads

Discuss these two questions for 10

minutes, five minutes each

What does culture mean to you?

Would you identify yourself as belonging to a

cultural group? Why or why not?


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Introduction

Humans are by nature geographers

Possess awareness of and curiosity about thedistinctive character of places

Can think territorially or spatially Each place on Earth is unique

Places possess an emotional quality andsignificance that contribute to our identity as

unique human beings

Geographers, over the centuries, generated anumber of concepts and ideas that literallychanged the world


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Seven Cultural Geographical Idea

That Changed the World

Maps

Human adaptation to habitat

Human transformation of the earth

Sense of place

Spatial organization and interdependence

Central place theory

Megalopolis


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Geography as an academic

discipline

Natural human geographical curiosity and

need for identity

First arose among the ancient Greeks,

Romans, Mesopotamians, and

Phoenicians

Arab empire expanded geography during

Europes Dark Ages


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Geography as an academic

discipline

Center of learning shifted to Europe during

the Renaissance period

Modern scientific study of geography

arose in Germany

Analytical geography began in the 1800s

asking what, where, and why

Alexander von Humboldt and Carl Ritter


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What is cultural geography?

The meaning of culture

For this course defined as learned collective

human behavior, as opposed to instinctive, or

inborn behavior

Learned traits

Cultural geography: the study of spatial

variations among cultural groups and thespatial functioning of society.


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Cultural geography

Focuses on cultural phenomena that may

vary or remain constant from place to

place

Explains how humans function spatially


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What is cultural geography?

Physical geography brings spatial and

ecological perspectives

Bridges the social and earth sciences

Seeks a integrative view of humankind in

its physical environment

Appears less focused than most otherdisciplines making it difficult to define


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No easy explanations for cultural

phenomena

Many complex causal forces

Wheat cultivations (next slide)

Cultural geography seeks explanations ofdiverse casual factors


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Themes in cultural geography

Culture region: a geographical unit based

on human traits

Maps are an essential tool for describing

and revealing regions

Major types of culture regions

Formal

Functional

Vernacular


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Formal culture region


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Kerala, India

A formal culture region can be defined in

this picture by ethnicity, dress and social

custom.

While people do not generally reveal their

bodies in public, at the end of the day they

dress up to go to the beach and watch the

sunset.


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Kerala, India

Boys and girls do notmingle but observeeach other from adistance.

Unchaperoned datingis rare and marriagesare typically arranged.

These are learned,collective humanbehaviors.


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Formal culture region

An area inhabited by people who have one

or more cultural traits in common.

More commonly multiple related traits

No two cultural traits have the same

distribution.


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Complex multiculture regions


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Territorial extents of a

culture region depend

on what defining traits

are used.


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Formal culture regions

Many different formal regions can be created

Depends on traits

Geographers intuition


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Boundaries

Formal culture regions must haveboundaries

rarely sharp because cultures overlap and mix

Culture regions reveal a core where alldefining traits are present

Farther from core regional characteristicsweaken and disappear

Formal regions display core/periphery pattern

Human world is chaotic


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Functional culture region


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Minneapolis, Minnesota

This mobile post-office is the node of afunctional region.

People come to the node at specific times

during the week to deposit their mail. This vehicle is one of several linked to a

particular post office which is part of of a

larger network of post offices. Each post office is a node in its own mail

delivery region.


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The scene is in the

citys CBD where

individual buildings

are nodes of activitieslinked to other

buildings and places.

Note the skywalk

which facilitatesinteraction between

structures.


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Functional culture regions

An area organized to function politically,

socially, or economically

Examples: city, independent state, church

diocese, a trade area

Have nodes or central points from which

functions are coordinated and directed.

Many functional regions have clearly

defined borders


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Farm as a formal culture region

all land owned and leased, farmstead is

node, borders marked by fences, hedges


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States in the United States and Canadian

provinces

Not all functional areas have clearly

defined borders: newspapers, sales area

Fans of UT vs TAMU

Generally functional culture regions do not

coincide spatially with formal culture

regions


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Vernacular culture regions

A region perceived to exist by its

inhabitants, has widespread acceptance

and uses a special regional name.


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Vernacular culture region

Generally lack sharp borders

Can be based on many different things

physical environment

economic, political, historical aspects

often created by publicity campaigns

Grows out of a peoples sense of

belonging and regional self -

consciousness


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Not unique to NorthAmerica

Northern Territory =Outback Australia

Transcends statelines

Japanese ties

Heavy duty bumperand roo bars todeflect wildlife


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Differences

How do vernacular culture regions differ

from formal and functional regions

Often lack the organization necessary for

funtional regions

Unlike formal regions, they frequently do not

display cultural homogeneity

Many are rooted in the popular or folk culture


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Cultural diffusion

Spatial spread of learned ideas,

innovations, and attitudes.

Each cultural element originates in one or

more places and then spreads.

Some spread widely, others remain

confined to an area of origin.

100 Percent American

Torsten Hgerstrand


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Cultural diffusion


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Expansion diffusion

Ideas spread throughout a population fromarea to area.

Creates a snowballing effect

Subtypes: Hierarchical diffusion: ideas leapfrog from one

node to another temporarily bypassing some

Contagious diffusion: wavelike, like disease Stimulus diffusion: specific trait rejected, butidea accepted


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Relocation diffusion

Relocation diffusion occurs when

individuals migrate to a new location

carrying new ideas or practices with them

Religion is prime example


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Time-distance decay factor

Ripples on a pond.

Acceptance of an innovation is strongest

where it originated.

Acceptance weakens as it is diffused

farther away.

Acceptance also weakens over time.


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Barriers to diffusion

Absorbing barriers completely halt

diffusion: Afghanistan.

More commonly barriers are permeable,

allowing part of the innovation wave to

diffuse, but acting to weaken and retard

the continued spread.


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Diffusion


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Guangzhou (Canton), China

PRC recently opened its doors to foreigninvestment and a number of cities havebeen designated as Special Economic

Zones. An absorbing barrier has become

permeable.

Sincle coastal cities were the first to allowforeign instrusions, these have highestinflux of joint-venture projects.


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Diffusion

Proctor and Gamblehas designed soapsand detergents forChinas specific water

conditions. Just as P&G diffused

from North America toChina, other

manufacturers willdiffuse into otherparts of China.


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Diffusion

As more cities are opened Chinas urban

economies will become increasingly

internationalized and each city will function

as a key center of diffusion to places loweron the social-economic hierarchy.

How does time-distance decay play a role

here?


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Stages of innovation acceptance

Firstacceptance takes place at a slow

steady rate.

Secondraid growth in acceptance and

the trait spreads rapidly

fashion or dance fad

neighborhood effect

Thirdslower growth and acceptance of

innovation


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Neighborhood effect


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Hgerstrand


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Hgerstrand

Hgerstrands explanation of the

core/periphery spatial arrangement of

diffusion resembles pattern in culture

regions others say too narrow and mechanical

assumes all innovations are beneficial

throughout geographical space nondiffusion more prevalent than diffusion,

but not accounted for


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Susceptibility to an innovation

More crucial when world communicationsare rapid and pervasive

Friction of distance is almost meaningless

Must evaluate and explain on a region-by-region basis

Inhabitants of two regions will not respond

identically to an innovation Geographers seek to understand spatial

variation in receptiveness


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Cultural ecology

Ecology is two-way relationship betweenan organism and its physical environment

Cultural ecology is the study of the cause-

and-effect interplay between cultures andthe physical environment

Ecosystem entails a functioning ecologicalsystem where biological and culturalHomo sapienslive and interact with thephysical environment.


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Cultural ecology

Culture is the human method of meeting

physical environmental challenges.

adaptive system

assumes plant and animal adaptations are relevant facilitates long-term, successful, nongenetic human

adaptation to nature and environmental change

adaptive strategy that provides necessities of life:

food, clothing, shelter, defense No two cultures employ the same strategy, evenin

within the same physical environment


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Cultural ecology

The physical environment

plays a powerful role in

the cultural landscape of

this remote region of

Pakistans northernfrontier.

The Muslim, Pathan have

an adaptive strategy of

harnessing localresources for their needs.


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Bahrain, Pakistan

The settlement hugs thevalley walls and the riveris harnessed to providewater power for turninggrinding stones (primarilycorn) in the foregroundstructure.

Since limited wood supplyprecludes its widespread

use, houses areconstructed of dry-mortared stones andmany have sod roofs


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Cultural ecology

Four schools of thought developed by

geographers on cultural ecology

Environmental determinism

Possibilism

Environmental perception

Humans as modifiers of the earth


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Developed during the first quarter of the 20thcentury.

Physical environment provided a dominant forcein shaping cultures

Humans were clay to be molded by nature Believed mountain people, because they lived in

rugged terrain were: Backward

Conservative Unimaginative

Freedom loving


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Believed desert dwellers were: Likely to believe in one god

Lived under the rule of tyrants

Temperate climates produced: Inventiveness

Industriousness

Democracy

Coastlands with fjords produced navigators andfishers

Overestimated the role of environment


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Possibilism

Took the place of determinism in the

1920s

Cultural heritage at least as important as

physical environment in affecting humanbehavior

Believe people are the primary architects

of culture


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Possibilism

Chongqing and San

Francisco

Similar environment

Street patterns SF has smaller

population but larger

area

Culture


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Possibilism

Physical environment offers numerous ways fora culture to develop.

People make culture trait choices from thepossibilities offered by their environment tosatisfy their needs.

High technology societies are less influenced byphysical environment.

Geographer Jim Norwin warns control overenvironment may be an illusion because ofpossible future climatic changes.


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Each persons or cultural groups mental imagesof the physical environment are shaped byknowledge, ignorance, experience, values, andemotions

Environmental perceptionists declare-choicespeople make will depend more on how theyperceive the lands character than its actualcharacter

People make decisions based on distortion ofreality with regard to their surrounding physicalenvironment


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Geomancya traditional system of land-use planning dictating that certainenvironmental settings, perceived by the

sages as auspicious, should be chosen asthe sites for houses, villages, temples, andgraves (feng-shui)

an East Asian world view and art

affected the location and morphology of urbanplaces in countries such as China and Korea

diffused (look up feng-shui on internet)


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Natural hazards

Humans perceptions of natural hazards

Flooding, hurricanes, volcanic eruption, earthquakes,

insect infestations, and droughts

Some cultures consider them as unavoidable acts of

the gods sent down as punishments because of the

peoples shortcomings

During times of natural disasters, some cultures feel

the government should take care of them

Western cultures feel technology should be able to

solve the problems created by natural hazards


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Natural hazards

In virtually all cultures, people knowingly

inhabit hazard zones

Especially floodplains, exposed coastal sites,

drought-prone regions, and active volcanicareas

More Americans than ever live in hurricane-

and earthquake-prone areas of the United

States


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Monserrat - 1996


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Missouri River


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Hazard Perception

Levees failed to prevent the Mississippiand Missouri rivers from flooding.

Floods are natural occurrences and

contrary to the perception of some, humanmade devices are directed toward controlrather than prevention.

When the water recedes and tons of muckand debris are removed, will the farmermove back and start over?


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Natural hazards

Migrants tend to imagine new homelands

as being more similar to their old

homelands than is actually the case

Humans perceptions of natural resources

Hunting and gathering cultures

Agricultural groups

Industrial societies


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Another facet of cultural ecology

In a sense, the opposite of environmental

determinism

George Perkins Marsh

Example of soil erosion around Athens in

ancient times


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Human modification varies from oneculture to another

Geographers seek alternative, less

destructive modes of environmentalmodification

Humans of the Judeo-Christian tradition tendto regard environmental modification as

divinely approved Other more cautious groups take care not to

offend the forces of nature


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Environmental modification


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Queensland, Australia

Rainforest north ofCairns, signs

demonstrate

conflicting

perceptions of a

particular resource.

Thousands of acres

of Australianrainforest destroyed

yearly.


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Cultural integration

Cultures are complex wholes rather than seriesof unrelated traits

Cultures form integrated systems in which partsfit together causally

All cultural aspects are functionallyinterdependent on one another Changing one element requires accommodating

change in others

To understand one facet of culture, geographers muststudy the variations in other facets and how they arecausally interrelated and integrated


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The influence of religious beliefs

Voting behavior

Diet and shopping patterns

Type of employment and social standing Hinduism segregates people into social classes

(castes), and specifies what forms of livelihood are

appropriate for each

Mormon faith forbids consumption of alcoholicbeverages, tobacco, and other products, thereby

influencing both diet and shopping patterns


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If improperly used can lead the

geographer to cultural determinism such

as:

physical environment is inconsequential as aninfluence on culture

culture offers all the answers for spatial

variations nature is passive while people and culture are

the active forces


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Social science

Those who view cultural geography as a

social science apply the scientific method to

the study of people Devise theories that cut across cultural lines

to govern all of humankind

Believe economic causal forces more

powerful in explaining human spatial behavior

than any others


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Models

f


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Model of Latin American city

H i i h


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Humanistic geography

Celebrates the uniqueness of each region andplace

Place is the key word connoting the humanistic view

Topophilia

word coined by Yi-Fu Tuan, literallymeaning love of place

Has witnessed a resurgence in recent decades

Social-science approach has declined in

popularity

H i ti h


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Humanistic geography

Anne Buttimer

Seek to explain unique phenomenaplace and

region-rather than universal spatial laws

Most doubt that laws of spatial behavior evenexist

Believe in a far more chaotic world than

scientists could tolerate

Reject the use of mathematicsfeel human

beliefs and values cannot be measured

Wh i i ht?


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Who is right?

Debate between scientists and humanistsin cultural geography

Necessary and healthy

Both ask different questions about place andspace

Geography is the bridging discipline,

joining the sciences and humanities Postmodernism

C lt l l d


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Cultural landscape

The visible, material landscape thatcultural groups create in inhabiting theEarth

Cultures shape landscapes out of the rawmaterials provided by the Earth

Each landscape uniquely reflects theculture that created it

Much can be learned about a culture bycarefully observing its created landscape

C lt l l d


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Cultural landscape

Some geographers regard landscapestudy as geographys central interest

Reflects the most basic strivings of

humankind Shelter

Food

Clothing

Contains evidence about the origin,spread, and development of cultures

C lt l l d


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Cultural landscape

Accumulation of human artifacts, old and new Can reveal much about a past forgotten by

present inhabitants

Landscapes also reveal messages about

present-day inhabitants and cultures Reflect tastes, values, aspirations, and fears in

tangible form

Spatial organization of settlements and architecturalform of structures can be interpreted as expression of

values and beliefs of the people Can serve as a means to study nonmaterial aspects

of culture

C lt l l d


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Cultural landscape

How architecture reflects past and presentvalues of landscape

Example of centrally located, tall structures

built of steel, brick, or stone Example of medieval European cathedrals

and churches that dominated the landscape

Cultural landscape


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Cultural landscape

K l L M l i


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Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Now capital; prior to 1997administrative center for

British colony of Malaya.

During 20s an 30s Art

Deco architecturepopular.

Built in 1928, originally

wet market for mean,

poultry and fish wererendered and sold.

K l L M l i


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Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Renewed, it nowcontains a shoppingbazaar selling localhandicraft products,

souveniers and food. Heritage revealed

through architectureand sign.

Only traditional cartsuggests truth.

C lt l l d


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Cultural landscape

Humanistic view of cultural landscape Content to study the cultural landscape for its

aesthetic value

Obtain subjective messages that help describe theessence of place

Geographer Tarja Keisteri distinguishes the factual,concrete, physical, functioning landscape from theexperimental, perceived, symbolic, aestheticlandscape

Distinction between scholarly analysis and subjective

artistic interpretation are often blurred Provides people with landmarks and reassures

people they are not rootless without identity or place

C lt l l d


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Cultural landscape

Most geographical studies have focused onthree principal aspects of landscape

Settlement formsDescribe the spatial arrangement

of buildings, roads, and other features people

construct while inhabiting an area

Land-division patternsreveal the way people divide

the land for economic and social uses

Example of land division of small and large farms

Example of urban housing and street patterns

C lt ral landscape


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Cultural landscape

Architecture

North Americas different building styles

Regional and cultural differences

Conclusion


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Conclusion

Five themes of geography are interwoven

Culture region

Cultural diffusion

Cultural ecology


Cultural landscape

Folk and popular architecture


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p p

reflect culture

the nature of cultural geography

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