Chapter 4
Folk and Popular
Culture
Folk & Popular Culture
I. Intro
A. Culture combines values, material artifacts, &
political institutions
B. Habit vs. Custom
• Collection of social customs produces a group’s
material culture
C. Basic Categories of Material
Culture
1.Folk
2.Popular
• Questions:
– Where are Folk & Popular culture located in space?
– Why are distributions of Folk & Popular culture
II. Origins and Diffusion of Folk
& Popular Cultures
A. Origin of folk and popular cultures
• Customs
• Origin of folk music
• Origin of popular music
–
–
–
–
Originated
Spread WWII
English becomes international language
Hip-Hop
II. Origins and Diffusion of Folk
& Popular Cultures
B. Diffusion of folk and popular
cultures
• The Amish: Relocation diffusion of folk
culture
• http://digitalunion.osu.edu/r2/summer07/eellis/ind
ex.html
Sports: Hierarchical diffusion of popular culture
Tin Pan Alley
& Popular
Music
Fig. 4-1: Writers and publishers of popular music were clustered in Tin Pan Alley in New
York in the early 20th c. The area later moved north from 28th St to Times
Square.
A Mental Map of Hip Hop
Fig. 4-2: This mental map places major hip hop performers near other similar performers
and in the portion of the country where they performed.
Amish Settlements in the U.S.
Fig. 4-3: Amish settlements are distributed through the northeast U.S.
Amish Settlements in the U.S.
Clustering of Folk Cultures
C. Sports: Hierarchical diffusion of popular
culture
1. Folk Culture origin of soccer
2. Globalization of Soccer
3. Sports in Popular culture
II. Why is Folk Culture Clustered?
A. Influence of the physical environment
1. Food preferences and the environment
2. Folk Housing
D. Isolation promotes cultural diversity
1. Himalayan Art
1.
2.
3.
4.
Buddhists
Hindus
Muslims
Animists
2. Beliefs and Folk House Forms
1. Sacred Spaces
3. US Folk Housing
1. Lower Chesapeake
2. The Middle Atlantic
3. New England
Himalayan Folk Cultural
Regions
Fig. 4-4: Cultural geographers have identified four distinct culture
regions based on predominant religions in the Himalaya
Mountains.
Senegal Family Lunch
Traditional
Vegetable
Garden,
Istanbul
Fig. 4-5: The bostan, or
traditional vegetable
garden, provides fresh
vegetables in a large city
such as Istanbul
Hog Production & Food Cultures
Fig. 4-6: Annual hog production is influenced by religious taboos against
pork consumption in Islam and other religions. The highest
production is in China, which is largely Buddhist.
Home Locations in Southeast
Asia
Fig. 4-7: Houses and sleeping positions are oriented according to local customs
among the Lao in northern Laos (left) and the Yuan and Shan in
northern Thailand (right).
House Types in Western
China
Fig. 4-8: Four communities in western China all have distinctive
house types.
Diffusion of
House Types
in U.S.
Fig. 4-9: Distinct house types originated in three main source areas in the
U.S. and then diffused into the interior as migrants moved west.
Diffusion of
New England
House Types
Fig. 4-10: Four main New England house types of the 18th & 19th centuries
diffused westward as settlers migrated.
III. Wide Dispersion of Popular
Culture
A. Diffusion of popular housing,
clothing, & food
1. Popular food customs
2. Rapid diffusion of clothing styles
3. Popular Housing styles
B. Television and diffusion of
popular culture
1. Diffusion of television
2. Diffusion of the internet
3. Diffusion of the facebook
U.S. House Types, 1945-1990
Fig. 4-11: Several variations of the “modern style” were dominant from the
1940s into the 1970s. Since then, “neo-eclectic” styles have
become the dominant type of house construction in the U.S.
Alcohol Preferences in the U.S.
Fig. 4-12: Per capita consumption of Canadian whiskey (left) and tequila
(right) show different source areas and histories of diffusion.
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.
Wine Production per year
Fig. 4-13: The distribution of wine production shows the joint impact of the
physical environment and social customs.
Diffusion of
TV
1954 - 2003
Fig. 4-14: Television has diffused
widely since the 1950s,
but some areas still
have low numbers of
TVs per population.
TV Distribution, 1954
TV Distribution, 1970
TV Distribution, 2003
Distribution
of Internet
Users, 1995 2003
Fig. 4-15: Internet users per 1000
population. Diffusion of
internet service is
following the pattern of
TV diffusion in the 20th
century, but at a much
faster rate.
Internet Users, 1995
per 1000 population
Internet Users, 2000
per 1000 population
Internet Users, 2004
per 1000 population
IV. Impacts of the Globalization of
Popular Culture
A. Threats to folk culture
1. Loss of traditional values
2. Foreign media dominance
B. Environmental impacts of
popular culture
1. Modifying nature
2. Uniform landscapes
3. Negative environmental impact
Golf Courses in Metropolitan
Areas
Fig. 4-16: The 50 best-served and worst-served metropolitan areas in terms
of golf holes per capita, and areas that are above and below
average.
McDonald’s in Beijing, China
Route 66, U.S.