CHAPTER 4: FOLK AND POPULAR CULTURE
This chapter deals with the artificial artifacts of culture. It will focus on
two basic categories, folk and popular culture, their origins, diffusion,
and spatial distribution. Popular culture has a more widespread
distribution than folk culture, and its globalization causes problems that
are addressed here.
Key Issue 1—Where Do Folk and Popular Cultures Originate and
Diffuse?
III. Cultural Patters and Processes
B. Cultural differences
5. Popular and folk culture
A. Concepts of culture
1. Traits and complexes
Folk culture refers to the cultural practices and small, homogeneous
groups living in traditional societies.
Folk cultures are usually isolated and rural, with subsistence economics.
Distinctive architecture and other material artifacts such as tools,
musical instruments, and clothing contribute to the uniqueness of folk
cultures.
Nonmaterial aspects of folk culture include songs, stories, and belief
systems.
Folk cultures originate in multiple hearths because of their isolation.
Popular culture, on the other hand, refers to the cultural practice of
large, heterogeneous societies that share many habits and
characteristics.
The elements of popular culture look similar in different places, and
result in a relatively uniform landscape.
Artifacts include music, food and entertainment, fashion, recreation,
and various forms of art.
2. Diffusion
Folk culture diffuses slowly, an a small scale, usually through relocation
diffusion.
The Amish culture in the United States is a good example of the
diffusion of a folk culture.
Popular culture is easily diffused around the world, largely through
hierarchical diffusion.
The globalization of soccer is an example of the transformation and
diffusion of an English folk culture to a 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.
World
Cup Fans
French, German, and Italian
fans at 2006 World Cup
(eventually won by Italy).
Key Issue 2—Why Is Folk Clustered
B. Cultural Differences
5. Folk Culture
D. Cultural landscapes and cultural identity
1. Values and preferences
2. Symbolic landscapes and sense of place
Folk cultures are practiced by many different groups living in relative
isolation.
They are especially susceptible to the various ways in which the physical
environment can limit their activities and diffusion, because of their low
level of technology.
Thus their cultural identity landscapes will be very diverse.
For example, there are many different types of Himalayan art in a
relatively small geographic area because of the harsh physical
environment and limited interaction.
Housing provides another good example of the diversity of folk culture
that results from the interaction of cultural and physical geography.
The resultant landscapes exemplify distinctive and unique senses of
place.
C. Environmental impact of cultural attitudes and practices
Cultural traits such as food, clothing, and housing are influenced by
physical geography.
Folk cultural traits such as housing are especially responsive to the
environment because of their low level of technology and utilization of
available resources.
The sum of the effects of the local environment on a specific food item
is called a terroir.
It is commonly used to describe the way in which soil, climate, and other
physical features influence the character of distinctive wines.
Restrictions on certain behaviors, like the consumption of particular
foods, can also be imposed by social customs.
This is called a taboo.
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
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).
Kashgar House, western China
Kashgar houses have second floor open-air patios
Turpan House, western China
Turpan is located in a deep valley with little open land. Second
stories are avoided because of strong winds
Yinchuan House, China
Yinchuan houses are built around large open courtyards which provide seclusion from
ouside.
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.
Key Issue 3—Why Is Popular Culture Widely Distributed?
B. Cultural differences
5. Popular Culture
A. Concepts of culture
2. Diffusion
Popular culture diffuses rapidly where high levels of technology allow
people to acquire material possessions.
The increasingly global world allows for the rapid diffusion and
acceptance of material and nonmaterial elements of popular culture.
For example, as a result of the diffusion of popular culture, there is less
regional differences in housing, clothing, and food in more developed
countries.
Television has played a major role in the diffusion of popular culture,
especially since World War Two.
Key Issue 4—Why Does Globalization of Popular Culture Cause
Problems?
4. Gender
The traditional role of women in developing countries is changing as a
result of the diffusion of popular culture.
It is leading to the advancement of women through education and
economic and social opportunities.
However it may also lead to negative impacts such as sex crimes against
women.
D. Cultural landscapes and cultural identity
1. Values and preferences
The diffusion of popular culture threatens the survival of folk culture.
It is one example of cultural imperialism, which is where people may
lose their folk culture because of the influence of material elements of
popular culture from more developed countries.
For example, the Western dominance of the television industry,
especially the news media, threatens the independence of less
developed countries.
C. Environmental impact of cultural attitudes and practices
The creation of uniform landscapes through the diffusion of popular
culture can negatively impact the environment by depleting natural
resources and polluting the landscape.
Golf courses remake the environment as do some types of commercial
agriculture, and demand for some products puts a strain on natural
resources.
Popular cultures such as fast-food generate more waste and thus lead to
the pollution of the environment.
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.
Per Capita Consumption of
Canadian Whiskey
Per Capita Consumption of Tequila
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
Internet
shop, India
Internet
Use by
Food Seller
in China
Geisha
Kyoto, Japan
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.
Aboriginal Performance, Australia