An Introduction to Human Geography
The Cultural Landscape, 9e
James M. Rubenstein
Chapter 4
Folk and Popular
Culture
Victoria Alapo, Instructor
Geog 1050
Folk and Popular Culture
Definitions:
• Folk cultures are those that preserve traditions; in
other words, “Traditional” culture that has existed in
certain regions for 100s or 1000s of years.
• Popular Culture – represents the culture of people
who embrace innovation and conform to changing
norms.
• The keyword in Pop Culture is “rapid change”.
• Also, popular culture is synonymous with
Westernization.
Folk Cultures
• Influence of the physical environment
– Distinctive food preferences e.g. African yams,
rice, fish in Asia, and non-pork countries in the
Middle East.
– Clothing styles (climate)
– Folk housing in many countries, including U.S. folk
house forms
Hog Production and Food Cultures
Annual hog production is influenced by religious taboos against pork consumption in Islamic
and Jewish religions. The highest production is in China, which is largely Buddhist and
Communist (no religion). Although Buddhists, supposedly, shouldn’t KILL anything.
Home Locations in Southeast Asia
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
Four communities in western China all have distinctive house types.
Diffusion of House Types in U.S.
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
Four main New England house types of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
diffused westward as settlers migrated.
An example of Folk Culture:
Origin of Country Music
U.S. country music has four main hearths, or regions of origin: southern Appalachia,
central Tennessee and Kentucky, the Ozark-Ouachita uplands, and north-central Texas.
Diffusion of Folk and Popular
Cultures
• Diffusion of folk and popular cultures
via:
– Ancient Travel & Trade e.g. Chinese and East
Africans; the Arabian Trans-Saharan Trade; the
great old civilizations of Mesopotamia, etc
– Wars (conquering of native cultures, colonization)
– Immigration e.g. U.S.
– Internet, TV, etc
Popular culture
• Popular culture is characterized by rapid
diffusion and “Mass Culture”
– E.g. food, clothing, items that are mass produced
– “Mass taste” = loss of individuality.
– The U.S. is the world’s largest homogenous
consumer market (very much unlike traditional
cultures).
• Marketing of popular culture – very
aggressive. Not just within, but without (e.g.
see Bhutan video).
Wide Dispersion of Popular
Culture
• Diffusion of popular housing, clothing,
and food
– Popular housing styles
– Rapid diffusion of clothing styles
– Popular food customs. E.g.?
• Television and diffusion of popular culture
(sometimes called Media Imperialism)
– Diffusion of television
– Diffusion of the internet
– Government control of television
Diffusion of TV, 1954–1999
Television has diffused widely since the 1950s, but some areas still have low
numbers of TVs per population.
Distribution of Internet Hosts
The U.S. had two-thirds of the world’s internet hosts in 2002. Diffusion of internet service is
likely to follow the pattern of TV diffusion, but the rate of this diffusion may differ (How?).
Impacts of the Globalization of
Popular Culture
• Threats to folk culture
– Loss of traditional values
– Foreign media dominance
• Environmental impacts of popular
culture
– Uniform landscapes. E.g.?
– Negative environmental impact (things we now
use) E.g.?
– Modifying nature E.g.?