CULTURE
Culture is not just about dances, food and dress.
Culture is a shared set of values and meanings practiced in everyday life

CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY
How place shapes culture.
How culture shapes place.
How places acquire meaning.

French “long lots” system
English grid system

CULTURAL IDENTITIES
Language
Ethnicity
Region
Race
Religion
Subculture

Means of communication and identity
Spoken, written, manual

Half of people are speakers of Chinese,
English, Spanish,
Russian, Hindi, or
Arabic
Many smaller languages endangered

English
Chinese
Japanese
Korean
Russian
Vietnamese
Spanish
Pilipino

Language Family
Ancient common origin, split into:
Language branches
Languages
Regional
Dialects/accents

Major world language families
Indo-European Austronesian
Sino-Tibetan Niger-Congo
Afro-Asiatic
Uralic, Altaic, others

Language Families in Africa

Indo-European language family branches
Multiple tongues:
Indo-Iranian
Romantic (Italic)
Germanic
Baltic
Slavic
Celtic
Unique:
Albanian
Armenian
Greek

Indo-European Language Family
(Kurgan Hearth Theory of diffusion)

Indo-European Language Family
(Anatolian Hearth Theory of diffusion)

Indo-European Family of Languages

Romantic Branch of Indo-European Language Family

Germanic Branch of
Indo-European
Language Family

night
Nacht noche nuit noite noapte
νύκτα
(nykta) natë nox
Finnish (Uralic): yö
Turkish (Altaic): gece nacht natt nótt ночь (noch') noc naktis raath

mese
Monat month mois mês maand månad mis myesyats minas
Finnish (Uralic): kuu
Turkish (Altaic): ay mâh muaj miesiac menuo mahina

Official languages

Official language not always spoken by all

Lingua franca
A language used informally for communication in a multiethnic place
Often a former colonial language

English-Speaking Countries

English-Speaking Populations
Populations
Google site languages

• Bizarre
• Chocolate
• Hurricane
• Petunia
• Assassin
• Barbecue
• Chipmunk
• Ammonia
• Banjo
• Tundra
WHAT DO THE WORDS
IN THE LIST HAVE IN
COMMON?

• Bizarre (Basque for beard )
• Chocolate (Nahuatl, the Aztec language)
• Hurricane (Taino, a Caribbean language)
• Petunia (Tupi, Peruvian Indian)
• Assassin (Arabic, from hashish smokers )
• Barbecue (Carib, a Caribbean language)
• Chipmunk (Cree, Native American)
• Ammonia (Ancient Egyptian for camel dung )
• Banjo (Kimbundu in Northern Angola)
• Tundra (Saami, formerly called Lapps)

• Eau Claire
• Prairie du Chien
• Wausau
• Chetek
• Trempealeau
• Kewaunee
• Clear Water
• Dog Prairie
• Far Away
• Pelican
• Water Soaked
• Prairie Chicken

• Milwaukee
• Mosinee
• Antigo
• Wauwatosa
• Muskego
• Neenah-Menasha
• Good Land
• Moose Trail
• Evergreen
• Firefly
• Swampy
• Island-Island

DIALECT
(regional differences within a language)

Urban Dialects in North American English

“Wess-consin”

MINNESOTA & WISCONSIN
VOLUNTEERS

1. What are these?

2. What is this?

3. What is in these cans?

Is it Soda, Pop or Coke ?

• BUBBLER: “I gotta get me a drink, once. Where's da bubbler?”
• COMEER ONCE "Comeer once and help me lift dis half-barrel.”
• COUPLE-TWO-TREE: more than one; as in “Delmer and I drank a couple-two-tree beers.”
• STOP-AND-GO LIGHTS: “dese lights aren't just stop lights. Dey tell ya when to go, too, aina?”
• YAH-HEY: affirmative, “Koops makes good custard, hey?” “Yah, hey!”
• YEW-BETCHA: affirmative; also you’re welcome, as in “Thanks for the lift.” “Yew betcha!”

ETHNIC GROUP
A group with a perceived common origin and attributes such as shared language, customs, or values
Not necessarily centered on language

ETHNIC GROUPS AND PLACE
Not necessarily in their ethnic homeland
(could be immigrants)
Can be part of a state
(U’wa in Colombia) or of multiple states (Arabs)

Distribution of Ethnic Groups in Chicago

Assimilation
Absorbing of minority culture into majority culture, often through pressure
Minority can better acquire skills and education.
But loss of culture can degrade minority, create uneven playing field

Hispanic (Latino) Population
(Different races, nationalities)

Urban Hispanic Population
“Borderland”

Areas in which a particular cultural system prevails
Dominant cultural practices, beliefs, values

RACE
Classification based on skin color or other perceived physical characteristics.
Not natural (genetic) differences, but socially created categories from colonialism and slavery
Yet race has shaped identities : how people are viewed and view themselves

Asian-American Population
(Different ethnic groups grouped as a race)

African-American Population

Distribution of Ethnic and Racial Groups in Los Angeles

MIXED-RACE IDENTITIES
Racial “boundaries” are difficult or impossible to establish
Mestizo:
Métis:
Spanish and Indian
French and Indian
Mulatto: Portuguese and African
“Coloured”:
Dutch and (South) African

SUBCULTURES Rap

SUBCULTURES
Punk

WORLD RELIGIONS

Religions today

Religions today

Diffusion of Christianity in the Roman Empire

First Schism: Western (Catholic) vs. Eastern (Orthodox)

Second Schism: Catholic vs, Protestant

Christianity in Europe Today

Christianity in the U.S. Today

Religions in the U.S. Today
Protestant
Christians
100 mil.+
Catholic
Christians
60 mil.+
Muslims 4 mil.
Jews 6 mil.
Orthodox
Christian 6 mil.

Origin of Islam: Mecca (Saudi Arabia)

Diffusion of Islamic (Muslim) religion

Areas under Muslim rule at certain times
Pecs church
(former mosque)

Sunni and Shi‘a Muslim Regions Today
Most Muslims are not Arabs. Many Arabs are not Muslim.

Arabic
Berber
Hamitic
Persian
Kurdish
Turkish (Western)
Turkish (Eastern)
Baluch
Caucasian
Greek
Hebrew
Ethnolinguistic Groups of the Middle East

Muslims in the U.S. Today
Altoona
Mosque
(former church)

Not same as spoken language.
Script families have close relationship to religion:
Roman
Cyrillic
Arabic
Indian
Western Christian
Orthodox Christian
Islam
Hinduism/Buddhism
Chinese East Asian religions
Independent scripts:
Japanese, Greek, Armenian, Korean, etc .

Non-Roman Scripts
= Croatian ( Roman )

Scripts of the Eastern Hemisphere

• Farsi (Persian), in
Indo-European language family
• But uses Arabic script

Arabic script until 1928
• Converted to
Roman
• Some former
Soviet Muslim states have also converted

(Russian in Cyrillic script)

(Hindi, other languages mainly in Indian scripts)

CULTURAL LANDSCAPE
Landscape is not just a garden or beautiful view
Can be rural or urban
Can be a building or body

Ordinary (Vernacular) Landscapes

Symbolic Landscapes

Sauer’s Cultural Landscape Theory
Culture is the “agent”
Natural area is the “medium”
Cultural landscape is the “result”

“New” Cultural Geography
Culture is socially constructed
Culture is an arena for economic and political power
Landscapes (and maps) are “texts” that can be read to expose power relations
Brazilian “favela” (slum)

Types of Cultural Diffusion

Spatial Diffusion of Islam: contagious? relocation? hierarchical?

Spatial Diffusion of Afghan refugees expansion? relocation? hierarchical?

Spatial Diffusion of Rap: contagious? relocation? hierarchical?

GLOBALIZATION
AND CULTURE
Globalization changing, shaping local cultures
But local cultures also changing, shaping globalization

Pilgrims at Mecca KFC…

A Global Cuisine…

McKroket
Netherlands
McNiffica
Argentina
Teriyaki McBurger
Japan
McRye
Finland
McNiffica
Chile
Bulgogi Burger
Korea
Tukbul Burger
Korea
VegiMac
Switzerland
KofteBurger
Turkey
Bacon Roll
United Kingdom

Red Bean Sunday
Hong Kong
Bica
Portugal
Shake Shake Fries
Hong Kong
Curry Potato Pie
Hong Kong
McFlurry
Belgium