HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
Chapter 4 Culture
Folk Culture
HUMAN
GEOGRAPHY
Insert figure 2.19b
Photo credit: © Getty RF
culture is…..


Learned, not biological
Transmitted within a society to next generations
by imitation, tradition, instruction
culture realms



Every cultural landscape is
an accumulation of human
artifacts.
It contains valuable
evidence about the origin,
spread and development of
cultures.
Cultures use, alter and
manipulate landscapes to
reflect their identity.
Material Culture
clothing
buildings
farming
patterns
technology
Nonmaterial Culture
Language
Religion
Political
organization
Customs or traditions
Cultural Landscapes can
also reflect the
nonmaterial aspects of
culture.
The height, centrality and
durability of a
European cathedral is a
good example.
What aspects of
Material or nonMaterial culture
Are visible in the
Picture to the
right?

Each culture creates a
distinctive cultural
landscape.
How does this shopper
compare with the lady
from Texas in the
previous
slide?
Culture Hearth

The place of origin of any culture group whose
developed systems of livelihood and life created a
distinctive cultural landscape.
Human Geography 11e
Categories of Material Culture

Folk Culture
Human Geography 10e
Folk Culture – rapidly changing and/or
disappearing throughout much of the
world.
Guatemalan Market
Portuguese Fishing Boat
Turkish Camel Market
Folk Culture

Stable and close knit

Usually a rural community

Tradition controls

Resistance to change

Buildings erected without architect or blueprint
using locally available building materials

anonymous origins, diffuses slowly through
migration. Develops over time.

Clustered distributions: isolation/lack of
interaction breed uniqueness and ties to
physical environment.
West Virginia, Incest Virginia?
How the Mountain State got a reputation for inbreeding.

It's true that, through the 19th century, transportation networks
developed slowly in the rugged, westernmost portion of
Virginia (incorporated as West Virginia in 1863). The area
was never entirely cut off, but many people lived in remote
"closed communities" with little incoming or outgoing migration.
Research on intrafamilial marriage in such enclaves is slim. In
1980, anthropologist Robert Tincher published a study titled
"Night Comes to the Chromosomes: Inbreeding and Population
Genetics in Southern Appalachia," based on 140 years' worth
of marriage records.
Human Geography 10e
Hand split shingles…Folk homes in
North Carolina
http://www.history.com/shows/mountain-men/videos#shingle-ingenuity
Human Geography 10e
FOLK ARCHITECTURE
FOLK ARCHITECTURE
Effects on Landscape: usually
of limited scale and scope.
Hog Production and 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.
Food Taboos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=WLRX2ZtxpEw
Folk Culture Music
Folk music characteristics:
Tells a story or recounts important
life events or activities
Is personal in nature
folk music goes right to the heart of a culture. It says something
about what is important to that culture.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATv5-GeydF8
Human Geography 10e
Folk Culture Gypsies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HAUmII_hcg
Human Geography 10e
Amish Culture
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTkGEBuin8g
Human Geography 10e