How are hearths of popular culture traits
established?
• Typically begins with an idea/good and contagious
diffusion.
• Companies can create/manufacture popular culture.
(ie. MTV)
• Individuals can create/manufacture popular culture.
(ie. Tony Hawk)-video games involving extreme
sports popularized skateboarding and other sports.
The hearth of Phish concerts is in the northeastern United
States, near where the band began in Vermont.
With Distance Decay, the
likelihood of diffusion
decreases as time and distance
from the hearth increases.
With Time-Space Compression,
the likelihood of diffusion
depends upon the
connectedness among places.
Which applies more to popular
culture?
Why are popular culture
traits usually diffused
hierarchically?
How is fashion in popular
culture an example of
hierarchical diffusion?
• Reterritorialization of popular culture occurs
when an aspect of popular culture is modified to
adapt locally-e.g. Japanese baseball, European
Hip Hop-MC Solaar-France, Die Fantastischen
Vier-Germany, Jovanatti-Italy.
• Syncretism-a fusion of old and new to create a
new cultural trait-this concept is similar to
reterritorialization.
• The examples below are foreign foods that have
been modified to fit American tastes.
Brazil, the McCalabresa is a hamburger-sized slab of pepperoni on a bun.
Quebecois McDonald's patrons can get McPoutine.
Greece, burgers in pita bread with yogurt sauce, tomato, lettuce & onions Greek Mac.
Israelis get to enjoy McShawarma and McCabe.
Japan Tamago Double Mac—two beef patties, pepper sauce, bacon. and a poached
egg.
Pakistanis McChutney Burger and Poland's McKielbasa.”
• The influence of Europe, the US and Japan in
global popular culture makes many people feel
threatened.
• France’s govt. subsidizes the French film industry
and sets limits on foreign music on the radio
Cultural Landscape
• The imprint of people on
the land-how humans use,
alter and manipulate the
landscape to express their
identity.
• Examples;
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Architecture of buildings
Methods of tilling the soil
Means of transportation
Clothing and adornment
Sights, sounds and smells of
a place
Cultural Landscape
The visible human imprint
on the landscape.
How have people changed the
landscape?
- What buildings, statues, and
so forth have they erected?
- How do landscapes reflect the
values of a culture?
The cultural landscape is fashioned from a
natural landscape by a cultural group. Culture
is the agent, the natural area the medium, the
cultural landscape is the result. Under the
influence of a given culture, itself changing
through time, the landscape undergoes
development, passing through phases, and
probably reaching ultimately the end of its
cycle of development. With the introduction
of a different-that-is alien culture, a
rejuvenation of the cultural landscape sets in,
or a new landscape is superimposed on
remnants of an older one. Carl Sauer, 1925
Convergence of Cultural Landscapes:
• The widespread
distribution of businesses
and products creates
distinctive landscape
stamps around the world.
• What are some other
examples of businesses
that can be found around
the world?
Convergence of Cultural Landscapes:
• Diffusion of architectural forms and planning ideas
around the world.
Convergence of Cultural Landscapes:
• Borrowing of idealized
landscape images blurs
place distinctiveness.-right
Las Vegas, Nevada-below
Toronto, Canada
Placelessness: the loss of uniqueness in a cultural
landscape – one place looks like the next.
House Types
• Kniffen’s traditional
American house types:
New England
Mid-Atlantic
Southern Tidewater
• The New England “Large” house is a modern adaptation of
a Yankee folk house that added a wing as the style migrated
westward. It is a 2 ½ story house built around a central
chimney.
• The Georgian Style (1700-1800) used Renaissance inspired
classical symmetry. Typically it was 2 rooms deep and 2
rooms high with end chimneys and pilasters around the
door.
• The “Cape Cod” style dwelling from New England
features a steep roof with side gables and a
symmetrical layout with the door in the center.
• The Victorian or Queen Anne style of architecture was
dominant in the United States from 1880 to 1900.
• The Tudor Revival (1910-1940) became popular in
suburban areas in the 1920s. The style is loosely based on
Medieval construction.
• The “bungalow” (1900-1920) was supposedly a modified
version of an Indian rural vernacular form. The bungalow
typically has a low-pitched roof with wide overhang
eaves.
• This narrow home fits easily on small city lots. In the
Midwest this version of the “bungalow” is known as the
“Chicago bungalow” style.
• This “California Ranch” with all rooms on one
level takes up a larger lot and has encouraged
urban sprawl.
• Commonly built in the 1950s and 1960s, this style of
home is an good example of maladaptive diffusion since it
was intended for the year round living of southern
California.
THE END