The Characteristics and Patterns of Culture

Culture is the shared beliefs, traditions and behaviors of a group
- Race is the biological and physical features of a common genetic group
- Ethnicity is the identification with a group from a specific origin and their shared customs and beliefs

Culture can be associated with ethnicity and race, but these are distinct ideas

Cultural Geography studies the interaction of humans with their environment and the changes we make to our areas based on our practices

This study is based on the various cultural regions of the world and the customs, practices and beliefs that makes each area unique (along with the traits and customs that unite us)

Cultural Landscape (or the built environment) demonstrates changes to the natural landscape made by humans

The focus is on architecture and land use; however the landscape will be influenced by a number of cultural traits and customs
This includes art, language, food, music, clothing, gender relations and religion

Carl Sauer invented the concept of cultural landscapes with the focus on possibilism rather than environmental determinism

Possibilists believe that although the environment will impact cultural groups, it will not define them, as they are able to make adaptations (the more technologically advanced the culture, the more adaptations)
Some modern geographers go as far as saying that there are no limits placed on humans by the environment (Cultural determinism)

Cultures use adaptive strategies to gather the necessities of life from their environment

Material Culture are the visible artifacts of a group
Whereas, Non-Material Culture are the abstract concepts and customs shared by a group

Values (moral standards)
Beliefs (ideas accepted as truth and based on values)
Behaviors / norms (actions of the group)

Habits are repetitive acts of an individual (may not be adopted by the entire group)
Customs are repetitive acts or practices of a group (habits that becomes widely adopted)
Tradition is a collection of customs within a culture (i.e. holiday practices)
Cultural complex the collection of social customs of a group
- Specific combination of traits
- Unique to one culture because no other culture will have exactly the same traits
Cultural Identity or the feeling like you belong with a certain group, based on the cultural traits and customs
- Neolocalism - seeking regional rather than global identity (a focus on what makes an area unique)
- Authenticity - legitimate and original traditions and customs
- Cultural linkage - contact with others with the same beliefs in different locations
- Cultural revival – movements against globalism, can be seen in festivals, traditions and practices of a specific area

Folk Culture – Small, homogeneous group in an isolated area with unique customs and beliefs
- These groups are having a harder time maintaining their unique traits due to globalization
  - Amish
  - Polynesian Islanders

people playing bagpipes

Popular Culture - Large, heterogeneous society, with customs that overcome ethnic and national boundaries
- Fashion, music, etc. from countries such as the US, Japan, and Western European countries
Spatial Diffusion – the spread of customs on a local or global scale
- Folk Culture operates on a much smaller scale through relocation diffusion (movement of the group) or migration diffusion (slow movement of a group overtime which leads to the loss of that group in the area of origin)
- Popular Culture spreads through hierarchical diffusion - movement from the most to less influential places (important financially, militarily, socially, politically, etc.)
- With the movement of people and their beliefs we will see the creation of ethnic enclaves (due to chain migration) these are areas where people of the same ethnicity have settled and introduced their culture
- This is normally determined by the charter group – which is the first cultural group to reach an area

Hearth is the area of origination for a custom (core) and the further away the weaker the impact (periphery)
- Folk hearths are often unknown
- Pop Culture hearths are the more developed countries (MDC), with more technology and free-time
  - Examples of differences between popular and folk culture characteristics:
    - Sports
      - Folk culture sports were diffused with the movement of each group and developing in a regional fashion
      - Popular culture sports spread through hierarchical diffusion and are marked by the financial aspect of the games and the willingness of people to give up their money and leisure time
    - Music
      - Folk Music is usually written by unknown people and changed as they are passed down through each generation. The changes are based on everyday life for each different group of people and might be based on nature.
      - Popular Music is written by specific individuals with the purpose of being sold. This type of music spreads quickly through hierarchal diffusion
        
        Within the US this music started in Tin Pan Alley (in Manhattan) which became the location for most songwriters who at first sold sheet music and then moved on to selling recordings
        
        Hip Hop also originated in NYC in the late 1970s, but in the Bronx with impoverished African-Americans and Puerto Ricans speaking about the problems of minority groups. This is a great example of pop culture because of how widely accepted it is and how quickly it diffused.

Matching - Popular Culture or Folk Culture

Drag each card to the correct group. Select 'Check' to see if your answers are correct.

IMAGES CREATED BY GAVS (Images are available in the Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons; Photo via Flickr by Dario Alvarez)