Transcript Slide 1

Cultural Patterns and
Processes
Culture: The mix of values, beliefs,
behaviors, and material objects that form a
peoples’ way of life.
Geographers’ view of culture:
way that culture affects the natural
environment
the spatial organization that culture
stimulates
Two types of culture
1. Non-material culture—abstract concepts
a. values: culturally defined standards
that guide the way people assess desirability,
goodness, & beauty, and that serve as
guidelines for moral living
b. beliefs: specific statements that people
hold to be true, almost always based on values
c. behaviors—actions that people take
based on values and beliefs as
reflected in norms
2. Material culture
concrete human
creations—artifacts—
that reflect values,
beliefs, and behaviors
Key term: culture region—an area marked by
culture that distinguishes it from another region.
Key term: culture trait—a single attribute of a
culture
Traits of greeting in
different cultures
Culture traits make up a culture complex
Similar culture complexes make up a
culture system, which often corresponds
with a geographic region.
Culture hearths
Key term: Cultural diffusion
Many things diffuse—the movement of
people, goods, and ideas—while some are
the result of independent invention.
Diffusion of the
chariot (b.c.e.)
Carl Sauer and
Torsten
Hagerstrand
Kinds of expansion diffusion
1. contagious—almost all individuals and areas
outward from the source region are affected
(rate is affected
by time-distance
decay)
2. hierarchical diffusion-First spread to
larger areas or more
prominent people,
then to smaller and
less prominent.
3. stimulus diffusion—a basic idea, not the
thing itself, stimulates imitative behavior within
a population
Sequoya invented
an alphabet for
the Cherokee
language after
seeing the English
alphabet.
Relocation diffusion—individuals or
populations migrating from the source
physically carry the innovation or idea to the
new location.
Christian
missionaries carry
their religion to
new lands
In migrant diffusion, the spread of a cultural
trait is slow enough that the trait weakens in
the source area by the time it reaches the
new area.
Key terms
Acculturation—the less dominant culture adopts
traits of the more dominant
Assimilation—when people lose their native
customs (including language and religion), as
when the dominant culture completely absorbs
the less dominant.
Transculturation—a two-way flow of culture
reflects a more equal exchange of culture traits
Cultural differences
Syncretism explains how and why cultures
change through the process of fusion of the old
and the new.
Syncretizing
the Gospel
LANGUAGE
A systematic means of communicating ideas and
feelings through the use of signs, gestures, marks,
or vocal sounds.
Language ensures the transmission of
culture from one generation to the next.
Location of languages
Chinese, Spanish, English, Hindi, Arabic, Portuguese,
Bengali, Russian, Japanese, German are the 10 most
common first languages.
Language families have a shared, but
fairly distant, origin.
Half the world’s population speaks an
Indo-European language.
Romance
languages
(Spanish) and
Germanic
languages
(English) are
subfamilies.
Language is culturally
defined, and standard
language is that that is
recognized by the
government and the
intellectual elite as the
norm for use in schools,
government, the media,
and other aspects of
public life.
The standard language may be designated the
official language of a country.
Dialects are regional variations of a standard
language.
Isoglosses are the lines that mark dialect regions.
More key terms
Bilingualism
Multilingualism
Lingua franca
Toponymy—the study of place names
Language extinction
RELIGION
Religion varies in its cultural influence.
Traditionally, almost all cultures have
centered on religion.
However, there are some ideologies that have
replaced religion as a key cultural component:
humanism—humans guide their own lives
Marxism—transformed communism into a central
ideology
Religion emphasizes the sacred and the divine.
profane:
ordinary
sacred: extraordinary, inspiring awe and reverence
Religion interests geographers because it shapes
the cultural landscape.
Universalizing religions attempt to be global, to
appeal to all people wherever they may live.
Subgroups of universalizing religions:
a. Branches are large and basic divisions within
religions
b. Denominations are divisions or branches that
unite local groups into a single administrative
body.
c. Sects are relatively small groups that do not
affiliate with the more mainstream
denominations.
Christianity, the oldest and largest of the
universalizing religions.
Three main branches
Roman Catholic—50%
Protestant—25%
Eastern Orthodox—10%
Islam, the newest and the second largest of
the universalizing religions.
Two main branches
Sunni—83%
Shiite (Shi’a)—16% (Iran, Pakistan, Iraq)
Buddhism, the smallest of the unversalizing.
Three main branches
Mahayana—56%
Theraveda—18% (Southeast Asia)
Tantrayana—6% (Tibet & Mongolia)
Sikhism and Baha’i are also universalizing.
Ethnic religions—do not seek converts and
are usually spatially concentrated
Hinduism—world’s third
largest religion
Chinese religions—
Confucianism
and
Daoism
Shintoism—native ethnic religion of Japan
Judaism
Traditional Religions
Shamanism
Animism
Cultural landscape of religion
disposing of the dead
Folk Culture is traditionally practiced by
small, homogeneous groups
living in isolated rural
areas.
Popular culture is
usually urban-based,
with a general mass of
people conforming to
and then abandoning
ever-changing cultural
trends.
Folk cultures don’t go
away, but they blend so
well with the popular
culture that the
difference between local
and universal lose
meaning.
Environmental Impact of Popular Culture
1. Uniform landscape
2. Increased demand for natural resources
To produce one pound
of beef, the animal
needs to consume
TEN pounds of grain.
Pelts for clothing
The End