Chapter 4

Folk and Popular

Culture

Folk & Popular Culture I. Intro

A. Culture combines values, material artifacts, &

political institutions

B. Habit vs. Custom • Collection of social customs produces a group’s

material culture

C. Basic Categories of Material

Culture 1.Folk

2.Popular

• Questions:

– Where are Folk & Popular culture located in space?

– Why are distributions of Folk & Popular culture

different?

II. Origins and Diffusion of Folk

& Popular Cultures A. Origin of folk and popular cultures

• Customs

• Origin of folk music

• Origin of popular music

– Originated

– Spread WWII

– English becomes international language

– Hip-Hop

II. Origins and Diffusion of Folk

& Popular Cultures B. Diffusion of folk and popular

cultures

• The Amish: Relocation diffusion of folk

culture

• http://digitalunion.osu.edu/r2/summer07/eellis/ind

ex.html

Sports: Hierarchical diffusion of popular culture

Tin Pan Alley

& Popular

Music

Fig. 4-1: Writers and publishers of popular music were clustered in Tin Pan Alley in New

York in the early 20th c. The area later moved north from 28th St to Times

Square.

A Mental Map of Hip Hop

Fig. 4-2: This mental map places major hip hop performers near other similar performers

and in the portion of the country where they performed.

Amish Settlements in the U.S.

Fig. 4-3: Amish settlements are distributed through the northeast U.S.

Amish Settlements in the U.S.

Clustering of Folk Cultures

C. Sports: Hierarchical diffusion of popular

culture

1. Folk Culture origin of soccer

2. Globalization of Soccer

3. Sports in Popular culture

II. Why is Folk Culture Clustered? A. Influence of the physical environment

1. Food preferences and the environment

2. Folk Housing

D. Isolation promotes cultural diversity

1. Himalayan Art

1. Buddhists

2. Hindus

3. Muslims

4. Animists

2. Beliefs and Folk House Forms

1. Sacred Spaces

3. US Folk Housing

1. Lower Chesapeake

2. The Middle Atlantic

3. New England

Himalayan Folk Cultural

Regions

Fig. 4-4: Cultural geographers have identified four distinct culture

regions based on predominant religions in the Himalaya

Mountains.

Senegal Family Lunch

Traditional

Vegetable

Garden,

Istanbul

Fig. 4-5: The bostan, or

traditional vegetable

garden, provides fresh

vegetables in a large city

such as Istanbul

Hog Production & 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.

Home Locations in Southeast

Asia

Fig. 4-7: Houses and sleeping positions are oriented according to local customs

among the Lao in northern Laos (left) and the Yuan and Shan in

northern Thailand (right).

House Types in Western

China

Fig. 4-8: Four communities in western China all have distinctive

house types.

Diffusion of

House Types

in U.S.

Fig. 4-9: Distinct house types originated in three main source areas in the

U.S. and then diffused into the interior as migrants moved west.

Diffusion of

New England

House Types

Fig. 4-10: Four main New England house types of the 18th & 19th centuries

diffused westward as settlers migrated.

III. Wide Dispersion of Popular

Culture A. Diffusion of popular housing,

clothing, & food 1. Popular food customs

2. Rapid diffusion of clothing styles

3. Popular Housing styles

B. Television and diffusion of popular culture

1. Diffusion of television

2. Diffusion of the internet

3. Diffusion of the facebook

U.S. House Types, 1945-1990

Fig. 4-11: Several variations of the “modern style” were dominant from the

1940s into the 1970s. Since then, “neo-eclectic” styles have

become the dominant type of house construction in the U.S.

Alcohol Preferences in the U.S.

Fig. 4-12: Per capita consumption of Canadian whiskey (left) and tequila

(right) show different source areas and histories of diffusion.

U.S. House

Types by

Region

Fig. 4-1.1: Small towns in different regions

of the eastern U.S. have different

combinations of five main house

types.

Wine Production per year

Fig. 4-13: The distribution of wine production shows the joint impact of the

physical environment and social customs.

Diffusion of

TV

1954 - 2003

Fig. 4-14: Television has diffused

widely since the 1950s,

but some areas still

have low numbers of

TVs per population.

TV Distribution, 1954

TV Distribution, 1970

TV Distribution, 2003

Distribution

of Internet

Users, 1995 -

2003

Fig. 4-15: Internet users per 1000

population. Diffusion of

internet service is

following the pattern of

TV diffusion in the 20th

century, but at a much

faster rate.

Internet Users, 1995 per 1000 population

Internet Users, 2000 per 1000 population

Internet Users, 2004 per 1000 population

IV. Impacts of the Globalization of

Popular Culture

A. Threats to folk culture 1. Loss of traditional values

2. Foreign media dominance

B. Environmental impacts of

popular culture 1. Modifying nature

2. Uniform landscapes

3. Negative environmental impact

Golf Courses in Metropolitan

Areas

Fig. 4-16: The 50 best-served and worst-served metropolitan areas in terms

of golf holes per capita, and areas that are above and below

average.

McDonald’s in Beijing, China

Route 66, U.S.