Transcript Cultural Patterns and Processess

Cultural Patterns and Processes
Unit 3
Essential Question: How do cultural
patterns and processes vary across the
planet?
The Meaning of Culture
• Culture-the way of life of a particular people.
– Language, religion, food, and music
• Culture and ethnicity are often intertwined
– What is ethnicity?
– What is the difference between race and
ethnicity?
• It is important to remember that geographers
look at trends over time and analyze the
patterns of cultures.
Material Culture
• Anything that can be seen on the landscape
• Built environment-how people impact the
landscape (seen)
Nonmaterial Culture
• Anything that makes up culture that can’t be
touched
– Language, religion, myths, superstitions
Folk Culture
• Practice of a particular custom by a relatively
small group of people in a specific area
– Makes a place unique
– Passed from generation to generation, usually
through oral histories
• Folklore-stories passed from generation to
generation
– Values and legends
Folklore
Good vs. Evil
Popular Culture
• Opposite of folk culture, this is the practice of
customs that span several different cultures
• Folk culture could potentially become part of
popular culture, if its popularity grows.
Folk Culture
Popular Culture
The Cultural Landscape
• Interactions of a group in
relation to their own
cultural practices as well
as to the values of a
society as reflected
through artifacts and
architecture.
• Natural Landscapephysical Earth (field
of physical
geography)
Adaptive Strategy
• How a person adapts to a new culture
Music and Culture
• Musical styles and lyrics can tell a geographer
a lot about the culture in an area.
• Religion also plays a key role in musical
expression.
• Radio stations give information about the
listening habits of people.
• Folk songs- describe a group of people
Food and Culture
• Favorite and least favorite foods describe people
and their culture.
• Where a restaurant is located relative to a food
source can determine the menu.
• Our diet depends on the agriculture around us.
Sports and Culture
• Baseball and
basketball have spread
worldwide from the US
– Hierarchical diffusion
• World’s most popular
sport?
• Hooligans- fans who
incite violence at
football (soccer)
matches.
– Racial, religious
epithets
Architecture and Culture
• Societies are based on family structures,
which are typically some time of house.
– Home can be the foundation for culture
• Folk housing is constructed with materials that
are nearby
– Usually depends on climate
Architecture and Culture
• Indigenous architecture-any structure on the
landscape that is not built by a professional
craftsperson or artist.
• Different regions focus on different parts of
the house.
– Muslims have a special wall that faces Mecca
Architecture and Culture
• 3 Styles in the US
– New England
• Saltbox, 2 Chimney, Cape Cod, and front gable and wing
styles.
– Middle Atlantic
• “I” house- 2 stories with gables on either end
– Lower Chesapeake
• 2 stories with chimneys located on both sides.
Architecture and Culture
• Anglo-American landscape
– Township and Range System
• Folk landscape-what people perceive the landscape to
be based on their cultural notions of an area.
• Traditional architecture-structures built as area was
being established
– Ex: traditional architecture of a city would be the original
industrial plants established as the city was founded.
Language and Culture
• Ability to communicate with others orally and/or
in writing.
– Unites and divides
• Language in school: US vs. European countries
• Monolingual country-has only one official
language in which all gov. business is conducted.
• Multilingual country-has more than one official
language.
• Linguistic diversity-learning of more languages
• Language extinction-As young ppl move out of a
local area, the elderly are the only ones to
continue to use their language. After they die, the
language disappears.
Lingua Francas
• A language used as a common tongue among
people who speak diverse languages, often to
conduct business
– What is the current lingua franca?
– What was the last lingua franca?
– What do you think the next lingua franca will be?
Learning Languages
• First skill:
– Ability to speak and sound out the words
• Second skill:
– Ability to write the symbols that are connected w/
each sound or meaning
• Third skill:
– Comprehension
• A form of a
language that
is unique in
sound, speed,
syntax, and
vocabulary
• Isoglossboundary of a
dialect
– “You guys” vs.
“You’uns” vs.
“Y’all”
Dialects
Pidgin, Trade, and Creole Languages
• Pidgin- Mixture of language
– Very simple grammar and
vocab.
– Allow trade and interactions to
occur
– Can become an entirely new
language\
• Trade-made-up language that is
used by ppl who want to trade.
– Each party learns the modified
language to communicate
• Creole-stable language resulting
from the blend of two or more
languages that often does not
include features of either.
– Broad choice of vocab
Language Families
• Groups of languages organized by common
heritage
• Language subfamilies- smaller groups of
languages within a language family
• Language groups- ppl. Whose languages are
descended from a common tongue
– French and Spanish (Romance languages)
Languages and the Landscape
• Toponyms-different place names
– Tells us a lot about the culture of a place and
people
Religion and Culture
• Value system that people place on themselves
and others based on a spiritual or divine
aspect of the world.
• Religion can impact the world’s landscape and
the cultures of billions.
• Faith-belief in things that you cannot see or
prove.
Religion and Culture
• Monotheistic-One god
• Polytheistic-Many gods
• Ethnic religions-person is
born into the faith, little to
no effort is put forth to
convert others.
• Universalizing religionsmembers actively try to
covert others
Religion and Culture
• Atheists-do not believe in any god
• Secularist-person who wants to separate
religion from all aspects of society
One thought on
religion vs. atheism
by British celebrity
Ricky Gervais
Major Religions of the World
• Buddhism
• Hinduism
•Christianity
•Islam
•Judaism
Christianity
• World’s largest religion
• Monotheistic, universalizing.
• 3 Branches: Roman Catholic, Protestant, and
Orthodox
• Symbols:
– Cross located within the church
– Steeple of the church points upward towards
Heaven. Cross usually on top of steeple
Christian Beliefs
• Jesus Christ:
–
–
–
–
Born on Earth
Died on Cross
Resurrected
Showed that all Christians can be
saved
• The Bible
– Old and New Testament
• Old: Israelites, Moses, Abraham, David.
Before the coming of the Savior
• New: life of Jesus and foundation of the
new faith
• Holy Trinity: God, Son, Holy Spirit
Structure of Christianity
• Catholic Church
– Pope
– Cardinals
– Bishops
– Priests
• Protestant Church
– Pastor, Minister
• Orthodox Church
– Patriarch
Denominations
• Branches of a religion that differ on specific
aspects of the principles of the religion
– Catholicism is the oldest and largest branch
– Martin Luther created the Protestant Reformation
which broke away from Roman Catholicism
• Lutheran, Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, etc.
Islam
• Second largest religion. Starting to gain on
Christianity
• Muslims
– Mostly live in the Middle East, Northern Africa,
Southeast Asia
• Universalizing, monotheistic
• Shares some of the major people with
Christianity and Judaism
Islam
• Islam believes that Jesus was a prophet, but
not the main prophet. For Muslims, this
person is Muhammad.
• Muhammad was spoken to by Allah (God) and
wrote down Allah’s word in the Koran.
• Koran is the Islamic holy text.
Islam
• Muslims worship inside of a mosque
– Minarets-towers that extend upward toward Allah
• The leader of a mosque is an imam.
– They lead prayers at different times of the day
Beliefs of Islam
• Five Pillars of Islam:
1. Shahadah: There is only one God, Allah
•
When you accept the creed of Allah, you officially become
a Muslim
2. Salah: Prayer must be done five times daily facing
the city of Mecca
3. Zakat: Taxes must be paid directly to the poor and
needy or the mosque
4. Sawm: One must fast during Ramadan
5. Hahjj: One must make a pilgrimage to Mecca once
during one’s life
Salah and Sawm
Hajj
Denominations
• Shiites, Shiahs, Shi’a
– 15-20% of Muslim population
– Conservative
– Interpret the Koran literally
• Sunnis make up the largest percentage of
Muslims
– Liberal
– Looser interpretation of the Koran
Denominations
• Shiite Muslims live mainly in Iraq and Iran
• Sunni Muslims live in the rest of the Middle East,
Northern Africa, and Southeast Asia
• Theocracy-state ruled by religious leaders
– Religion plays a key role in the administration of the
country
– Koran plays an important role in the institutional laws of
society
• Islamic theocracies are ruled by Sharia Law
– Do not separate church and state
– Based on Koran and teachings of Muhammad.
• Fundamentalism-literal interpretation of a holy book,
urges strict behavioral guidelines to comply with basic
principles of religion
– See this in Christianity .
Judaism
• One of the oldest religions
• Not just a religion, but an ethnicity
Judaism
• Worship inside of a synagogue
• The Star of David is a major symbol in the
religion.
• David was one of the major leaders in the
faith
Beliefs of Judaism
• Ethnic, monotheistic religion
• God figure is Yahweh
• Jewish bible is the Tanahk, based on the Torah
and the Talmud
• Rabbi leads the service on Saturday
Distribution
• Majority of population lives in the US along
the East Coast
• Israel was founded in 1948 as a homeland for
the Jewish after WWII
– 14 Million Jews live there today
Denominations of Judaism
• Ultra-Orthodox/ Haredi
– Isolated
– Avoid modern society (sin)
• Orthodox
– Can live within society
– Believe that the Torah’s message can change with the times
• Reform
– Believe Torah is open to continuous interpretation
• Reconstructionist
– Personal autonomy over customs
• Humanistic
– Belief in Jewish roots, not Yahweh as a supernatural figure
• Flexidox
– Very liberal, but still keeps some practices (kosher, Saturday as
holy day)
Jewish Holidays
• Passover
– Biblical Story
• Rosh Hashanah
– Reflect on sins
• Yom Kippur
– Fast
– Atonement
Monotheistic vs. Polytheistic
• Monotheistic
– Belief in one god figure
– Believers will go to heaven, nonbelievers to hell
• Zoroastrianism
– Belief in Zarathustra as father of religion and in the
concept of both good and evil.
• Core of Western religions
– Mostly in Iran and India
• Polytheistic
– Many gods
Hinduism
• Oldest religion on Earth
• Ethnic religion
– You can practice, but you are only Hindu if you’re
born into a Hindu family
• Majority in India
• 3rd largest religion
Beliefs of Hinduism
• 3 primary deities
– Brahma
– Shiva
– Vishnu
• Practice faith in a
temple
• Vedas-holy texts
• Reincarnation
Deities
Triumvirate:
• Brahma
– Created the
universe
• Shiva
– Destroys the
universe
• Vishnu
– Preserver of Earth
and universe
Buddhism
• Focus on elimination of desires through
meditation
• No focus on a specific god
– Instead: personal devotion of the individual follower.
• Located in East Asia, Northeast, Southeast Asia
• Universalizing but…
– Syncretic religion: combining 2+ faiths into one belief
system
Buddhism
• Pagodas
– Individual rather
than congregational
– Not social
– Burn incense to
release
spirits/meditate
Beliefs of Buddhism
• Siddhartha Gautama
– Prince who lived in
Nepal
– He left his palace and
observed the poverty in
the region and was
disgusted.
– He lived a life without
material possessions
• Nirvana: enlightenment
Beliefs of Buddhism
• 4 Universal Truths
– All living beings should experience and endure
suffering
– Suffering leads to the desire to live, which leads to
reincarnation
– The goal is to leave the suffering of this Earth
perpetuated by reincarnation
– Nirvana can be achieved through practicing the
following eight steps:
• Rightness of belief, resolve, speech, action, livelihood, effort,
thought, meditation.
Other Universalizing Religions
• Sikism
– One god formed as a rejection of
India’s caste system.
– India
• Bahai
– No class distinctions, equality
– Africa
Mormonism
• Christian religion, but
distinct differences
between Mormonism
and other sects of
Christianity
• Founded by Joseph
Smith, prophet of God
• Continued by Brigham
Young
• Mostly in Utah
Mormonism
• Book of Mormon: used in
addition to Old and New
Testaments
• Polygamy-marriage of one man
to more than one wife
– Outlawed the practice,
excommunicates anyone who
practices this
– Some groups still do this and call
themselves Mormons.
Other Ethnic Religions
• Animism
– Luck and spirits
– Shaman is a leader who intermediates between
the supernatural and real world
• Can remove evil spirits
– Southeast Asia, Africa
Confucianism
• Based on teachings of
Confucius
• China
• Focus on relationships,
makes up the major
societal rules of China
• Feng Shui/Geomancykeeping flow of energy
in harmony
Daoism
•
•
•
•
Release of personal desires
Lao Tzu
China
Things happen that cannot be explained by
rational thought
• Mystical understanding of the harmony of life
Shintoism
• Japan
• Polytheistic and Monotheistic
• Nature is divine or holy
– Rivers, mountains, etc have spirits
• Ancestors play an important role
• Official religion in Japan in 1900s
Sacred Places & Spaces
• Sacred spaceslocations with
significant meaning
– Taj Mahal: built by
Muslim prince as a
mausoleum for wife
– Ganges River: Hindu
holy river; bodies are
burned and scattered
over river
– Death and how to care
for the dead
Conflict
• Battles fought in the name of religion happen
frequently
– Why is this ironic?
• Interfaith boundaries-fighting over the boundaries of
people of different faiths
–
–
–
–
Christians vs. Muslims
Iran vs. Israel
Christians vs. Christians
Muslim Pakistan vs. Hindu India
• Nuclear Weapons…
– 9/11 and other terrorist attacks (worldwide)
– Northern Ireland: Protestant vs. Catholic