Cultural Landscapes Local vs Popular Culture Local Culture

Cultural Landscapes

Local vs. Popular Culture Local Culture (Folk Culture & Indigenous Culture): A group of people in a particular place who see themselves as a collective or a community, who share experiences, customs, and traits, and who work to preserve those traits and customs in order to claim uniqueness and to distinguish themselves from others. Popular Culture: A wide-ranging group of heterogeneous people, who stretch across identities and across the world, and who embrace cultural traits such as music, dance, clothing, and food preference that change frequently and are ubiquitous on the cultural landscape.

Material and Nonmaterial Culture Material Culture Nonmaterial Culture The things a group of people construct, such as art, houses, clothing, sports, dance, and food. The beliefs, practices, aesthetics, and values of a group of people.

Material and Nonmaterial Culture Material Culture – also known as Artifacts Nonmaterial Culture – includes both Mentifacts & Sociofacts • Artifacts: Material expressions…Food, Possessions, Clothing and Shelter Mentifacts: Value expressions…Religious & Philosophic Sociofacts: Social expressions…Political & Economic

Viewing other cultures: • Cultural Relativism: examining other cultures’ beliefs and practices from their point of view (not imposing your own judgment) • Ethnocentrism: examining other cultures’ beliefs and practices through the lens of your culture (imposing judgment) • For example: Western cultures judging Islamic women who choose to wear the hijab.

Folk & Local Architecture • Building Materials – Choice of construction materials more dependent upon resources available in the local area – Reflects geographic location • Examples: – Adobe construction in the Southwest – Timber frames in the Pacific Northwest

Folk/Local housing in the South • Dogtrot house: two log rooms separated by an open roofed breezeway • Shotgun house: African-American, one room wide, but two to four rooms in depth

Dogtrot • The dogtrot house, also known as a breezeway house, is a style of house that was common throughout the Southeastern United States during the 19 th and early 20 th centuries.

Shotgun House (Southern Tradition) • A "shotgun house" is a narrow rectangular domestic residence, usually no more than about 12 feet (3. 5 m) wide, with rooms arranged one behind the other and doors at each end of the house.

Local Architecture around the globe

Kitsch Architecture: Lacrosse, Wisconsin • Kitsch – trivial, showy, designed for mass consumption – it is increasingly common in placeless landscapes. • Much kitsch in North American and Australia is characterized by gigantism • This is purported to be the world’s largest six-pack.

Mammy’s Cupboard Natchez, MS

Impacts of the Globalization of Popular Culture • Threats to folk culture – Loss of traditional values – Foreign media dominance – Loss of folk cultural landscape • Environmental impacts of popular culture – Modifying nature – Uniform cultural landscapes – Negative environmental impact

Japanese Geisha with modern technology

Placelessness • Superficially, popular culture appears to vary less areally than folk culture • Canadian geographer Edward Relph’s placelessness – Popular culture produces a profound placelessness – A spatial standardization that diminishes cultural variety – Demeans the human spirit • James Kunstler’s “geography of nowhere” – One place become much like another, robbed of its geographical essence – Pervasive influence of a continental or worldwide popular culture

Placelessness: Anywhere USA • Without signage, how do we know what type of place this is? • Is there a sense of distinctiveness? • Nothing sets these structures apart as being in a particular place; this is placelessness.

Placelessness: Anywhere USA • This is suburban Columbus, Ohio – “Test Market USA. ” • Columbus -- representative cross section of American society; place to try out new products. • Most fast food menus are tested here.

Mc. Donald’s in Tokyo

Wendy’s in Idaho

Pampas Grill in Finland

• Commodification • Acculturation • Appropriation • Assimilation