Cultural Patterns and Processes

Unit 3Essential 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 Landscape-physical 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

Dialects• A form of a

language that is unique in sound, speed, syntax, and vocabulary

• Isogloss-boundary of a dialect– “You guys” vs.

“You’uns” vs. “Y’all”

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 religions-members 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 Ramadan5. 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/Geomancy- keeping 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 spaces-locations

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