class6b

Class 6b: Intro to Cultural Geography : Class 6b: Intro to Cultural Geography


What is culture? : What is culture? Material objects (artifacts) Interpersonal relations (sociofacts) Ideas and beliefs (mentifacts) Each element has a spatial distribution


What does culture include? : What does culture include? Language Religion Architecture Clothing Food Gender relations Music Agriculture Art Tolerance Education Technology


Artifacts of culture : Artifacts of culture Survival vs. leisure activities Housing, food, clothing Arts, recreation Folk vs. popular culture Local, homogenous groups Large, heterogeneous groups


Environmental influence : Environmental influence Old: environmental determinism Physical environment shapes everything Prone to racist conclusions New: possibilism People are the driving force But environment shapes cultural activity


Architecture : Architecture Building materials based on environment Wood in forested areas Brick in hot, dry places Grass or sod on prairies Skins for nomads


Slide7 : Syria Dominican Republic Newfoundland Nebraska


Architecture : Architecture House shape may depend on environment Interior courtyards for privacy Open plan for letting in air Tall, narrow to maximize land Steep roofs in snowy areas


Slide9 : Amsterdam Massachusetts China


Architecture : Architecture House form and orientation as sociofacts Front porches, front stoops Sacred direction, sacred wall Sleeping orientation


Slide11 : Brooklyn Guyana


Slide12 : Poland Yemen Korea


Clothing : Clothing Based on climate Warm or cold Wet or dry May reflect occupation/status Also reflect values, traditions


Slide14 : Samoa Netherlands China Guatemala Morocco


Food : Food Strong part of group identity Demonstrates innovation, diffusion, acculturation, and assimilation Can be part of place identity Back and forth between culture and place


Food : Food Preferences may depend on environment Staple foods: rice, sorghum, maize, wheat Salted meats, fish Fresh vegetables Or genetics (lactose intolerance)


Slide18 : Food hearths map


American foodways : American foodways Colonial foods (Thanksgiving) Foods diffused back to New World Potatoes to Ireland Tomatoes to Italy Chocolate to Spain Peanut and sweet potato to Africa Mixing of foods (creole)


American foodways : American foodways Acculturation (or not) Southern cooking retains strong regional identity African slaves cooked on plantations Less urban influence Anti-North attitudes discouraged


American foodways : American foodways More immigrants mean more foods Similar diffusion pattern to place names Anti-immigrant attitudes through dieticians Chili power bad for stomach Common pot unsanitary Pickles unhealthy


American foodways : American foodways Towards “fusion cooking” Depression, wars encouraged thriftiness Soldiers ate same food, encountered diversity Middle class: “exotic” foods Melting pot  salad bowl


Slide23 : Vinegar Tomato Mustard


Food and place identity : Food and place identity Historical connections Deliberate marketing Tourism and place “consumption” Pineapples and Hawaii Lobster and Maine Wine appellations and terroir


Pineapples and Hawaii : Pineapples and Hawaii Originally South American Plantations since 1800s Dole’s national ad campaign in 1907: Hawaiian pineapple Cheaper to grow in Thailand, Philippines Hawaii focuses on fresh fruit for tourists


Lobsters and Maine : Lobsters and Maine Originally food for poor, or fertilizer Wealthy New Englanders in 1860s Summering in Maine Imitating the locals Only for wealthy vacationers Now negative symbol for locals


Wine geography : Wine geography Production based on environmental factors Temperate climate (hot summer, wet winter) Hillsides allow drainage, sunlight Coarse, well-drained soil And social factors that determine consumption


Wine geography : Wine geography Terroir: how environment shapes wine flavor Soil, sunlight, slope, rainfall, etc. Varies at the vineyard scale Appellation: place-of-origin label Champagne, Bordeaux, Burgundy, etc. Parmigiana Romano, Stilton, Camembert


Introduction to cultural geography : Introduction to cultural geography Material, social, ideological expressions Spatial distribution of culture traits Folk vs. popular, survival vs. recreation Environmental influence on culture Diffusion and acculturation Food and place identity