Local Culture, Popular Culture, and Cultural Landscapes

Local Culture, Popular Culture, and Cultural Landscapes

1. Field Note: Preserving Culture

   • Parsi; an ethic and religious group, follow the Zoroastrian religion, they sought refuge in India
   • The Parsi make up a small percent of the population (0.00046%)
   • Despite their size, they were major players in India's economy
   • Their small size is threatening the extinction of the culture
   • Parsi have very low fertility rates, high birth rates and well educated women
   • Today they are struggling to maintain their culture and sense of community in the changing world

2. What are Local and Popular Cultures?

   • A group of people who share common beliefs can be recognized as a culture in 2 ways
     • 1. the people can call themselves a culture
     • 2. Other people can label them as a culture
   • Academics label culture groups as folk* or popluar*
     • Folk have homogeneous pops. In rural areas
     • Popular have heterogeneous pops. In urban areas
   • Folk culture is a limiting concept, it requires a list of characteristics
   • Local culture* instead of "folk culture"
   • The material* and nonmaterial* culture of a group reflects their beliefs and values
   • Pop. Culture can change in a matter of days or hours
     • Diffusion; transport., marketing, + com. networks
     • Hierarchical

3. How are Local Cultures Sustained?

   • Rural Local Cultures
     • Easier to maintain because of isolation
     • Anabaptist groups: Hutterites, Amish, and Mennonites
     • In the 90's the Makah American Indians reinstated their whale hunt, causing an uproar
   • Urban Local Cultures
     • create ethnic neighborhoods*
     • i.e. NYC
   • Local Cultures and Cultural Appropriation
     • commodification* is affecting local cultures
     • The question of authenticity* follows commodification
   • Authenticity of Places
     • i.e. Branson, MI, the Irish Pub Co.
     • Freezes customs in place and time for consumption, while claiming authenticity
   • In 2008 Canada and Australia apologized to their indigenous populations for assimilation*
   • Sustained by customs and traditions
   • Strive to avoid cultural appropriation*

4. How is Popular Culture Diffused?

   • Hearths of Pop. Culture
     • All aspects of pop. Culture have a hearth
     • 1. Contagious diffusion
       • 2. Hierarchial
     • Local cultures will use reterritorialization* to make the aspect their own
       • i.e. hip hop
   • Replacing Old Hearths w/ New
     • Major League Sports to extreme sports
       • skate/snow boarding, ultimate fighting
     • new=socially desirable
   • Stemming the Tide of Pop. Culture-Losing the Local?
     • for some local cultures pop. culture can feel like assimilation
     • NoAm, WeEu, Ja, In, + SoKo all act as major hearths of pop. culture
   • During the 20th century the spatial extent of diffusion has expanded
   • New tech. has altered distance decay*
   • David Harvey used time-space compression* to explain modern diffusion

5. How can Local and Popular Cultures be seen in the Cultural Landscape?

   • Cultural Landscapes of Local Cultures
     • mormons
   • the tension between pop. and local culture can be seen in the cultural landscape*
   • placelessness* is used to describe the loss of uniqueness to a place
   • cultural landscapes can begin to blend together
     • skyscrapers
     • global businesses
     • 3rd dimension
   • global-local continuum*