AP HuG Exam Review - Unit 3

Taboo

social or religious custom prohibiting or forbidding discussion of a particular practice or forbidding association with a particular person, place, or thing

Culture

The shared beliefs, values, practices, behaviors, and technologies of a society

Cultural traits

Visible and invisible attributes that combine to make up a group’s culture

Artifacts

The visible objects, material items, and technology created by a culture

Sociofacts

The ways in which a society behaves and organizes institutions

• Ex: Families, governments, edu systems, gender roles, religious groups

Mentifacts

The shared ideas, values, and beliefs of a culture

• Ex: Religion, languages, viewpoints, and ideas about right/wrong behaviour

Examples of Cultural Traits/Characteristics

• Architecture

• Land use

• Food preferences

• Cultural innovations and technologies

Indigenous culture

A local culture that is no longer the dominant ethnic group due to migration, colonization, or political marginalization; subset of local culture

Local/Folk Culture

Rural, ethnically homogenous culture that is deeply connected to the local land; opposite of popular culture

Popular Culture

Heterogenous culture that is more influenced by key urban areas and quick to adopt new technologies; opposite of local culture

Characteristics of Popular Culture

• Diffuses hierarchically THEN contagiously

• Young drive change/more open to change

• Quick to adopt new ideas/tech

Sense of place

Unique attributes of a specific location - cultural influences and feelings evoked by people in a place; distinctiveness

Placelessness

Loss of uniqueness of place in the cultural landscape so that one place looks like the next or does not inspire any strong emotional or cultural ties. Uniform landscape.

Cultural attitudes

Concepts and ideas in a society that are shaped by cultural opinions, beliefs, and perspectives; change over time

Language

A mutually agreed-upon system of symbolic communication; integral in cultural identity

Religion

A structured set of beliefs and practices through which people seek mental and physical harmony with the powers of the universe

Race

Historically defined by physical characteristics of a group; especially skin color

• Multiple races/nationalities can be part of the same ethnic group and vice versa

Ethnocentric approach

an approach to understanding other cultures that evaluates them from the perspective of the observers culture

Cultural relativism

An approach to understanding other cultures that seeks to understand individuals and cultures from a wider perspective; Putting aside your own culture and seek to understand individuals and cultures based on their needs and values

Agricultural Landscape

Distinct and determined by physical environment

Traditional Architecture

Reflects local areas’ history, culture, and community’s adaptation to the environment, typically using local resources

Modernist Architecture

Functional, rational, straight lines, & orderly style

Postmodern

Against modernist architecture; flair for the dramatic, creating a spectacle

Sequent Occupance

Refers to places that have been controlled/affected by a variety of groups over time; those groups have left their cultural imprints and left behind layers of meaning; relics

Ethnic Enclaves

a geographical area where a particular ethnic group is spatially clustered and socially and economically distinct from the majority group

Secular

Less influenced by religion

Linguistic Landscapes

Road signs, billboards, graffiti show local dominant language

Subculture

Group of people with distinct norms, values, and material practices that differentiate them from the dominant culture surrounding them

Placemaking

Efforts to use and design public places to better serve the needs of residents and to foster a strong community; reflects communities message

Centripetal Force

Force that brings people together and unifies a neighborhood, society, or country; cultural commonalities (language, religion, ethnicity)

Centrifugal Force

Force that threatens the cohesion of a neighborhood, society, or country; drive a wedge due to cultural traits

Absorbing barriers

Completely halt diffusion; doesn’t last forever

Permeable barriers

Slow diffusion, but still some weakened diffusion; most common

Empire

Sovereign political entities that want to expand beyond origin to control more land politically and economically, reshaping local areas economies, culture, and politics

Imperialism

Desire to control more territory for economic control and cultural dominance; does not occur through settling the area, but rather by having officials supervise the existing government

Colonialism

Forcefully controlling a foreign territory through settling there and controlling their people

Causes of colonialism

• Natural resources - to fuel industrialization

• Spread religion (ethnocentrism)

• Political power

Effects of colonialism

• Both colonizers and colonies shared cultural traits with each other

  • Ex: India - Play cricket and English heavily spoken there (Brits)

How does the diffusion of languages occur

Diffusion of languages occurred hierarchically through people wanting to benefit financially through trade, business, and politics which lead to the expansion of that language

Pidgin

Trade language; simplified mix of 2+ languages

• Smaller vocab and fewer grammar rules; primary purpose is trade

Creole

Combined language developed from pidgin usually

• Fuller vocabulary than pidgin, becomes native language

Creolization

Languages converge and create new languages

Lingua Franca

A language that facilitates communication and trade between people who speak different native languages; unifying language among multilingual area

Why has English spread so much

• Brits brought English with them to nearly every continent through colonization

  • Consequently was adopted as the language for education and the elite - taught in schools

• US and British multinational corps use for international business

• Social media/music/TV shows/movies

• Language of medicine and science

Time-space convergence

New transportation technology that reduces the time/cost it takes to travel between places

• Effect → homogeneity

Endangered language

No taught to kids by their parents and isn’t used in everyday life

• If language dies out, culture dies out

Extinct languages

Only has few elderly speakers or none at all

Convergence hypothesis

Idea that cultures are converging - becoming more alike/homogenous

• Placelessness and loss of local distinctiveness

Cultural divergence

Cultures LESS alike due to cultural/physical barriers; restricting contact with others to attempt to retain originality separating from mainstream

Glocalization

Adapting global practices to fit local cultural practices and preferences

• EX: China KFC, India McDonald’s, Stimulus Diffusion

Effects of Globalization on languages and culture

1. Made English a lingua franca

2. Endangered local languages as many people prefer to learn English as it is considered a language of the “Educated” - lessening the importance of learning local languages

3. Cultural convergence - as globalization brings cultures into contact with one another, they share cultural traits and become more similar to one another

4. Cultural divergence - Culture may change over time as the elements of distance, time, physical separation, and modern technology create divisions and changes

Culture hearth

Birthplace of innovations and cultural practice

Language Families

Related languages that share a common ancestor

Half of the world belongs to which language family?

Indo-European

Indo-European Language Family

• Largest, most widespread

• Spoken on EVERY continent

• 7 subfamilies that branch to individual languages; similar vocab

• Relocation/expansion through conquering, hierarchical spread from elites

Toponym

The names given to places; reflect spatial patterns of languages, dialects, ethnicity

Universal/Proselytic Religions

Spread faith bc it has universal applications seeking converts regardless of ethnicity - missionaries; mainly expansion diffusion and not tied to one place

Christianity (Hearth, diffusion, characteristics)

• Hearth - SW Asia/Jerusalem

• Monotheistic

• Diffusion

  • Relocation → colonialism →

  • Hierarchical → rulers → contagious

Islam

• Hearth - SW Asia

• Present currently in North Africa

• Monotheistic

• Diffusion: Contagious via trade

Buddhism

• Hearth - South Asia, present day Nepal

• Diffusion: Contagious - via trade and relocation beyond hearth

Sikhism

• Hearth - Punjab region of India

• Syncretism - blends Hinduism and Islam

• Diffusion - relocation from hearth

Ethnic Religion

Identified with ethnic group - born into it, not converting others; bond by shared cultural experiences - mainly relocation diffusion, closely tied to culture and physical geography

Judaism

• Hearth - Southwest Asia, Israel

• Oldest Monotheistic, parent of Christianity, similar to Islam

Hinduism

• Hearth - Indus River; Pakistan/India

• Polytheistic

• Diffusion: Contagious via trade and relocation beyond hearth

Animism

Animistic religion: Souls/spirits in humans and natural phenomena/geographic features (animals, rocks, mountains)

Semitic Religious Hearth

• Southwest Asia/Middle East

• Monotheistic Abrahamic Religions

• Judaism, Christianity, Islam - all started as relocation diffusion

Indus-Ganga Hearth

• Hinduism and Buddhism

• Both contagious by trade and relocation

East-Asian Hearth

• China - Confucianism and Taoism

• Hierarchical - through elite, trade, military conquest and relocation by migration

Subculture

Resistance to dominant culture; distinct identities and expression

Acculturation

Ethnic group/person adopts small amt of host society’s culture

to function eco. & socially BUT maintains majority of their own culture

Assimilation

Ethnic/immigrant blends in with host culture - loses NEARLY all of their original cultural traits & adopts most new ones; loses a LOT of cultural distinctiveness; indistinguishable from host

Multiculturalism

The coexistence of several cultures in one society with the idea of all cultures being valued and worthy of study; embracing differences=less social pressure to conform

Syncretism

Blending of beliefs, ideas, practices, and traits; leads to new religious patterns affecting cultural landscape

Syncretic Religion

Religion combining 2 or more beliefs

Orthodox Religion

Emphasized purity of faith and against blending beliefs

Long-lot settlement pattern

Linear settlement pattern in which each farmstead is situated at one end of a long, narrow rectangular lot; each lot has access to a major linear resource, usually a river or a major road

Material culture

The physical, visible objects made and used by members of a cultural group; includes buildings furniture, clothing, food, artwork, etc

Non material culture

Intangible elements of culture including a wide range of beliefs, values, myths, and symbolic meanings passed from generation to generation within a given society

Cultural trait

Single aspect of a given culture or society

Ethnic group

A people of common ancestry and cultural tradition; characterized by a strong feeling of group identity

Sacred spaces

Natural or human made sites that possess religious meaning and are recognized as worth of devotion, loyalty, fear, or esteem

Secularization

Process by which religion becomes a less dominant force in everyday life than it was in the past

Genocide

Systemic killing of members of a racial, ethnic, or linguistic group

Dialect

Regional variations of a language that is understood by people who speak other variations of that langauge

Proselytic

Describing a religion that spreads its message to others through missionary work

Generic toponym

The generic part of a place-name, often a suffix or prefix,such as -ville and Louisville

Transculturation

Notion that people adopt elements of other cultures as well as contributing elements of their own, thereby transforming both cultures