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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
Made English a lingua franca
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
Cultural convergence - as globalization brings cultures into contact with one another, they share cultural traits and become more similar to one another
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
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