U3: Cultural Geography - Pop and folk cultures

folk culture

Traditionally practiced by a small, homogeneous, rural group living in relative isolation.

popular culture

Found in a large, heterogeneous society that shares certain habits despite differences in personal characteristics.

material culture

Food, clothing, and shelter; The physical objects produced by a society in order to meet its needs.

nonmaterial culture

Includes beliefs, practices, aesthetics (what they see as attractive), and values

local culture

A group of people in a particular place who see themselves as a collective or a community, who share experiences, customs, and traits and work to preserve those traits and customs in order to claim uniqueness and to distinguish themselves from others

taboo

A restriction on behavior imposed by social custom.

habit

Repetitive act performed by an individual.

homogenous

Of the same kind; alike; Used to describe social groups of cultural practices (especially popular culture).

assimilation

The process through which people lose originally differentiating traits, often used to describe immigrant adaptation to a new place of residence.

cultural hearth

Heartland, source area, innovation center; place of origin of a major culture.

sociofact

The institutions, practices, and links between individuals and groups that unite a culture, including family structure and political, educational and religious institutions

mentifact

The central, enduring elements of a culture expressing its values and beliefs, including language, religion, folklore, and etc.

custom

The frequent repetition of an act, to the extent that it becomes characteristic of the group of people performing the act.

artifact

an object made by a human being, typically an item of cultural or historical interest.

cultural appropriation

The process by which other cultures adopt customs and knowledge and use them for their own benefit

cultural ecology

The multiple interactions and relationships between a cultural and the natural environment.

environmental determinism

A doctrine that claims that cultural traits are formed and controlled by environmental conditions.

Possibilism

Geographic viewpoint - a response to determinism -that holds that human decision making, not the environment, is the crucial factor in cultural development. Nonetheless, possibilists view the environment as providing a set of broad constraints that limits the possibilities of human choice.

acculturation

When a culture is substantially changed through interaction with another culture EX: A culture adapts some traits of the dominant culture but still retains some of its cultural aspects

cultural barrier

Prevailing cultural attitude rendering certain innovations, ideas, or practices unacceptable or unadoptable in that particular culture.

cultural diffusion

The expansion and adoption of a cultural element, from its place of origin to a wider area.

Built Environment

the man-made surroundings that provide the setting for human activity, ranging in scale from personal shelter to neighborhoods to large scale civic surroundings

cultural convergence

the tendency for cultures to become alike as they increasingly share technology and organizational structures in a modern world united by improved transportation and communication Ex: Chinese restaurants in US and McDonald's in China

cultural landscape

the visible imprint of human activity and culture on the landscape Ex: houses, churches, schools