Unit 3 Cultural Processes and Patterns

Unit 3: Cultural Processes and Patterns ● Culture- body of material traits, customary beliefs, social forms that together constitute a distinct tradition of a group of people ■ 3 components of culture ● Material Traits- visible elements that a group possesses and leaves behind for future generations ● Customary belief- 2 important components- language and religion ● Social forms- maintain values and protect artifacts (ethnicity and political institutions) ○ Migration = similarities of cultural beliefs between two locations ○ Limited interaction -> differences of cultural beliefs ○ Habit: repetitive act that occurs from a particular individual ○ Custom: repetitive act that occurs from a group of people ○ Hearth is a center of innovation 2 elements of culture that are emphasized ■ Daily necessities, including food, clothing, and shelter ■ Leisure activities, such as arts and recreation Introducing Folk and Popular culture ● Each Cultural element has a distinct-> origin, diffusion, and distribution ● Built Environments – each cultural group takes elements from the environment into its culture and in turn builds landscapes that modify nature in distinctive ways ○ Increased connection with pop. culture makes maintaining practices difficult to accomplish ○ Globalization impacts the landscape in folk culture ○ Pop. culture ■ Pollution of landscape ■ Depletion of scarce resources Folk Culture ● Traditionally practiced by a small, homogenous group living in a rural and isolated area ● Changes very slowly and differs from place to place ● Preservation and protection ● Anonymous hearth, sources, unknown dates, unidentified originators ● A group’s unique folk customs are developed through centuries of relative isolation from customs practiced by other cultural groups ● Clothing preference is to the agricultural processes and climate conditions ● Food Taboo ○ Restriction put in place by a social custom that eating particular foods that are thought to have negative forces ○ Muslims have a taboo against eating pork ○ Hindus have a taboo against eating beef ● Housing is based on environmental conditions and what resources are there ○ Stone, grass, sod, skins are used to build ○ Sacred spaces in the house Popular Culture ● Found in large, heterogeneous societies that share certain habits despite differences of other personal characteristics. ○ Changes very rapidly through global communications & differs from time to time ○ More dominant, at a global scale ○ No concern shown, modify environment according to global values ○ As a result from developed countries ( North America, Europe mostly) ○ Origin is able to trace back to a person or specific corporation ○ Food is consumed in large quantities of snack foods ○ Clothing styles reflect occupation more than environment ○ Housing shows trends since the 1940’s in the U.S. ■ No longer build their own houses ■ Show influences of shapes, materials, and other features of architectural style ○ Electronic Diffusion: Most important media format is TV ■ Internet Diffusion from the US to the rest of the world is 10 years ○ Diffusion of Social Media: 21rst Century ● Himalayan Art: ○ Bhutan, Nepal, Northern India and Southern Tibet (China) ○ 4 religious groups – tibetan buddhists (N), Hindus(S), Muslims (W), Animist (E) ■ Tibetan Buddhists- idealized divine figures (some were bizarre and terrifying to represent the inhospitable environment) ■ Hindus- everyday life ■ Muslims- beautiful plants and flowers, ■ Animist Groups- symbols Influence of Physical Environment · Environmental determinism · Environment determines food, clothing, and shelter · Waterproof wooden shoes in the Netherlands in the wet environment Introducing Languages ● Language: system of communications through speech, a collection of sounds that a group of people understands to have the same meaning ○ one of the three traits that distinguish cultural values (other two are religion and ethnicity) ○ It is how other cultural values are communicated ● Language and Migration ● Study of language follows migration because the contemporary distribution of languages around the world results from past migration ○ People in two locations speak the same language because of migration from one place to another ○ Ex: Madagascans speak a language from the same language family as Indonesia and Philippines: ■ this is evidence of migration, which research shows is from 2000 years ago ● When 2 groups have few connections after migration, the language starts to differ ○ After long periods of time, the two languages become so different that they are classified as separate languages ○ Interaction and isolation help explain the distribution of ind. lang. and lang. Families ○ Language = luggage (people carry it from place to place) ■ People incorporate new words into their own lang. when they reach new places ● (vice versa) contribute words brought with them to the existing language in that location ● Geographers look at similarities among lang. To understand the diffusion and interaction of people around the world ● Classifying Languages ○ Good ex of cultural diversity is the world’s heterogeneous collection of languages ○ Distribution of some of these languages are easy to document, others (mostly in Africa and Asia) are not ○ Institutional language – used in education, work, mass media, and government (there are 578 according to Ethnologue) ■ Many countries designate at least one institutional language as an official language... ○ Official language - used by government for laws, reports and public objects (road signs, money, and stamps) ■ Usually, the official language is understood by most of the citizens, ■ But in many once British colonies, the off. Lang. Is English, even if few can speak it ■ Some countries have more than one off. lang. and require all public documents to be in all off. Lang. ○ Literary Tradition- also an institutional language, meaning it’s written and spoken (includes writing and rules of grammar) ■ Thousands of spoken languages lack a literary tradition ○ Lack of written records is one reason it’s difficult to document the total number of languages ○ Developing language- spoken in daily use by people of all ages, from children to elderly individuals ■ According to Ethnologue- 1,598 ■ Also has a literary tradition, though the literature is not widely distributed ○ Vigorous language – daily use, but lacks a literary tradition (2,479 according to Ethnologue) ○ Languages that are in trouble and dying, are considered by Ethnologue to be in various stages of disappearing from use ● Organizing Language Families: ○ Language family- collection of languages related through a common ancestral language that existed long before recorded history (ex. Indo-European) ○ Language branch – collection of languages within a family related through a common ancestral language that existed several thousand years ago (ex. Germanic) ■ Differences aren’t as extensive/old between language families ■ Archaeological evidence can confirm that branches derive from the same family ○ Language group – collection of languages within a branch that share a common origin in the relatively recent past and display many similarities in grammar and vocab (ex. North Germanic) ● Language Families ○ Differences among language families, branches, groups, and individual languages shown through tree model ■ Language families form trunks ■ Individual languages are leaves ■ Some trunks divide into several branches- language branch ■ Branches representing Germanic, Balto-Slavic, and Indo-Iranian divide a second time into language groups ■ Super-families (Sino-Caucasian, Austric, & Nostralic) are shown as roots below surface because their existence is controversial and speculative ○ Quentin Atkinson (New Zealand biologist) argues that all languages can be ultimately traced to Africa ■ Languages are complex and diverse in Africa ■ Believes humans outside Africa display less linguistic diversity because their languages have a shorter time to involve into new ones ○ Ethnologue identifies 142 language families ○ 2 language families: Indo-European (46.5% of people) and Sino-Tibetan (20.1) are used more than 1 bil people, 7 language families between 100-500 mil, and 5 between 9-100 mil ● Two Largest Language Families ● Indo-European ○ Most widely used language family, predominant in Europe, South Asia, North America, and Latin America ○ 8 branches (from most to least used): ■ Widely used: Indo-Iranian, Germanic, Romance, and Balto-Slavic ■ Lesser used: Albanian, Armenian, Celtic, and Greek ● Sino-Tibetan ○ Includes languages spoken in China (population of 1.3 B), several smaller countries in SE Asia ○ Languages of China mostly belong to the Sinitic branch ○ No single Chinese language, most common is Mandarin (“common speech”) which is spoken by ¾ of the people ■ Mandarin is the most-used language in the world ■ Official language of China and Taiwan, and one of the 6 official languages of the UN ○ 7 other Sinitic branch languages are spoken by >20 mil each in China (mostly southern and eastern parts) ■ Wu, Yue (Cantonese), Min, Jinyu, Xiang, Hakka, and Gan ■ Government imposes Mandarin countrywide Other Large Language Families ● Southeast Asia Language Families ○ 3 largest families are Austronesian, Austro-Asiatic, and Tai-Kadai ○ Austronesian ■ Spoken by about 6% of the world, most from Indonesia ● Indonesia has many distinct languages and dialects (706 just in Indonesia) ■ ○ Most widely spoken is Javanese (by 84 million) mostly from Java Austro-Asiatic ■ 2% of the world ■ Most common language is Vietnamese ● Written in the Roman alphabet, along w large # of diacritical marks above the vowels ● Vietnamese alphabet was created in the 17th century by Roman Catholic missionaries ○ Tai-Kadai ■ Was once classified as a branch of Sino-Tibetan ■ Spoken in Thailand and neighboring portions of China ■ Some scholars believe that speakers may have migrated from the Philippines ● East Asia Language Families ○ 2 most widely used language families outside of china: ○ Japanese ■ Partly written w Chinese characters ■ 2 systems of phonetic symbols are used either in place or alongside of Chn. Characters ■ Chinese cultural traits have diffused into Japan society, including original form of writing ■ The structure of chinese and japanese still differ ○ Korean ■ Written in a system known as hankul/hangul/onmun (unlike Sino-Tibetan languages and Japan) ■ Each letter represents a sound, like western languages ■ More than ½ of Korean vocab comes from Chinese ○ Chinese and Japanese words are the principal sources for creating new words to describe new technology and concepts ● Other Asian Language Families ○ Dravidian ■ principal language family of South Asia, aside from Indo-European, mostly in southern India ■ Most widely used are Telugu and Tamil ■ Origin is unknown- been studied less than other widely used language families ■ When Indo-European speakers reached India, Dravidian was already present ○ Altaic ■ Thought to have originated bordering the Qilian Shan and Altai mountains between Tibet and China ■ Covers 8000-kilometer band in Asia today ■ Turkish has most speakers by far ■ Altaic languages were suppressed when the Soviet Union governed the region ■ Official in Azer, Baijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan ○ Uralic ■ Traceable back to a common language that was first used 7000 years ago in Ural Mts. ■ Migrants carried this family to Europe, amid Germanic and SlavicSpeaking people ■ Estonians, Finns, and Hungarians ● African Language Families ○ Nobody knows the exact number of languages in Africa ○ 1800s: Europeans recorded them using the Roman/Arabic alphabet ○ Ethnologue- 2146 languages, 699 of which have a literary tradition ○ Afro-Asiatic ■ World's 3rd largest language family ■ Arabic is the major language ● official in 2 dozen countries of SW Asia and N Africa ● 1/6 of the official lang. In UN ● Spoken and written by 206 million ■ 54 mil people use Egyptian spoken Arabic ■ 34 distinct Arabic Languages in addition to the official one ■ Quran (Muslim religious book) is written in Arabic ■ This family also includes Hebrew ○ · Niger-Congo ■ Spoken by 95% of people in Sub-Saharan Africa ■ Most spoken- Yoruba, Igbo, (Nigeria) and Swahili (Tanzania’s off.) ■ Swahili is often used to communicate w “outsiders” in rural areas ● Its vocab has strong Arabic influence because of interaction w Arab traders ● One of the few African languages w an extensive literature ○ Nilo-Saharan ■ 43 mil in North-central Africa (north of Niger-Congo) ■ Hard to classify these languages ● Divided into 6 branches, and numerous groups and subgroups ● Total number of speakers of each individual language is ext. Small ● America’s Other Language Family: Quechuan ○ Most widely used language family in the western Hemisphere, other than IndoEur. ○ Speakers are mostly in the Andes Mountains of western South America ○ Ethnologue- 9 million speakers ○ 44 distinct languages ○ Quechua Cusco is the only one w more than 1 million speakers ○ Most speakers use Spanish ● Distribution of Indo-European Branches ○ Nearly ½ of the world’s people speak a language part of I-E family ○ 8 branches: 4 widely spoken, and 4 much less... ● Germanic Branch ○ West Germanic group includes English, German, and Dutch ○ Also includes languages in the North Germanic group: Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, and Icelandic ■ Also called the four Scandinavian languages ■ All derive from Old Norse; the principal language of Scandinavia before 1000 AD ● Romance Branch ○ 4 most widely used (contemporary)- Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Italian ■ The regions in which these 4 are spoken correspond – somewhat- to the boundaries of the countries today ^^ ○ 5th most spoken – Romanian – principal language in Romania and Moldova ■ Is separated from the other Romance-speaking countries by Slavic people ● Indo-Iranian Branch ○ IE Branch with the most speakers ○ Divided into 2 groups: Iranian (Western) and Indic (Eastern) ○ Iranian: ■ Major languages include Persian in Iran, Pashto in E. Afghanistan & west Pakistan, and Kurdish in W Iran, N Iraq, and E Turkey ■ Written w Arabic alphabet ○ · Indic: ■ Most widely spoken group in s. Asia ■ 461 only in India, 29 of which are spoken by at least 1 mil. People ■ Off. Language in India is Hindi, though some communicate in English ■ India also recognizes 22 “scheduled” languages, including 15 IE, 4 Dravidian, 2 Sino-Tibetan, and 1 Austro-Asiatic ■ Hindi can be spoken several ways, but there’s only one off. way to write it (Devanagari) ● Balto-Slavic ○ Predominate in Eastern Europe ○ Slavic used to be a single language, but divided into E, W, S, and Baltic because of migration and isolation ○ Most widely used are in the east: Russian ○ Most spoken west Slavic languages: Polish, Czech, Slovak (Czech and Slovak are quite similar, and the speakers can understand each other) ○ “Serbo-Croatian” ■ Language spoken by Bosnia + H, Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia during Yugoslavia ■ They now prefer to call them separate languages, to demonstrate their uniqueness ● Bosnians and Croats use Roman alphabet ● Montenegrins and Serbs use Cyrillic alphabet ○ Differences between all these languages are relatively small, but is part of their cultural identity Origin and Diffusion of Indo-European ○ Distribution of language exists because of geographic processes of origin and diffusion ○ Language branches and individual ones can be documented ○ Families can’t (predates recorded history) ● Origin and Diffusion of Romance Languages ○ Originated from Latin, or the “Romans” language ○ As roman empire conquered provinces, they brought their language with them ○ Previous languages spoken by natives were extinguished or suppressed ○ Latin used in each province was based on the speech of the Roman army at time of occupation, so the Latin spoken in each province also integrated words from their previous language ○ Vulgar Latin - the language that people in the provinces learned, not the standard literary form, but a spoken form ■ “the masses” ○ After the collapse of the Roman Empire, because of isolation, the languages became distinct and different ○ Romance branch has achieved worldwide importance because of colonial activities: ■ Spanish is the official Lang. Of 18 Latin American states ■ Fewer than 10% of the speakers of Spanish live in Spain ■ Portuguese in Brazil- 200 mil, Portuguese in Portugal – 10 million ● Common Ancestry of Indo-European Languages ○ Geographers are unsure if Germanic, Romance, Balto-Slavic and Indo-Iranian all came from a single ancestor, which would be called Proto-Indo-European language family ○ Evidence of relation comes from words related to physical environment: ■ Ind. I-E languages share common words for winter and snow: the original Proto-Indo-European speakers lived in cold winter climate, w no oceans ■ Share words for some animals and trees, but not others: they lived in a place where the shared animals and nature are found, while others were added after the original lang. split into branches ● Nomadic Warrior Theory ○ Archaeologist Marija Gimbutas – the first Proto-Indo-European speakers were the Kurgans ■ 4300 BC around Russia and Kazakhstan ○ · Because of domestication of horses and chariots, they migrated westward through Europe, spreading their language ● Sedentary Farmer Theory ○ Archaeologist Colin Renfrew – first speakers lived 2000 years before the Kurgans, in eastern part of Turkey ○ Biologist Russel D. Gray dates the first speakers even earlier – 6700 BC ■ oBelieves that Indo-European diffused into Europe and S. Asia along w agricultural practices, NOT military conquest ○ Do cultural elements such as language diffuse primarily through warfare and conquest or primarily through peaceful sharing of food? ○ After many generations of complete isolation, regardless if it was spread by warfare or farming, it evolved into distinct languages ● Origin and Diffusion of English ○ Celts arrived in the British Isles around 2000 BC, spoke Celtic ○ 450 AD – tribes from mainland Germany invaded the British Isles ● German Invasion ○ 3 tribes invaded the Isles: Angles (southern Denmark), Jutes (northern Denmark), & Saxons (northwestern Germany) ○ Modern English has evolved from the language spoken by these three tribes ○ Anglo-Saxons: people who trace their cultural heritage back to England ○ Vikings from Norway came to the northeastern coast of England in the 9th century, adding their language to the basic English ○ England – Angles’ Land ● Norman Invasion ○ English is different from German because England was conquered by Normans in 1066 ○ They spoke French, which became England’s official language for the next 300 years ○ Royalty and leaders spoke French, commoners (majority) spoke English ○ Conflict between France in 1204 lead to people choosing not to speak French, and English once more became the dominant language ● Diffusion of English ○ English first diffused to N. America in the 17th century ○ Jamestown, Virginia and Plymouth, Massachusetts – first successful English colonies ○ took control of Ireland in the 17th century ■ South Asia in mid-18th century ■ South Pacific in the late 18th - early 19th ■ Southern Africa in the late 19th century ○ In each case, English became an official language, even though very few people spoke it ○ 20th century: US diffused English to the Philippines ● Combining English with Other Languages ○ Franglais ■ Served as lingua franca for hundreds of years for international diplomats ○ Spanglish ○ Denglish Global Importance of English ○ · Dominance of English has facilitated the diffusion of popular culture and science and growth of international trade ● Lingua Franca ○ Language of international communications – like English ○ Are created by mixing elements of the 2 languages into a simple common one ○ “language of the Franks” ■ ○ Used by Arabs in the Middle East who traded with Europeans (“Franks”) All children learn English in countries like Netherlands and Sweden ○ Pidgin language- simplified form of a language, by learning a few of the grammar rules and words, and mixing in some elements of their own ■ ○ Has no native speakers Modern lingua francas are: English, Swahili (e. Africa). Hindi, Indonesian, and Russian ● Official Languages ○ Some countries have more than one official languages ○ Official languages are used by government to enact legislation and conduct public business ○ In some cases, only official languages are used in public schools ○ Europe has the largest # official Languages (EU recognizes 24: ■ Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish ○ English is official in 58 countries (more than any other language) ■ But not an official language in the US ○ Dialect – regional variation of a language distinguished by distinctive vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation ■ Most speakers of one dialect can understand those speaking another dialect ○ Subdialect – a subdivision of a dialect ■ 2 sub dialects of the same dialect share relatively few differences, primarily in pronunciation and a small amount of vocabulary ○ Differences in dialects and sub dialects reflect distinctive features of the environments in which groups live English Dialects ○ Migration of English speakers to N. America ○ Large number of speakers and widespread distribution – large number of dialects and subdialects ● American and British English ○ Early colonists spoke the language they had been using in England at the time (17th century) ■ Acculturation- each group retains distinct culture features ■ Assimilation – a group’s cultural features are altered to resemble those of another more dominant group ■ Syncretism- combining of elements of two groups into a new cultural feature* ○ When later immigrants arrived in N. America, they became acculturated to the society that already spoke English ○ English in the US and England evolved independently during the 18th and 19th centuries, which is why they differ in vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation ○ Vocabulary ■ Settlers in America encountered many new objects and experiences, new names had to be given to physical features, animals (vocab was taken from native Americans), and new inventions (ex. Car parts) ○ Spelling ■ Spelling is different because of a strong national feeling in the US for an independent identity ■ Noah Webster was determined to develop a uniquely american dialect of English, ignored recently created rules of grammar and spelling that were developed in England ■ This helped establish a national language, reduc cultural dependence on England, and inspire national pride ○ Pronunciation ■ Surprisingly, the pronunciation has changed more in England than in the US ■ Standard language – the dialect that’s well established and widely recognized as the most acceptable for government, business, education, and mass communication ■ Received Pronunciation – dialect used by upper-class residents in the capital city of London, and the 2 important university cities of Cambridge and Oxford ■ Despite RP, strong regional differences persist in English Religion ● Universalizing Religion ○ Attempt to be global by appealing to ppl. regardless of location or culture ■ Christianity, Islam, Buddhism ○ Precise place of origin ○ Major holidays that relate to events in life of the founder ○ A branch is a large and fundamental division within a religion. ○ A denomination is a division of a branch that unites a number of local congregations in a single body. ○ A sect is a small group that has broken away from an established denomination ■ Christianity ● Hierarchical Diffusion: Emperor Constantine helped diffuse the religion to the entire Roman Empire ● Relocation Diffusion: Missionaries went around to different areas to convert others to christianity ● 3 Branches of Christianity: ● Roman Catholic: dominant in southwestern and eastern europe ● Protestant: dominant in northwestern europe ● Orthodox: dominant in eastern and southeastern europe ● Islam ○ Relocation Diffusion: missionaries went to areas such as Asia and Africa to convert others ○ 2 Branches: ○ Sunni ■ Largest branch found in most muslim countries in SW Asia and N Africs ○ Shiite ■ Middle Eastern Countries of Iran, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Omran, and Bahrain ● 3 Branches of Buddhism ○ Mahayana ■ China, Japan, Korea ○ Theravada ■ Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand ○ Vajrayana ■ Tibet and Mongolia ● Ethnic Religion ○ Appeals to one group of people living in one place ○ More clustered distributions ○ Aligned with natural events with physical geography of land ○ Largest number of followers is Hinduism ■ Almost all in India and Nepal ○ Combo of Buddhism with Confucianism, Taoism, and other chinese practices is in E and SE Asia ○ Syncretism is mixing several of the traditions ○ Animism ■ Belief that inanimate objects have spirits and life ○ Judaism ■ Monotheism: belief of only one god ■ ⅖ live in the U.S. ■ ⅖ live in Israel ● Sacred Places ○ Structures that are sacred to the religion as a place to worship ■ Christainity: Church ■ Hinduism: Temples ■ Muslim: Mosques ■ Buddhist: Pagodas ● Holy Areas in Islam ○ Makkah (Mecca) ■ Birthplace of Muhammad ■ Most holiest city ○ Second most holiest: Madinah (medinah) ■ Muhammad’s Tomb is here ● Holy areas in Hinduism ○ Close relations to physical geography ■ Ganges is a holy river ■ Mt. Kailas holy because it is the home of Lord Siva ■ Other riverbanks and coastlines are also holy Ethnicity ● Race: humans are categorized based on skin color and other physical characteristics ● Minority Group: any group in a society that goes through discrimination by dominant group ● Racial Group: determined by physical characteristics ● Ethnicity: identity with a group of people who share cultural traditions of a specific hearth ● Ethnic Groups: determined by culture ○ May live in particular regions or communities within the cities and states ■ Regional Scale ● Hispanics: SW cluster ● African Americans: SE cluster ● Asian Americans: W cluster ■ Urban Scale ● African Americans and Hispanics are highly clustered ● Segregation ○ Plessy vs. Ferguson ■ Law was constitutional bc it provided equal but separate treatments of black and whites. ○ Jim Crow Laws: A set of laws that segregate the blacks and whites ■ Blacks had to sit in the back of the bus and public stores, restaurants, shops could choose to not serve blacks but whites only ○ South Africa Apartheid ■ Legal system was enacted that was to segregate its people ■ Physical separation of different races into different geographic areas ■ These laws were repealed in 1991 ● Nationality ○ Identity within a group of people who share personal allegiance to a country ○ Share similar concepts with ethnicity ■ Cultural factors is the same ○ Difference is that nationality is defined with shared experiences such as voting, getting passports ● Ethnic Cleansing ○ Powerful ethnic group forcibly removes a specific ethnic group in order to have only one ethnic region ○ Example is Yugoslavia ■ Bosnia ● Serbia and Croatia fought to not be a part of multiple ethnic country ○ Balkans ■ Balkanized: describe small areas that couldn’t be made into a proper state bc there were multiple ethnic groups that had problems with each other ■ Balkanization: State breaks down because of conflicts among ethnicities ○ Africa ■ Rwanda ● Hutus murdered hundreds of Tutsis ■ Congo, as a result from Rwanda’s genocide, it spreads