Cultural Geography- Chapter 1 Themes in Cultural Geography – Flashcards
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Themes in cultural geography
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-culture regions (formal, functional, vernacular) -cultural diffusion -cultural ecology -cultural interaction -cultural landscape
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Region characteristics
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1. Regions are complex 2. Regions tend to overlap 3. Regions are not static
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Formal culture region
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Area occupied by people who have one or more cultural traits in common unifying them -have a core area but no clear boundaries (core-periphery) ; fuzzy -ex: areas of a city where different languages and foods are more prominent
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Functional culture region
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Area that functions as a unit politically, socially, or economically -highly organized; clear -clear defined borders -functioning for a purpose Ex: farm functioning to make money
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Vernacular culture region
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Region perceived to exist by its inhabitants -posses a regional identity but share less objective criteria -ex: "Dixie"- southern states
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Cultural diffusion
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Diffusion is the spread of cultural elements from a point of origin over an area
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Independent invention
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This is where the same or very similar innovation is independently developed at different places by different people
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Expansion diffusion
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-One of two broad categories of diffusion -is the spread of an idea or innovation within an area in a snowballing process
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Hierarchal diffusion
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Where ideas or innovations leapfrog from one important person to another or one urban center to another, temporarily bypassing other persons or rural territory
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Contagious diffusion
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Wavelike spread of ideas or innovations without regard to hierarchies
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Stimulus diffusion
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Specific trait is rejected but underlying idea is accepted
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Relocation diffusion
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Physically move from one place to another, spreading idea to new home land
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Barriers to diffusiom
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Time-distance decay: weakens from point of origin as time passes Absorbing barriers: completely stops diffusion Permeable barriers: weaken diffusion
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Cultural interaction
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The relationship of different elements within a culture
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Cultural landscape
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Forms superimposed on the physical landscape by the activities of humans -concept coined by geographer Carl Sauer
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Cultural ecology
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The study of the relationships between the physical environment and culture
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Environmental determinism
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The school of thought based on the belief that cultures are, indirectly or directly, shaped by the physical environment -*products of our environment*
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Possibilism
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The school of thought based on the belief that humans, not the physical environment, are the primary active force in cultural development
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Environmental perception
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The school of thought based in the belief that cultural attitudes shape perception of the environment -*what you see is what you believe*
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Humans as modifiers of the earth
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Examines how humans mold or impact the natural environment -can be positive or negative
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Globalization
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A process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, a process driven by international trade and investment and aided by information technology
