LOCAL CULTURE, POPULAR CULTURE, AND CULTURAL LANDSCAPES

Local and Popular Cultures

• Local culture: A group in a particular place that sees itself as a community, shares experiences, customs, and traits, and works to preserve those traits and customs to distinguish the group from others

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• Popular culture: A large, heterogeneous population, typically urban, with rapidly changing culture

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Local Cultures

• Rejection of popular culture traits-limited acceptance of some essential pop culture traits
• Impact on the landscape
• Nonmaterial culture: Beliefs, practices, aesthetics, values
• Material culture: Constructed items, frequently expressing nonmaterial culture
• Establishment of neighborhoods, construction of places of worship and community centers

Class Activity

• Groups of 2-4. Everyone’s name on it.
• Imagine you are on vacation in Europe and you have made some new friends. They ask you a question about where you are from. How would you describe to them the “local culture” of Cleveland (Both material and non-material). Be specific and detailed. One half-page answer in paragraph form for the group or 6-8 bullet points.

Popular Cultures

• Practiced by large, heterogeneous group
• Rapid spread of new traits, often by hierarchical diffusion from a hearth, through transportation, communication, and marketing networks
• Interaction between local and popular cultures-goes both ways
• Patronage by local cultures of popular culture services
• Adoption by popular culture of local culture traits

How �Are Local Cultures Sustained?

• Assimilation policies: To force people of indigenous cultures to adopt dominant cultures-American Indians or Inuit/First Nations in Canada.
• Preservation of customs: Practices that people routinely follow
• Preserving boundaries to keep other cultures out-local and national
• Avoiding cultural appropriation to keep control over their own culture

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Rural Local Cultures

• Isolation
• Common economic activity among members
• Anabaptists
• Mennonites
• Amish
• Hutterites
• Makah Indians, Neah Bay, Washington
• Little Sweden, U.S.A.—Lindsborg, Kansas

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Urban Local Cultures

• Ethnic neighborhoods within cities
• Creates a space to practice customs
• Can cluster businesses, houses of worship, schools to support local culture
• Migration into ethnic neighborhoods can quickly change an ethnic

neighborhood

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Commodification

• Process of making something that was not previously bought and sold a commodity in the marketplace
• Material culture objects for sale to outsiders
• Tourist value of culture as a whole
• Question of authenticity of places
• Mystical images
• Creation of identity from cultural traits

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Class Activity

• Groups of 2-3
• What is the last product that you bought that you consider authentic?
• Is it actually authentic? Discuss each in your group.
• Be ready to share with the class.

Irish Pub Company Pubs

Irish Pub Company and Guinness Brewing Company created 5 models of pubs and export them around the world.

Hearths of Popular Culture Traits

• Typically begin with an idea or good and contagious diffusion
• Creation or manufacture of popular culture by
• Companies (for example, MTV)
• Individuals (for example, Dave Matthews)

Resistance to Popular Culture Traits

• Alternative culture
• Usually localized
• Perceived to be an individualistic decision
• Now part of pop culture itself

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Replacing Old with New

• Original Sports in the U.S.
• Football-Peyton Manning
• Baseball-Mark McGwire
• Basketball-Michael Jordan
• Boxing-Muhammad Ali
• New Sports
• Soccer
• Surfing & skateboarding
• Winter sports and X-Games
• MMA and UFC
• Marketing & Advertising
• Now pay more than the salaries
• Create new corporations managed by athletes
• Responsible for diffusion

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Stemming the Tide of Popular Culture

• Rapid diffusion of popular culture from major hearths
• United States-music & entertainment, sports, fast food
• Europe-fashion, art, philosophy
• Japan-children’s cartoons & video games
• Resistance
• Government subsidies: Media in local languages
• Dominant cultures of wealthy countries
• Minorities in wealthy countries: Cultural preservation
• Political elites in poorer countries: Nationalist ideologies

�How Can Local and Popular Cultures Be Seen in the Cultural Landscape?

• Visible human imprint on the land
• Placelessness: Similarity of places of popular cultures everywhere

Convergence of Cultural Landscapes

• The widespread distribution of businesses and products
• Germany-Local and popular culture converge.

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Loss of Local Culture and Local Landscape

• Rapid diffusion of pop culture landscapes are destroying local cultural landscapes
• Fast food, chain restaurants and chain department stores are replacing small business
• In many countries towns and cities look similar
• Resistance
• Difficult to combat large wealthy corporations
• Many towns try to pass laws limiting diffusion
• Individuals try to support local establishments

Convergence of Cultural Landscapes

• Borrowing of idealized

landscape images

• Which picture is:

1. Venice, Italy

2. Venice Hotel & casino- in Las Vegas

3. Venice Hotel and Casino- In China

Class Activity

• Groups of 2-3
• Compare Chesterland to Russell. Which one more represents popular cultural landscapes and which more represents local cultural landscapes? Which do you prefer and why?