Upload
mzurba
View
469
Download
0
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
Citation preview
Session 14: Understanding cultural regions October 22, 2013
Fishing village festival, Japan
Norton, W. (2005). Cultural Geography: Environments, Landscapes, Identities, and Inequalities. Oxford University Press, Don Mills.
Readings: Chapter 6 of Norton – What Are Cultural Regions; Forming Cultural Regions
1) Feedback on the guest speakers & discussion about purpose; talk about the strike
2) What are cultural regions;
3) Forming cultural regions;
4) UNESCO Cultural World Heritage – Knowledge sharing for next class
5) TPAC Elder protocol for field trip next week
What are cultural regions
Delimiting of cultural regions – not primary goal of cultural geography, but an outcome related to interest in landscape
In Anthropology – used to establish ‘order’ over cultural phenomena
Cultural area – a part of the world where inhabitants tend to share most of the elements of culture, such as related languages, similar ecological conditions, economic systems, etc.
What are cultural regions
Cultural regions described as:
- Landscape - Area- Region - Place
Classification – 2 main approaches:
1) Classify according to a set of criteria, draw boundaries around regions
2) Treat all possible locations as a single set then draw boundaries between smaller groups by means of some kind of criteria
*most common
What are cultural regions
4 Difficulties:
1) Regions are continuously evolving (makes it hard to delimit)
2) The question of scale
3) The precision of locations and boundaries
4) On what basis are regions delimited?
**Spaces are under constant negotiation: lined drawn can be very problematic and a source of conflict
What are cultural regions
3 Types of regions:
1) Formal region: uniformity of traits
2) Functional region: ranges in scale, is based on human connectedness
3) Vernacular region: locally perceived regional identity and name
- more about perceived sense of identity than visible sense of identity
Forming cultural regions
Core: same as a hearth, origin
Domain: area over which the culture became dominant
Sphere: area that belongs only partly to the cultural region (has other influences from other regions)
Figure 6.1 (Source: Norton, 2005): Mormons in the USA.
Forming cultural regions
First effective settlement: “Whenever an empty territory undergoes settlement, or an earlier population is dislodged by invaders, the specific characteristics or the first group able to effect a variable, self perpetuating society are of crucial significance for the later social and cultural geography of the area, no matter how tiny the initial band of settlers may have been” (Zelinsky 1973:13)
Terra nulius: - the notion that a land is devoid of human existence upon contact/settlement
- legally declared by nations over other lands
e.g. Australia
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=14d_1348362692
Abkebab's Map of Europe 1000 AD to present with timeline
Conflict and the transformation of borders on the map
Forming cultural regions
3 processes responsible for creation of regions spreading from colonial hearths (US and other regions apply):
1) duplication of traits
2) deviation from the traits evident in the hearths
3) fusion of traits from two or more hearths
www.captureminnesota.com
Ojibway Jingle Dress
Healing dances and at powwows
Jingles historically made with snuff can lids
www.trussel.com
Inuit carving
Existed pre-contact with Europeans, but changed significantly with trading & the demand for different kinds of goods
Forming cultural regions
Cultural islands: ‘areas that are occupied by ethnic groups and that exhibit some landscape features that reflect these occupying ethnic groups’ (Norton 2005, p. 217)
e.g. townships in South Africa (and other ghettos)
UNESCO – Cultural World Heritage
UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
World Heritage: Will read along with UNESCO handout
“What does it mean for a site to be inscribed on the List?
Once a country signs the Convention, and has sites inscribed on the World Heritage List, the resulting prestige often helps raise awareness among citizens and governments for heritage preservation. Greater awareness leads to a general rise in the level of the protection and conservation given to heritage properties. A country may also receive financial assistance and expert advice from the World Heritage Committee to support activities for the preservation of its sites.” (Source: UNESCO, 2013, http://whc.unesco.org/en/faq/)
Pimachiowin Aki – bid for World Heritage
http://pimachiowinaki.org/
For next class:
Do some basic research on the cultural World Heritage Site, which you will be given. This should only take about 15 minutes.
Answer 2 questions:
1) When was the site given the status of World Heritage under the UNESCO Convention
2) What was the universal value of this place? / What made this place ‘worthy’ of world heritage?
Offering tobacco
Go over UofM TPAC Elder Protocol together