Lecture 5 - Culture & Coded Spaces (Week of Oct. 7) PDF

Important Announcement For the Week of Oct 14- 18, 2024 there will be NO CLASSES, TUTORIALS or MINUTE ESSAY. Schedule: Oct. 14 – Thanksgiving (no class) Oct. 16 – No Class Oct. 18 – No Class Oct. 14-18 – No Tutorials Oct. 21 – Midterm Oct. 23 – Class as usual Cultural Geography Week of Oct. 7,...

Important Announcement For the Week of Oct 14- 18, 2024 there will be NO CLASSES, TUTORIALS or MINUTE ESSAY. Schedule: Oct. 14 – Thanksgiving (no class) Oct. 16 – No Class Oct. 18 – No Class Oct. 14-18 – No Tutorials Oct. 21 – Midterm Oct. 23 – Class as usual Cultural Geography Week of Oct. 7, 2024 Geog 1200 – Society & Space  Class Outline 1. Defining Culture 2. Culture and Place 3. Cultural Landscapes 4. The New Cultural Geography 5. Place Meanings & Power 6. Place & Consumption 7. Las Vegas: A Postmodern City  Defining Culture Characteristics: shared meanings: beliefs, norms, values practiced in everyday life by a group of people makes up ‘a way of life’ system of knowledge  Local/Folk Culture Local/folk cultures are the cultural beliefs, customs and norms dominant in a location. Cultural Traits: dance, dress, food, sporting events, architecture, music, custom, art, festivals, aesthetics Popular Culture Popular culture is commercialized, transmitted by the mass media (corporations and advertising agencies) and can be practiced by heterogeneous groups of people.  Culture and Place Characteristics: Non-material aspects of culture are expressed in material things. Material culture includes place. Culture is embedded in place. Buddha Statue, City of Bodh Gaya, India  Culture and Place Culture Place is an important component of culture. Cultural geographers are interested in how culture effects, and is Place effected by, place.  Cultural regions are areas in which one Cultural Regions cultural system – prevails: certain values, beliefs and A ‘Religious practices are held by Geography’ of the majority of the the US population (more or less). Geography and Religion Cultural Landscapes Carl Sauer and the Berkley School (University of California): argued that culture determines landscape; used the term ‘cultural landscape’ to refer to how human activity has a visible imprint on the landscape; diverged from previous thinking that thought the environment generated 1925 – The Morphology of Landscape – different cultures (i.e., environmental Sauer argued that it was culture that made a human imprint on the determinism). environment and not the environment that determines culture.  Cultural Landscapes Cultural landscapes are the tangible or material outcome of the interactions between a human group and a natural environment that have social significance.  Vernacular Landscapes Small Town, Atlantic Canada Subdivision, Orangeville, Ontario Vernacular landscapes are a type of cultural landscape (part of everyday life) that evolves over time by being used by the people who live there, and express the particular character of a region. Criticisms: Carl Sauer and the Berkley School (University of California): saw culture as a ‘super-organic’ entity that existed at a higher level than the individual; understood culture as not being connected to individual or social groups. does not consider that individuals experience places differently based on their race, gender, class, sexual orientation, etc. Criticisms: Carl Sauer and the Berkley School (University of California): were only interested in the material elements of the landscape ‘deposited’ by culture, as well as the geographic distribution of cultural traits is heavily descriptive and not critical ignores the non-material (symbolic) aspects of the landscape; meanings  Landscapes Have Meaning As cultural geographers, we can ask: Topophilia (Tuan, 1976) What are the meanings behind place? Individuals are emotionally attached to certain places. Expressing love of place through public art  Meanings as Social Constructions Social construction = a collective perception of an individual, group or idea that is constructed through cultural and social practice (i.e. they are human inventions). The social constructed-ness of place is important because it helps us realize that it is in human power to change the meanings associated with place. “These places are celebrated for no other reason than because they are a celebrated place” (Hutnyk, 1999).  Who’s Meaning? More critical questions asked by cultural geographers: Whose meanings are given to place? Who gets to define the meaning of place? Place is invested with meaning in the context of power and politics.  The New Cultural Geography/Cultural Turn (as opposed to the ‘old’ Cultural Landscape Approach) Perspectives of the ‘Cultural Turn’: understood that the cultural is political (Jackson 1989); argued that meanings of culture are contested because diverse groups of people make up the social fabric of place; culture is divided along social lines; called into question that culture as a thing that is shared by all individuals in a region is called into question.  Great Wall of China The New Cultural Geography/Cultural Turn Perspectives of the ‘Cultural Turn’: recognized that meanings are contested; addresses the wider social and political context in which culture is constituted and expressed (i.e., power relations); argues that what is visible in the landscape represents the dominant cultural beliefs, norms and values, and renders some perspectives invisible. Place Meanings and Power Place is invested with meaning in the context of power. A tag or signature of a gang.  Place Meanings and Power To whom do these meanings belong and why do certain people have the authority to give place those meanings? Whose meanings are given precedence? And why? Place Meanings and Power Dominant groups establish the rules and determined what is normal (people with power) Meanings are constructed in the context of power relations.  Statue of Liberty, New York, USA Reading Symbols in the Landscape Symbolic landscapes are imbued with special meanings.  27 World Trade Towers, Lower Manhattan, New York (Pre-Sept. 11, 2001)  Reading Symbols in the Landscape Iconography: the examination of symbols that are part of the landscape CN Tower, Toronto, Ontario Lighthouse, Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia Parliament Buildings, Ottawa, Canada Reading Symbols in the Landscape The buildings were designed to evoke a Sense of British Traditions of the government.  Reading Symbols in the Landscape Derelict Landscapes: Landscapes that have experienced abandonment, mis-use, disinvestment or vandalism. Pripyat, Ukraine (near Chernobyl)  Reading Symbols in the Landscape Skyscrapers part of the urban landscape reflect economic development and prosperity, while slums and over- crowding indicate poverty. Mumbai, India  Reading Symbols in the Landscape The built landscape ensures that certain values are incorporated in place. Basilica of Our Lady Immaculate , Guelph, Ontario  Reading Symbols in the Landscape Public space and sense of belonging Great Mosque, Mecca Mosque in Toronto  Reading Symbols in the Landscape Chinatown is an example of how the movement of people in their permanent relocation has impacted the landscape. Chinatown, Chicago, United States Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World, Florida Place Consumption 36  Consuming Place Place commodification is: the construction, marketing and selling of place and its people as a product to be consumed by a particular market the process of transforming elements of the tourist experience into something that can be purchased as a good or product Consuming Place Tourism is a way we can interpret place as a product in which tourists consume an experience; the experience can be interpreted as a commodity.  Place Promotion Place promotion = “the conscious use of publicity and marketing to communicate selective images of specific geographical localities or areas to a target audience” (Ward and Gold, 1994, 2), “Place promotion presents the world as an image” (Morgan, 2004, 177).  Destination Images It is critical for destination advertisers to utilize attention grabbing images that reassure an individual of the unique experience being offered. In tourism, “images are more important than tangible resources all because perceptions, rather than reality are what motivate consumers to act or not to act” (Gallarza, Saura and Garcia, 2002, p. 57). Advertisements use a very careful selection of images to conjure an image in our minds of place. Destination advertisements further the construction of place by by using very specific images that conjure up a way for us to imagine ourselves in the place as a tourist.  Imagined Geographies The perceptions of places are created through texts, images and broader cultural understandings are imagined geographies.  Theming Environments Theming = the planned process of giving an identity to place through physical design as well as through cultural narrative (stories), which are connected to a common theme or set of related themes. Rainforest Cafe 46  Theming Environments Theming includes: the development of the landscape and architectural elements 47 Theming Environments Theming includes: naming places, streets or public spaces with titles that connect to a theme 48 Leavenworth, Washington (Bavarian Themed Town) 49  Theming Environments Theme Park = a self-contained family entertainment complex designed around landscapes, settings, rides, performances, and exhibitions (and related services such as food, shopping and accommodations) that reflect a common theme or set of themes. 50  Theming Environments Theme parks can be disaggregated meaning they can be made up of multiple smaller areas each with its own theme. 51 52  Theming Environments Theming includes: inclusion of styles and mixes of retailing that relate to the theme. Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada 53 The Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace 54  Las Vegas: Postmodern City Postmodernism: describes the emergence of a society in which popular culture and mass media dominate our sense of reality. What is real? What is imaginary? Las Vegas: Postmodern City Pastiche = The conscious mixing of dissimilar styles and spaces to produce a collage of otherwise incompatible genres. Luxor Hotel, Las Vegas 57 New York, New York, Las Vegas 58 Paris, Las Vegas The Venetian, Las Vegas Las Vegas: Postmodern City Hyper-real = the deliberate confusion of the real with the artificial; objects are more real than reality itself; a better version of reality 60 The Venetian, Las Vegas  Las Vegas: Postmodern City Simulacra = representations of originals that do not actually exist. 62 63 64 Treasure Island, Las Vegas 65 Excalibur, Las Vegas  Las Vegas: Fantasy City Time-space compression = the perceived reduction of space between places with the acceleration of the time it takes to travel between them. 67  Las Vegas: Postmodern City A postmodernist perspective uses concepts like pastiche, hyper-real, simulacra, and time-space compression to derive greater meanings of place. Las Vegas is a postmodern city in which popular culture and mass media dominates a sense of reality in place.  Class Outline 1. Defining Culture 2. Culture and Place 3. Cultural Landscapes 4. The New Cultural Geography 5. Place Meanings & Power 6. Place & Consumption 7. Las Vegas: A Postmodern City  Oct 23 & 25: Social Geographies: Spaces of Identities