Thoughts and Ruminations on Chapter 4: Local Culture, Popular Culture and Cultural Landscape

Trevor Jones

11/9/15

Per. 3 

Articles: 

Human Geography: People, Places, and Culture: Chapter 4 - Local Culture, Popular Culture, and Cultural Landscapes 

Cultural Intercourse and Landscapes - by Unknown  

The Pressure to Modernize and Globalize - by Helena Norberg-Hodge

https://www.quora.com/Which-country-has-the-most-ethnically-diverse-population-in-the-world 

Somebody wanted... But... So... Then: 

In the late 1990's, the Makah American Indians of Neah Bay, Washington wanted to hunt whales just like their early ancestors had for 1500 years, but whales were an endangered species so the United States government removed the North Pacific gray whale from the endangered species list in order for the Indians to hunt them. Then, the government instated new laws for the humane hunting of whales, as well as the filling out of a form before one is allowed to hunt whales. 

Essay question: 

How does isolation preserve the local culture of an area, and when that isolation is removed and the country (state, group, etc.) is forced to modernize, how does popular culture re-shape said country (state, group, etc.)? 

Essay: 

A local culture by definition is a group of people in a particular place who see themselves as a collective or a community, who share experiences, customs, and traits, and who work to preserve those traits and customs in order to claim uniqueness and to distinguish themselves from others. This uniqueness is what separates this group of people from the mainstream popular culture of the rest of the world. The key to remaining unique in culture is by isolating a population from the outside world, in a way that the culture's authenticity is not compromised. How does a culture do this if the rest of the world conforms to popular culture one might ask? The Pressure to Modernize and Globalize by Helena Norberg-Hodge writes about a high-altitude desert on the Tibetan Plateau in northernmost India, called Ladakh. Until 1962, Ladakh remained almost completely isolated from the outside world, but in response to the conflict in Tibet, the Indian army built a road to link the region with the rest of the country. This lead to the presence of tourists in Ladakh and the destruction of almost all that makes a local culture authentic, which is excellently described in the reading Cultural Intercourse and Landscapes, by George Demko.

Norberg-Hodge describes how the region was affected by early tourism, especially by the teens of Ladakh. By seeing tourists spend enormous amounts of money (comparatively) on what seemed frivolous at the time, teens were made to feel self conscious and ashamed of their cultural roots, desperate to appear modern. Teens began to further themselves from what was a cohesive family and community, and soon to follow was the adult population. What seemed pointless to the people of Ladakh previously, such as electricity, governmental support, or elements of material culture from popular culture, now seemed necessary and a part of everyday life. Over time, the people of Ladakh moved away from their traditional customs such as living off the land, and relied more on the government and foreign sources to supply the people with food, money and assistance that previously was unnecessary. The people of Ladakh had lost contact with their traditional methods of farming and living off the land which furthered the young population from the old population, due to their values being considered outdated and pointless. The region of Ladakh was slowly losing the customs that made them a unique local culture, and falling culprit to the effects of popular culture and modernization. 

In Demko's writing, he talks about all of the elements that go into making a culture unique. There are several elements that contribute to the making of a unique local culture, but some that should stand tall over the others are language, religion and folklore (such as music, stories, etc.). Traditionally in Ladakh, the Buddhists and Muslims lived in harmony, each religion sharing a mutual respect for one another, however this would also change with the influence of popular culture. As popular culture overcame Ladakh, a noticeable change in religious structure occurred. Fights broke out in between the two harmonious religious groups, and suddenly, they were at each others throats. This happened shortly after people started to define themselves based on whether they were Buddhist or Muslim. The influence of popular culture on the region of Ladakh made members of both religious groups self conscious as well as gave them the idea that the two groups were not suppose to get along, and their false paradise was historically incorrect compared to religious wars in other countries that they had recently received the word of. A switch in religious structure as well as social and governmental structure transformed the region's community revolving around neighbors and family ties into a community revolving around consumerism and independence. This short process taking only a little over a decade to complete, completely modernized Ladakh into a modern culture society, showing great signs of placelessness similar to other regions around it. This modern culture is producing environmental and economic problems that, if left unchecked, will lead to an irreversible decline as well as the breakdown of community and the foundation of personal identity.

Map: 

The map shown above is a map of Northwestern South America. The reason that I decided to color this map is because it contains the country Peru. Based on percentage of population, Peru is the most ethnically and culturally diverse country in the world, containing over 100 distinct ethnic and racial groups, dozens of which are in the Peruvian Amazon. No predominant ethnic or racial group in Peru is larger than 20% of the total population.