11/10/2016 EX 4: Associated Images of the Cultural Landscape GEOG 247 Cultural Geography Visualization is when we form or recall Select 8 areas to illustrate mental images. A. North America (not Mexico/Hawaii) Iconic image is a generalized represent- B. Central America/ ation of an area, using a famous or well- Caribbean known example to associate with it. C. South America D. Antarctica . Each image should be a widely recog- E. North Africa/ nized illustration of the area’s culture or Southwest Asia be an attraction that draws people to it. F. Sub-Saharan Africa G. Europe (not Russia) (travel agen- . Use travel and tourism sites H. Russia cies/govt tourist boards) to find the images. I. South Asia Prof. Anthony Grande Hunter College‐CUNY . Be sure to discuss the visualization/ J. Southeast Asia ©AFG 2016 association behind the images: The Why. K. East Asia Lecture design, content and L. Australia presentation ©AFG 0616. What is the meaning behind the image? Individual images and illustrations M. Polynesia may be subject to prior copyright. Why was it selected? 1 Religion and Geography Religious Ecology Geography of Religion: Spatial study of religions and Special relationship with nature: religious beliefs and practices. Belief that the earth and its elements were Geographers study religions to: created especially for the use of its people. Ascertain their origin on earth (HEARTH) Appeasing the forces of nature: Look for their interrelationships with the physical . Religion as an adaptive strategy to prevent natural hazards and environment (ECOLOGY, SPACE, REGION) survive the elements. Study their movement and distribution (DIFFUSION) . The wrath of god comes in the form of severe natural events. Analyze their affect on the landscape (VISUAL RECORD, Religious rituals and holidays are observed (sched- CREATION OF PLACE uled) when they coincide with astronomical (celestral) Document the relationships between religions and their events: adherents (INTERACTION) • Lunar cycles • Solar equinoxes and solstices • Appearance of constellations in the night sky 3 4 Religious Ecology Cultural Interaction in Religion Religion and economy Certain physical features become Ganges River Religious beliefs affect crop and livestock choices, sacred places in world religions: as well as dietary habits. • Rivers: as the Ganges R., River Jordan . Muslim prohibition of pork • Mountains: as Mt. Fuji, Denali, numerous volcanoes . Hinduism’s sacred cows • Trees: various “Trees of Life” as the baobab in South Africa >> . Catholic meatless Fridays (past) • Forests: Sacred forests of India . Jewish prohibition of mixing (storing and eating) of meat and dairy • Rock formations: as Shiprock (NM), Uluru (Australia) Religious pilgrimage Journeys to sacred spaces have strong impacts on Mt. Fuji Shiprock local economies. Major destinations: Israel, Rome, Mecca . Important locations: sites of an individual religious event or special structure (miracle, birth place, battle) 5 6 http://sacrednaturalsites.org/sites/map/ 1 11/10/2016 Pilgrimages to the Holy Land Pilgrimages to India 7 8 Pilgrimages to Islamic Sites Pilgrimages to Rome 9 10 Religious Landscapes Religion and the Cultural Landscape Religion is displayed on the landscape Baptist Message Boards through the works of people or the designation of natural sites as being sacred. Structures: churches, mosques, temples, pagodas . Faithful details – styles, colors and ornamentation associated with religion (religious icons) . Landscapes of the dead – religious burial practices . Sacred space – areas recognized as having spiritual significance; may be claimed by more than one group . Names on the land – religious toponomy designating, honoring, and commemorating aspects of religiosity 11 12 2 11/10/2016 Religion and the Holy Places Cultural Landscape Sacred Sites: Places or spaces Uluru (Australia), called Ayers Rock by the Religions may elevate places English in 1870, is a monolith 1,100 ft. high. It is a to a holy position. that people infuse with religious sacred place to local Aboriginal peoples and Grave of Hasidic Grand Rebbe was returned to them in 1993. For an ethnic religion holy meaning. MenachemJewish Mendel cemetery, Schneerson Brooklyn, NY places derive from the distinc‐ in Queens, NY Pilgrimage Site: Adherents vol- tive physical environment of its hearth, such as mountains, un-tarily travel to a religious site to rivers, or rock formations. pay respects or participate in a A universalizing religion ritual there. Includes Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India endows with holiness the cities structures associated and places associated with the Jamkaran Mosque, Qom, Iran founder’s life. with religion as build- ings, shrines, altars, Making a pilgrimage to these monuments, statues, holy places is incorporated art work and cemeteries. into the rituals of some univer‐ salizing and ethnic religions. 13 14 Sacred Site Holy City Western Wall of ancient Jewish temple and the Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem In religious tradition, the site of First and Second Temples; where Abraham prepared to sacrifice Isaac; and where Muhammad ascended into the heavens. The Old City of Jerusalem contains holy Gary Cralle/Gettyone sites for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. 15 16 Sacred Sites Religious Structures Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine, France (Roman Catholic) St. Basil’s Cathedral, Hindu Temple, Russian India Orthodox, Stonehenge, England Moscow (Druid) Hill Cumorah, Palmyra, N.Y (Mormon) Temple of Emerald Buddha, Protestant Bangkok (Buddism) church, Southern U.S. In many cases the unique Great Mosque, Senegal shape of a structure gives an (Islam) indication of the religious 17 practices associated with it. 18 3 11/10/2016 Structures Death and Dying Associated with a Religion All cultures deal with dying and death. In most cultures religion plays a paramount role: . Promise of an eternal afterlife helps to ease the anguish of “death knowledge” for the living. Concepts of heaven and hell in some form exist in all religions with “instructions” of how to get there or avoid it. (A moral road map?) . Rituals associated with death, as well as preferred means to deal with dead bodies, have developed over time and have become part of the cultural landscape. https://www.nps.gov/nr/publications/bulletins/nrb41/ http://www.thefuneralsource.org/tfs001.html 19 20 Burial Practices Burial Practices Deposition of the body Practices are dependent upon Human reaction to news (forms of grieving; . Burial in the ground; individ- . Area geography mourning) ual site or cemetery plot • Climate (heat and humidity) Body preparation after death (washing, . Cremation • Geology (soil layer) embalming, dressing; use of coffins) . Placement above-ground; • Water table (closeness to Funeral processions (escort) protected mound, tomb or surface) mausoleum Funeral services (wake; scared ritual; • Available space (open land simple service; celebration of life) . Direct exposure to natural away from populated areas) elements Deposition of the body (burial, cremation, . Religious belief and local exposure to elements of nature) . Burial at sea custom . Endocannibalism . Ethnic cultural history . Local regulations Together they create a landscape of the 21 dead with a unique cultural identity. 22 Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia Landscapes of the Dead Landscapes of the Dead Buddhist burial stupas Necropolis, near Cairo, Egypt Taj Mahal, India Green-wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY Pyramids of Egypt Above‐ground tombs, World War I Military Cemetery, Germany Yucatan, Mexico 23 24 4 11/10/2016 Tibet Landscapes of Can you identify Religious Toponomy the French‐ the Dead Catholic settled area? American Plains Canadian Arctic Ganges Valley, India Queens, NYC Bahrain 25 26 Role of Religion in Religion Conflict Zones in Africa Political Conflict Conflicts along Religious Borders • Interfaith boundaries: boundaries between the world’s major faiths • Christian-Muslim boundaries in Africa • Intrafaith boundaries: boundaries within a single major faith • Christian Protestants and Catholics, • Muslim Sunni and Shi’ite 27 28 Religion and Religious Fundamentalism Political Conflict and Extremism Israel and Palestine Religious fundamentalism Cultural aspects can be • WWII, 1967 Arab- Israeli War, West Beliefs are nonnegotiable identified and mapped. Bank, Hamas and uncompromising Core/source areas can Nigeria • Muslim North/ Religious extremism be located. Christian South Means of diffusion can The Former Yugoslavia Fundamentalism carried to • Balkan Peninsula the point of violence. be studied. separates the Roman Movement’s influence Catholic Church and Fundamentalists can be the Eastern Orthodox extremists but this does not on an area can be Church mean that all fundamental- profound including many Northern Ireland ists (of any faith) are • Catholics vs. aspects of landscape. Protestants in the extremists. northern part of Ireland. 29 30 5 11/10/2016 N E X T TOURISM (God willing!) 31 6.