Cultural diffusion

Cultural diffusion

Process of cultural diffusion

• the spread (diffusion) and mixing of people
• cultural diffusion operates through:
  • trade, migration & warfare
• cultural diffusion spreads or mixes:
  • culture, disease, race, religion, identity, technology, etc.

Cultural diffusion: movement, change & assimilation

• cultural diffusion causes change
• cultural diffusion occurs when people of one place interact with another
  • in fact, people in any given "place" are the result of prior episodes (events, processes) of cultural diffusion
• the more movement in a region, the more that region

Geography & cultural diffusion

• isolation
• crossroads
• rivers as both "a highway and a moat"
• see geographic barriers: inhibitors to movement
• see geographic catalysts: facilitators to movement
  • spreads more readily across similar climates and latitudes (east - west)
    • rather than across different climates (north - south)

Technology & cultural diffusion

• boats
• bridges
• horses
• mechanized transit, including
  • automobiles
  • railroads
  • steamboats
  • telegraph / telephone
• rails (pre-steam)
• radio / TV
• roads
• writing

• See also
  • Human Geography
  • Movement

Historical technological advance that enhanced cultural diffusion

Telegraph, Radio & TV

• 1909: President Taft using telegraph to launch NYC automobile race
• 1922: President Harding gave the first presidential address via radio
  • Harding's dedication to a Baltimore memorial to Francis Scott Key was broadcast via radio

Cultural diffusion as historical agent

• mixing of cultures, technologies, language, relgion, etc.
• Do the conquerors conquer the conquered or do the conquered conquer the conquerors?, examples:
  • Mongol conquerors of China became Chinese (Yuan Empire)
  • Turk invaders of Anatolia became Muslim
  • Norman invaders of England became English
  • Ptolemaic (Greek) rulers of Egypt