Download WHAT IS DIFFUSION?

Name:_____________________________________
Block: _______
Date:____________________
Objective 1.8: SWBAT list different types (models) of diffusion and provide examples of each in the real world.
Word Wall: Diffusion, Hearth, Acculturation, and all types of diffusion
WHAT IS DIFFUSION?
_____________________ is the movement of things and ideas from one culture to another. When diffusion occurs, a trait may move
from one society to another but won’t always lose its original cultural meaning. A __________________ is the location where the trait
began. Example: When McDonald's first brought their American style hamburgers to Moscow and Beijing, they were accepted as
luxury foods because they were relatively expensive and exotic. In America, of course, they have a very different meaning--they are
ordinary every day fast food items.
DIFFUSION vs. ACCULTURATION
____________________________ is what happens to an entire culture when alien traits diffuse in on a large scale and
__________________ traditional cultural patterns. Example: After several centuries of pressure from European Americans to adopt
their ways, Native American cultures have been largely acculturated. As a result, the vast majority of American Indians now speak
English instead of their ancestral language, wear European style clothes, go to school to learn about the world from a European
perspective, and see themselves as being a part of the broader American society.
RELOCATION DIFFUSION:
STIMULUS DIFFUSION:
EXPANSION DIFFUSION:
HEIRARCHAL DIFFUSION:
CONTAGIOUS DIFFUSION:
Directions: Using your 1.8 notes, match the types of diffusion with the various scenarios around the room. Note: every type of diffusion is
used at least once.
Scenario
1
2
3
4
5
6
Type of
Diffusion
Why did you guess this?
What clues gave it away?
Correct
Answer
Your Own Scenario
(ONLY complete this section when
instructed)
Independent Practice 1.8: The Diffusion of Hip Hop
Directions: Read the following excerpts from the article “The World is Phat” by Martin Edlund. YOU MUST MARK THE TEXT AS
YOU READ AND FOLLOW THE “SAY SOMETHING” INSTRUCTIONS ALONG THE WAY. Remember, we mark the text by
underlining important material, circling words we don’t know, and making notes in the margins. After you have read the text, complete
the reading questions on a separate piece of paper.
Hip-hop has always been obsessed with geography. Coming from the streets may give a rapper credibility, but coming from
particular streets—or, for that matter, a particular hood, side, city, region, or coast—gives him an identity and situates him within the
larger hip-hop culture. But this obsession with the local has produced a kind of isolationism (feeling of being alone). While the world
devours American hip-hop, America ignores the hip-hop of the rest of the world. The recent arrival of three international styles—
reggaeton from Puerto Rico, grime from Britain, and baile funk from Brazil—suggests that this situation may finally be changing. Taken
together, they deny the notion that globalization creates homogeneity (everything is the same). Each is the product of a country
importing American hip-hop, blending it with native traditions, and refashioning it in its own image.
Case Study: Reggaeton
Reggaeton (pronounced reggae-tone) emerged from the barrios of Puerto Rico back in the mid-1990s. The sound is a mix of
foreign and domestic styles: hip-hop, reggae, merengue, and the Puerto Rican dance music bomba. It has succeeded in America due
to some clever marketing: DJs began remixing popular American hip-hop songs with reggaeton beats, mixing Spanish verses with the
original English ones. The songs spread throughout the American mixtape underground and eventually found their way onto the
playlists of trendsetting urban radio stations like Hot 97 in New York City.
Reggaeton is now in the curious spot of being both famous (in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami) and totally unknown
(everywhere else). It won't remain that way for long—all the major labels set up Latin urban imprints last year, and P. Diddy just threw
his hat in the ring, announcing the formation of Bad Boy Latino. Other top American MCs and producers—Lil Jon, 50 Cent, The Game,
and Fat Joe among them—are now working with established reggaeton stars, appearing on and remixing their tracks.
The History Behind Hip-Hop Diffusion
The success of foreign styles in America is similar to the emergence of new scenes within America. Throughout the 1990s, U.S.
hip-hop was all about the East Coast/West Coast divide; everything else was the rap suburbs. But in the last five years, the map has
been redrawn to include Atlanta and the Dirty South, St. Louis, Detroit, Chicago, and Houston. Each new locale announced itself with a
distinctive sound, slang, and set of personalities.
Foreign hip-hop has followed a similar model. Reggaeton, grime, and baile funk—like Jamaican dancehall before them—arrived
on America's doorstep as complete packages, with their own identities and sounds. They succeeded simply by innovating, not imitating.
The United Kingdom (England), for instance, has been churning out American hip-hop for decades, but it is only now—with a sound as
aggressively original as grime—that America has taken notice.
The Future of Hip Hop Diffusion
The incorporation of new domestic scenes in the last five years has reinvigorated American hip-hop, saving it from the doldrums
of P. Diddy party rap and taking it in startling new directions—Lil Jon's popularization of crunk, and, more recently, the breakthrough of
Houston's chopped sound. In a similar way, the internationalization of hip-hop will continue the rebirth.
In the case of hip-hop, however, the rate of innovation will likely be far more rapid, and the range of influences far more diverse.
MP3 blogging, Itunes, and Limewire music production software is like the culture of street mixtapes and pirate radio—a culture in which
unofficial releases, alternate versions, and remixes are the coin of the realm. Already, we're witnessing a rampant cross-pollination of
styles. File-sharing networks and blogs are flooded with grime versions of American hip-hop songs; chopped versions of reggaeton
songs; crunk versions of grime songs; beats composed from baile funk bootlegs; and countless reggaeton remixes of American hip-hop
and R&B hits.
In some cases, America's name-brand producers and artists are leading the way. Lil Jon, has crunked-out reggaeton songs by
Daddy Yankee ("Gasolina") and the Cuban-American rapper Pitbull ("Toma" and "Culo"), and he attached his name to a new crunkmeets-grime mixtape produced by U.K. DJ Semtex.
But whether foreign artists representing these styles—or just their inventive sounds—will succeed here is still an open question.
Reggaeton star Daddy Yankee's 2004 album, Barrio Fiono, has sold an impressive 560,000 copies to date in the U.S. But Dizzee
Rascal, grime's leading light, has sold only 58,000 copies stateside of his much-hyped debut Boy In Da Corner. His follow-up,
Showtime, has sold less than half that many. Perhaps Dizzee will one day match Jay-Z, but, for now at least, the pop-chart-topping
status of American hip-hop heavyweights is foreign territory for international acts.
READING QUESTIONS
1. Look back to your Diffusion Dictionary to help you fill in the blanks: HIP HOP is an example of ______________ diffusion because
______________...
2. What is reggeaton? How is reggaeton an example of diffusion?
3. The article states that reggeaton is both famous (in NYC, for example) and unknown in other parts of the world. Why do you think this has
occurred?
4. Do you believe youtube, ITunes, and other online music sharing options have encouraged or discouraged the diffusion of hip hop? How?
5. How did foreign hip-hop arrive in the United States? (Hint: Look to History Behind Hip Hop Diffusion)
6. Do you believe foreign hip hop will continue to diffuse into the United States? Will it remain popular? Why or why not?
1.8 HOMEWORK: TYPES OF DIFFUSION FLASHCARDS
For each type of diffusion, you must create a flashcard with the following components:
FRONT OF CARD: Type of diffusion
BACK OF CARD: Definition of the type of diffusion and a scenario (you must come up with your own scenario; not one we have reviewed in
class).