The culture of California, also referred to as Californian culture, encompasses various social norms, traditions, and customs in California, including literature, music, visual arts, performing arts, food, sports, religion, law, alongside other beliefs and cultural expressions. Californian culture has been shaped by the history of California, its geography, and various other internal and external factors.
Californian culture is intimately connected to the larger culture of the United States, as well as the cultures of Mexico and Spain, which both ruled California prior to its becoming a part of the United States following the American conquest of California. California is considered an international gateway to the United States and has been heavily influenced by immigration, with the various cultures of Asia and Latin America having left their mark on California's cultural landscape.
In terms of current socio-cultural mores and national politics, Californians are perceived as more liberal than most other Americans living in any other state, especially to those who live in the coastal or northern regions of California. The state, as a whole, is perceived as very liberal, voting for the Democratic Party with supermajorities, although the northeast region (predominantly the area covering the California half of the proposed State of Jefferson) consisting of more rural, mountainous, and inland areas as well as certain parts of the southern coastal region (i.e. Orange County) are conservative. California is also home to prestigious universities including Stanford University, the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, the University of Southern California, and the Claremont Colleges.
History
California was first settled by Indigenous tribes and the names of many cities in California are of Indigenous roots. Spain had explored the present state during the 16th century, although it did not colonize it and did not exert its cultural influence in earnest until the 18th century. By the 19th century, Spain had built missions throughout the state and California consisted of huge land extensions (called "ranchos"). Indigenous cultures, though significantly damaged, survived to some extent by adapting to European influences in the missions. Since then, Hispanic Californians have always been among the largest cultural groups in the state. Furthermore, Mexican immigration into California has also resulted in a large share of cultural contributions, with critics labeling this phenomenon "Mexifornia".
Around the time of California's 1850 statehood, Mexicans and indigenous people were seen somewhat negatively by the incoming American population due to economic competition as well as racist attitudes. The California Gold Rush of the 1850s is now seen as a symbol of California's modern economic style, a pioneering spirit that tends to generate technology, social ventures, entertainment, and economic fads and booms that, in many cases, are followed all around the globe. Southern California, having not experienced the migration boom of the gold rush, became less Americanized than northern California. A growing Asian presence and the advocacy of Black Californians also contributed to a unique Californian cultural and political scene.
California has long been a subject of interest in the public mind and has often been promoted by its boosters as a kind of paradise. In the early 20th century, fueled by the efforts of state and local boosters, many Americans saw the Golden State as an ideal resort destination, sunny and dry year round with easy access to the ocean, deserts, and mountains. In the 1960s, popular music groups such as the Beach Boys promoted the image of Californians as laid-back, tanned beach-goers. The hippie movement began in San Francisco, California in the early 1960s and progressed into the late 1970s.
Language
English is the main language of California's inhabitants. Spanish is a common second language throughout the state. The official language of California has been English since the passage of Proposition 63 in 1986. However, many state, city, and local government agencies print official public documents in Spanish and other languages since Proposition 63 doesn't regulate how governments use other languages. Spanish was the official administrative language in California through the Spanish and Mexican periods until 1848, when Alta California was ceded from Mexico to the United States following the U.S. Conquest of California. Early American governments in California protected the rights of Spanish speakers in the 1849 Constitution of California, but those constitutional protections were removed in 1879.
California English is a dialect of the English language spoken within California. California is the home to a highly diverse populace, and this is reflected in many other languages, especially Spanish. Not all features of California English are used by all speakers in the state, and not all features are restricted in use only to the state. However, there are some linguistic features which can be identified as either originally or predominantly Californian. As the nation's major motion picture and television entertainment center, Hollywood has influenced English throughout the world, by making English speakers of many dialects very visible and by making known new terms and new meanings. The media outlets and entertainment industry based in California also popularizes the California English accent and dialect to the rest of the country and the world.
California was once home to over 300 languages spoken by the Indigenous peoples of California. Most of these languages face extinction and declining speakership in the modern era, owing to centuries of cultural repression and the California genocide. Some indigenous Californian tribes are pursuing language revival policies to increase the number of speakers of their native languages, such as the Yurok language of the Yurok Tribe, California's largest tribe.
The Indigenous Farm worker Study of 2007–2009 found 23 languages of Mexico and Mesoamerica spoken in California.
Architecture
Apart from the architecture of the California missions and other colonial buildings, there are many architectonic reminiscences of the Spanish period, especially in Southern California, where white stucco walls, red roof tiles, curvilinear gables, arched windows, balconies or even bell towers are incorporated into modern building styles in what is known as the Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, a United States architectural stylistic movement that came about in the early 20th century.
While Spanish architectural styles appear statewide, Northern Californian cities more prominently feature historic Victorian architecture, for which San Francisco is renowned, but which dominates the central historic districts of most Northern California towns. The towns of Eureka and Ferndale, in Humboldt County, are particularly noteworthy for their well-preserved Victorian building stock.
Today's architecture in California is a mixture of many other cultural influences that has resulted in groundbreaking modernist styles that have generated many other interesting and unusual building types.
Film
California is home to Hollywood (a district of Los Angeles), the center of the American film industry, which has given rise to the popular fashion movie-star image and stereotypical lifestyles such as beach-dwelling surfers.
Hollywood has had a profound effect on culture across the world since the early 20th century. During the so-called Golden Age of Hollywood, which lasted from the end of the silent era in American cinema in the late 1920s to the late 1950s, thousands of movies were released from Hollywood studios. Spectacular epics, which took advantage of new widescreen processes from the 1950s, have become increasingly popular.
Today, in spite of fierce competition from other countries and even other states within the US, California still dominates the industry.
Music
California is the birthplace of several internationally renowned music genres, including: Alternative rock/metal, e.g. Beck, Deftones, Hole, Jane's Addiction, Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers Bakersfield sound, e.g. Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, Merle Haggard, Tommy Collins Chicano rock, e.g. Carlos Santana, Linda Ronstadt, Los Lobos, Ritchie Valens, Rosie and the Originals, WAR Cowpunk, e.g. The Blasters, The Gun Club, Social Distortion, X Experimental music, e.g. Beck, Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa Funk rock, e.g. Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Primus, Red Hot Chili Peppers, WAR G-funk, e.g. Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, Warren G Hardcore punk, e.g. Adolescents, Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Dead Kennedys Hyphy, e.g. Mac Dre, E-40 Nu metal, e.g. Korn, Papa Roach, P.O.D., Linkin Park Paisley Underground Psychedelic rock, e.g. The Doors, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape, Sly and the Family Stone Reggae fusion, e.g. Dirty Heads, Iration, Rebelution, Slightly Stoopid, Stick Figure Skate punk, e.g. Bad Religion, Blink-182, Descendents, Pennywise, Rancid, Suicidal Tendencies, NOFX, The Offspring Soft rock, e.g. The Carpenters, The Doobie Brothers Stoner rock, e.g. Sleep, Kyuss Surf rock, e.g. The Beach Boys, The Chantays, Dick Dale & The Del Tones, Jan and Dean Third wave ska with bands such as No Doubt, Reel Big Fish, Suburban Rhythm, Sublime Thrash metal/Bay Area thrash metal, e.g. Exodus, Megadeth, Metallica, Slayer West coast blues West coast hip hop, e.g. Cypress Hill, E-40, Ice Cube, Kendrick Lamar, Kid Frost, N.W.A., Too Short, Tupac Shakur West coast jazz, e.g. Dave Brubeck
Other well-known artists from California from genres which did not necessarily originate in the state include: Bolero, e.g. La Santa Cecilia Cumbia, e.g. Ozomatli Hard rock, e.g. Van Halen Heavy metal: Blue Cheer, Guns N' Roses, Van Halen, Mötley Crüe Latin rock: Santana, Ritchie Valens Mariachi, e.g. Mariachi los Camperos Metalcore, e.g. As I Lay Dying, Atreyu, Of Mice & Men, Pierce the Veil, Secrets, A Skylit Drive, Stick to Your Guns, Wovenwar Norteño, e.g. Los Tigres del Norte Pop, e.g. Tiffany Punk, e.g. Dead Kennedys, Circle Jerks, Green Day Ranchera, e.g. Ángela Aguilar, Linda Ronstadt Rock: Eagles, Counting Crows, Jane's Addiction, Journey, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Byrds, Rage Against the Machine
Many songs mention California in their title, regardless of whether the band is from California or not. "Hotel California" by the Eagles is by a band from California, in contrast with "California Dreamin'" by The Mamas & the Papas, a band not from California.
Literature
Notable authors who were either native to California or who wrote extensively about California include:
Mary Hunter Austin, novelist, poet, critic and playwright; best known for her 1903 nature book The Land of Little Rain, a portrait of the people, flora, fauna and landscapes between the Sierra Nevada and the Mojave Desert Richard Brautigan, countercultural novelist, poet and short story writer; poet-in-residence at the California Institute of Technology in 1967 Charles Bukowski, poet, novelist and short story writer Octavia E. Butler, science fiction writer James M. Cain, novelist, journalist and screenwriter, widely regarded as a progenitor of the hardboiled school of American crime fiction Raymond Chandler, novelist, short story writer and screenwriter; wrote about the darker aspects of mid-20th-century Los Angeles Emma Cline, novelist, short story writer and essayist Ina Coolbrith, poet and librarian Richard Henry Dana Jr., lawyer and politician who recounted aspects of Californio culture which he saw during his 1834 visit as a sailor in his memoir Two Years Before the Mast Philip K. Dick, science fiction writer