Read:
Jenkins, H (2006). Pop cosmospolitanism: Mapping cultural flows in an age of media convergence. In H. Jenkins, Fans, bloggers and gamers: exploring participatory culture (pp 152-172). New York: New York University Press. (e-reserve)
Comment:
I remember being introduced to the Japanese Easy Listening Band Pizzicato 5 in 1997. However, Japanese were cross cultural pop cosmopolitans long before US Americans even knew what this meant - think about vinyl pressings from Japan (Deep Purple, The Beatles etc. - high quality re-issues some even with the correct heavy 60s cardboard covers).
Increasingly, US Americans obviously recognize the world around them. Rather than being the epicenter of everything, at least on the pop-culture front they seem to accept that there are influences from outside changing their self perception.
Definitions:
Together they create a multidimensional flow of cultural goods around the world (p. 155)
"Many American children are more familiar with the characters of Pokemon than they are with those from the brothers Grimm or Hans Christian Anderson, and a growing portion of American youth are dancing to Asian beats."
While Jenkins seems to have a bourgeois elitist view, comparing American culture to foreign cultures he even goes to such extend to claim Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson as authors that would be expected by American children.
"...By contrast Allison argues American (US) cultural exports typically retain recognizable ties back to the United States, a claim supported by the findings in Global Disney Audiences Project, which found that the majority of comsumers in a worldwide survey saw Disney as distinctly American or western in its cultural values and orientation."
To me this comes as no surprise as US Americans are anything but cagey about the origins of their products.
(p.160 - reference to Sesame Street) In regards to Sesame Street, German television soon realised that the series was too American for German taste. Bob, Mr Hooper and other real people were replaced by German actors. Also animation pieces were soon eradicated from the series only leaving space for plays with Ernie & Bert, Kermit, the Cooky Monster and Grumpy, all translated into German (sometimes quite awkwardly). In fact this was not only a change of fragrance - it started smelling funny...
I believe SBS to be a great example of grassroots convergence. As Australia has always been a melting pot of different cultures - especially after the drop of the Whites-Only apartheid in the early 70s, confronted with the task to make sense of the cultural differences between Asian, Arabian and Western cultures. Providing a large number of niche programs to connect different cultures with their own cultural roots, SBS is an invaluable contributor. I sometimes watch German news in the early morning hours and after that Italian or Phillipino news. I don't know a word of Italian and neither do I know Phillipino language. But it is interesting to see how news is served in different countries.
An example of Bhangra club culture, Western style: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pm2uQDvjAK0
Only recently another culture mash-up has been produced with The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, combining the love story of a young Indian hotel owner and the arrival of Western retires hoping to find a better place to spend the latter days of their lives.
But Westerners have always been drawn to exotic India. Waldemar Bonsels wrote his book "Voyage in India" in 1916. Hermann Hesse's "Siddharta" was written in 1922 and hordes of Westerners flocked to the the Shree Rajneesh OSHO temple in Poona, to find relief from the pressures of western culture life and wisdom in the Shree Rajneesh's teachings. Similar things happened around Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who even attracted the Beatles.
The digital divide - it may have two meanings
1) Applied to the notion of ownership it indicates that existing ethnically correlated (in Wechselbeziehung stehen) stratifications (Schichtungen) would be accentuated only by those, who own operate and control the roles of new information systems.
2) A number of writers have flatly assumed that new technologies inherentky create ethnic biases, referring to how it is used to reinforce structures of power and therefor stratify, rather than technological issues.
Discussion
Open Discussion - Questions about the Jenkins Reading
Hi All,
Increasingly, US Americans obviously recognize the world around them. Rather than being the epicenter of everything, at least on the pop-culture front they seem to accept that there are influences from outside changing their self perception.
Definitions:
- Corporate Convergence ("Konzentration"): The concentration of media ownership in the hands of a smaller and smaller number of multinational conglomerates who thus have a vested interest in insuring the flow of media content across different platforms and national borders. (Top down approach)
- Grassroots Convergence: The increasingly central roles that digitally empowered consumers play in shaping the production, distribution, and reception of media content. (Bottom Up approach)
Together they create a multidimensional flow of cultural goods around the world (p. 155)
"Many American children are more familiar with the characters of Pokemon than they are with those from the brothers Grimm or Hans Christian Anderson, and a growing portion of American youth are dancing to Asian beats."
While Jenkins seems to have a bourgeois elitist view, comparing American culture to foreign cultures he even goes to such extend to claim Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson as authors that would be expected by American children.
"...By contrast Allison argues American (US) cultural exports typically retain recognizable ties back to the United States, a claim supported by the findings in Global Disney Audiences Project, which found that the majority of comsumers in a worldwide survey saw Disney as distinctly American or western in its cultural values and orientation."
To me this comes as no surprise as US Americans are anything but cagey about the origins of their products.
(p.160 - reference to Sesame Street) In regards to Sesame Street, German television soon realised that the series was too American for German taste. Bob, Mr Hooper and other real people were replaced by German actors. Also animation pieces were soon eradicated from the series only leaving space for plays with Ernie & Bert, Kermit, the Cooky Monster and Grumpy, all translated into German (sometimes quite awkwardly). In fact this was not only a change of fragrance - it started smelling funny...
I believe SBS to be a great example of grassroots convergence. As Australia has always been a melting pot of different cultures - especially after the drop of the Whites-Only apartheid in the early 70s, confronted with the task to make sense of the cultural differences between Asian, Arabian and Western cultures. Providing a large number of niche programs to connect different cultures with their own cultural roots, SBS is an invaluable contributor. I sometimes watch German news in the early morning hours and after that Italian or Phillipino news. I don't know a word of Italian and neither do I know Phillipino language. But it is interesting to see how news is served in different countries.
An example of Bhangra club culture, Western style: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pm2uQDvjAK0
Only recently another culture mash-up has been produced with The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, combining the love story of a young Indian hotel owner and the arrival of Western retires hoping to find a better place to spend the latter days of their lives.
But Westerners have always been drawn to exotic India. Waldemar Bonsels wrote his book "Voyage in India" in 1916. Hermann Hesse's "Siddharta" was written in 1922 and hordes of Westerners flocked to the the Shree Rajneesh OSHO temple in Poona, to find relief from the pressures of western culture life and wisdom in the Shree Rajneesh's teachings. Similar things happened around Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who even attracted the Beatles.
Srinivasan, R (2006). Indigenous, ethnic and cultural articulations of new media. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 9(4), 497-518. (electronic databases)
Reference to the Digital Divide Network: http://www.digitaldividenetwork.org/College-and-University/
The digital divide - it may have two meanings
1) Applied to the notion of ownership it indicates that existing ethnically correlated (in Wechselbeziehung stehen) stratifications (Schichtungen) would be accentuated only by those, who own operate and control the roles of new information systems.
2) A number of writers have flatly assumed that new technologies inherentky create ethnic biases, referring to how it is used to reinforce structures of power and therefor stratify, rather than technological issues.
Discussion
Open Discussion - Questions about the Jenkins Reading
Hi All,
I feel quite uncomfortable with this particular Jenkins reading. I'm surprised that Jenkins takes on a dominant US American pop-culture view. I've only read a couple of pages yet and found disturbing if not patronising statements like:
"...teens in the developing world use American popular culture to express generational differences or to articulate fantasies of social, political, and cultural transformation..."
"To be sure there is probably no place on the planet where you can escape the shadow of Mickey Mouse."
But then again he claims:
"Many American children are more familiar with the characters of Pokemon than they are with those from the brothers Grimm or Hans Christian Anderson, and a growing portion of American youth are dancing to Asian beats." (p.157)
Brothers Grimm were German, Hans Christian Andersen was Danish. What is their part in US American pop-culture? Why would US American kids be familiar with these characters when the world seems to be in love with Mickey Mouse?
Can anybody enlighten me?
"...teens in the developing world use American popular culture to express generational differences or to articulate fantasies of social, political, and cultural transformation..."
"To be sure there is probably no place on the planet where you can escape the shadow of Mickey Mouse."
But then again he claims:
"Many American children are more familiar with the characters of Pokemon than they are with those from the brothers Grimm or Hans Christian Anderson, and a growing portion of American youth are dancing to Asian beats." (p.157)
Brothers Grimm were German, Hans Christian Andersen was Danish. What is their part in US American pop-culture? Why would US American kids be familiar with these characters when the world seems to be in love with Mickey Mouse?
Can anybody enlighten me?
Responses: Fellow students informed me that Brothers Grimm are quite popular in the US. However, the stories have been heavily altered to adapt them to US norms. They are less graphic and the things that happen have been tamed down to adjust to U.S. American popular culture.
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