Reader Response (Final)

In his article "Globalization of Culture Through the Media", Kraidy (2002) discusses the effect of cultural imperialism from Western powers and its resultant effect that sparked a debate on the topic of biased international media flow. He also examines the evolution of cultural imperialisation by globalization in order to capture the complexity of the transnational transactions. He then gives an alternative perspective of culture through hybridization, where mediation is provided while cultures mix with a globalized mindset.

Cultural imperialism from Western powers has placed tremendous influence on the world.The example that Kraidy has given in his article about the spread of Western lifestyle allowed me to reflect on our society in Singapore and how this spread of Western culture can be seen in almost every aspect of our lives, be it food, fashion, forms of entertainment, or most significantly, the common langauge that we speak-- the English language.

However, with that being said, one point that I have the most consensus with is his view on hybridization as a form of globalization. Our world is no longer influenced by just the Western culture. An influx of non-western cultures has been placing their significance world wide. A well-known example would be the the Korean popular culture. The export capacity of Korean popular culture has grown so much wider in recent years, gaining enough recognization in Southeast Asian countries to form a ‘Korean wave’ (Shim, 2012).

 In my opinion, another apt example of hybridization would be Singapore’s society. Hybridization refers to “existing practices being separated and recombined with new practices” (Pieterse, 1993). Being a multi-cultural society, Singapore entails the “main features of cultural hybridity” as mentioned by Kraidy (2002). This includes mixing of cultural systems, forming of new contexts, and accomodating “impure genres of domains from different cultures” (Kraidy, 2002). With a growing number of foreigners each bringing in their own culture, as well as the ease of accessing multi media platforms, our multiracial country is becoming even more hybridized. Therefore, I agree to a large extent that media has “intensified the hybridity that is already in existence in cultures across the globe”. Also, hybridization most certainly did not result in a “homogenity force” in our society, consistent with the view of Kraidy (2002).

(372 words)

References

Kraidy, M. M. (2002). Globalization of Culture Through the Media. Retrieved from http://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1333&context=asc_papers

Pieterse, J. N. (1993). Globalization as Hibridization. Working Paper Series, 152, 1-18.

Shim, D. (2012). Hybridity and the rise of Korean popular culture in Asia. Media Culture Society, 28 (1), 25-44.

Reader response (Draft 2)

In his article "Globalization of Culture Through the Media", Kraidy (2002) discusses the effect of cultural imperialism from Western powers and its resultant effect that sparked a debate on the topic of biased international media flow. He also examines the evolution of cultural imperialisation by globalization in order to capture the complexity of the transnational transactions. He then gives an alternative perspective of culture through hybridization, where mediation is provided while cultures mix with a globalized mindset.

I agree with Kraidy on the massive influence that cultural imperialism from Western powers has placed on the world. The example that he has given in his article about the spread of Western lifestyle allowed me to reflect on our society in Singapore and how this spread of Western culture can be seen in almost every aspect of our lives, be it food, fashion, forms of entertainment, or most significantly, the common langauge that we speak-- the English language.

However, with that being said, the point that I have the most consensus with is his view on hybridization as a form of globalization. Globalization is indeed a better view of the world than cultural imperialisation. I agree that it is able to capture the intricacy of this perspective more thoroughly as it provides a wider view with “less coherence and direction”. Our world is no longer influenced by just the Western culture. An influx of non-western cultures has been placing their significance world wide and the two most prominent cultures would be the Korean “K-pop” culture and the Japanese soft culture.

In my opinion, the most apt example of hybridization (a product of mixed tradition and cultural forms) would be Singapore’s society. Our society entails the “three main features of cultural hybridity” as mentioned by Kraidy (2002): (1) “mixing previously separate cultural systems”, (2) “deterritorializing cultural processes from their original physical environment to new and foreign contexts”, and (3) accomodating “impure cultural genres that are formed out of the mixture of several cultural domains”. It is not uncommon to know that the society that we are living in is everchanging. However, with a growing number of foreigners each bringing in their own culture, Singapore, our multiracial country is becoming even more hybridized.Therefore, I agree to a large extent that media has “intensified the hybridity that is already in existence in cultures across the globe”.  

Edited: 20/2/2014

Reader response (Draft 1)

Kraidy (2002) discusses about the role mass media has on cultural imperialism and the shift of views towards globalization of culture, in his article "Globalization of Culture Through the Media". He examines the argument on the biased flow of media that is in favor of Western cultures due to cultural imperialism, and gives an alternative perspective of culture through hybridization, where mediation is provided while cultures mix with a globalized mindset.





Introduction
Analysis- talk about the debate, globalization (my own views), and how the world is a now a place where cohesion and fragmentation coexist. 
Evaluation- discuss cause of debate using views of globalization, and transnational capitalism and hybridization, also include the impact on the society now

An event that has shaped your life and the person you have become

The event that changed my life occurred just five months ago.

On 4^th September 2013, my mother was admitted into the hospital, diagnosed with a stroke. Albeit a mild stroke, the news came as a huge shock to me and my family.

My mother had always been a strong woman; both mentally and physically. However, her strong personality also included stubbornness that resulted in the delay of her visit to the hospital. She had missed the crucial 3 hours of treatment that could have alleviated her symptoms more effectively.

It was the first time I saw my mother so helpless and hopeless on the hospital bed, unable to control her movements properly. My heart broke. It was so agonizing to have to put up a strong front whenever I was with her and be positive about her condition to make her feel better. Thankfully, with her determination and support from the whole family, she was discharged from the hospital 3 days later.

Life became completely different for me because I had to take on much more responsibilities than I ever had. (I should mention that my father’s work is based overseas and my sister and brother-in-law were expecting a baby at that time.) I had to give up a huge portion of my social life because I wanted to be home to take care of my mother. I took over my mother’s duties at home and became in charge of the household chores. It was really difficult to keep a balance between home and school.

Friends around me often asked me why I always had to rush home everyday when school ended. I never explained the real reason to them because I felt that this was really private to me. Now that it’s been almost half a year, and my mother is pretty much recovered, I am comfortable with talking about it.

This incident taught me to never take anyone I love for granted. I changed drastically, becoming more family oriented and showed more concern to my family. Although I sometimes feel like I’m missing out when friends around me are out having fun, I know that it is a sacrifice I have to make to spend as much time as I can with my mother.   

Edited: 13 Feb 2014