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