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.