Recentering Globalization: Popular Culture and Japanese Transnationalism - Example

Running Head: Popular Culture Name Course Tutor Date Popular culture incorporates an entity of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes and images, not forgetting any other phenomena that are emphasized by an informal consensus in a certain culture (Philipsen, 2008). This means that it belong to a specific society and historical period. Pop means that, it has the capability or qualities strong enough to have mass appeal, gained popularity irrespective of its style. It is noteworthy that, after the world war II, there were tremendous cultural and social changes which about by the mass media innovations and the meaning of the popular culture began to overlap with those of mass culture, image culture, consumer culture and culture for mass consumption just to mention but a few and this was caused by the western countries. On the other hand, it is noted that, popular culture emerges due to urbanization and industrial revolution (Ahonen, 2008). Western culture is at times referred to western lifestyle or western civilization which refers to the heritage, ethical values, and traditional customs not forgetting certain artifacts and technologies. In the same case, western culture has for a long time being associated with artistic hosts, philosophic and literary themes. The Celtic, Germanic, Latin and Hellenic ethnic and linguistic groups have for a long time shaped the western civilization since the 4th century. This also resulted to Christianization in European Middle ages. Many cultural and artistic modalities are correlated to western origin and form. Even if dances, visual acts, storytelling and architecture have been said to be human universals, they are expressed in the west in certain characteristic ways (Ahonen, 2008). Western culture is the dominant culture in the world. All over there are traces of western influence while at the same time many countries have worked hard towards retaining their culture or even mix some western elements to their own. Even though Japan has adopted a lot of things from the west, it has substantially retained its culture (Sharts-Hopko, 2003). It is worth noting that, it is like they wanted to be westernized for they were looking forward to becoming a world power. This in short means that, the western culture have been integrated in Japan culture through diffusion and as for western culture names in anime. This doesn’t have to Asia centric in other words it is not necessarily centered on Japanese life and therefore, some characters with different names. Anime is storytelling and this is not bound by the culture, nationality and religion unless it is deliberately (Allison, 2006). In Japan, the younger generation has been exposed to western ideas more than the older generation. This therefore means that, different people in Japan have differing opinions about the western culture. Japan has always been subject to foreign cultures. Like for instance when prince Shitoku visited Tang dynasty China and adopted many customs from them, also having the same case with America’s occupation. From the mid 80s Japanese culture has been visibly present in Asia because Japan became one of the economic powers of the world (Lisa & Sara, 2008). In many Asian countries, art has been assimilated more easily into the global art theories and narratives with the exemption of Japan. Japan neglect is also symptomatic of the Japanese of the Japanese art world’s long history of self understanding and positioning in correlation with western modernity. By the use of advanced media technology, Asian cultural exchanges have accelerated in the recent past. For instance, Japanese trendy dramas have been influential in Asia for they the problems of the young people in an Asia context against the background of a modernized city. There is a tremendous popularity of Japanese culture such as manga, TV dramas and movies and this has risen to being very influential in Asia (Birnbaum, 2006). However, it is worth noting that, Japan is based on western style modernization and the original media companies export program making formats to Asia countries rather than cultural products themselves. Due to the Confucianism and ethnicity in the region, the cultural products go beyond the borders of nations and genres and this brings about the urge for Asians seeking for identity in the diasporic public sphere which media have continuously advocated (Delanty, 2009). The human relationship based on a place such as community and family is continuously becoming weak due to the advancement of technology. This is exonerated by the fact that, young people are nowadays living in a society with many products and therefore their environment is very different from those of their parents. Due to cultural globalization which is enhanced by the advanced information technology and global flow of cultural products, the western popular culture was recognized as a threat for the cultural tradition (Foster et al 2011). This has resulted to the attempts to regulate the distribution of imported products to reduce the impact of globalization. This therefore means that, the infusion of the western culture has not been a smooth run but it has encountered many corrosions and oppositions especially from the older generations. China have been recognized as a country that was very rich and varied blend of traditional Chinese culture with communist and other post modern influences. Quite a number of cultural treasures were eroded and damaged and the practice of many arts and craft was prohibited. It also worth noting that, in china, there is a combination of traditional Chinese culture and communism. There many cultural links with other parts of the world like East and Southeast Asia (Koichi, 2002). The artistic communities in china were particularly affected by the Cultural Revolution and this has severely impacted on the popular culture in china, making it give in to the western culture. This therefore entails that, there are situation that the popular culture in china has continued to dwindle. However, the popular culture in China has not totally failed under the hegemony of global capitalism cultural imaginary (Papastergiadis, 2012). The legacy of China’s own folk traditional and customs correlates a distinctively different site and space which positions in the global system has not fully worked out. This in other words means that, the popular culture within the western context is further complicated by china legacies. There has been a rapid development as a society of affluence and commercialism in China which has been as a result of commercial popular culture production (Philipsen, 2008). In Japan, young people are more independent and worldly. This is attributed to fact that they have continually given in to the western cultures. Just like Japan, China is now indentifying themselves in terms of nationality rather than ethnicity. Traditional mores are even becoming redundant as these countries become more international. In Indonesia, popular culture is adhered to by both the young and the old, who fought for independence. Their pop culture includes storytelling (Philipsen, 2008). Small villages or neighborhood life, influence to their religion and relationships, gender and cultural hierarchy are key themes of many pop songs. Indonesia has registered tremendous growth economically since independence and this being the case, the intrusion of the western culture is inevitable. Indonesia had once successfully adhered to values from 1945; however, in the 1980s these values began to be lost and now are dwindling every now and then (Philipsen, 2008). This is attributed to the fact that, many young people went United States and Japan forgetting that these countries have tried their level best to uphold their values. It is agreed that, the values once associated with this country have been eroded by modernization and westernization. Popular culture in Asia is in most cases embodies American origin. However, it is also worth noting that, they have not completely lost the Asian flavor. Japan for instance has adopted westernization with an aim of emerging as a global power in its own right. Economic growth in Asia has given birth to many youth cultural markets which means that westernization has been very inevitable. Even in the presence of the dominance characteristics of the western, the non west has also produced polymorphic vernacular modernity’s (Stallabrass, 2004). This therefore means that, there has been substantial incorporation of the western mode of capitalist modernity into Asia context. At the moment in Asia, Japan popular culture plays a central role in the urbanization; modernization and proliferation of middle class consumer culture in East Asia in particular (Allison, 2006). Even though there has been the integration of western culture in the Asian culture, people in Asia favor popular cultural products such as dramas, movies, comic books and anime from their region like Japan, China and South it is noteworthy that, languages are not at all a barrier to the invasion of the Japanese culture nor the history of wartime bother those who are interested with their culture. In mid 80s, Japanese cultural presence was felt in Asia when the country becomes one of the economic powers in the world (Vine, 2011). Even though the western culture is dominant, being American, Japanese culture has a lot of influence in Asia, for it has well developed media, mass marketing and mass consumption which have been emphasized in Japanese culture. In most cases, the young generation are the worst affected by western culture. It has been noted that, the popular culture in Asia have been hardly hit by western culture in the last few years. This impact is evident in education, religion, political and even economic practices and at time thoughts. This has changed completely the way they eat, drink, and play, pray just to mention but a few (Philipsen, 2008). This is determined by the young generations who chose those elements of western culture that pleased them, in most cases changing them to suit local tastes. However, in some places this has failed like in Philippines. In the 90s, technology of media communication advanced and so it became possible that images, text, and sound to be transmitted across the borders with unprecedented scale and speed. DVDs, internet, videos and CDs spread mainly western popular cultures throughout the word and re very accessible by all even in Asia (Ahonen, 2008). This therefore means that, western media have impacted much on the popular culture in Asia. Due to the dynamism of media technology, the cultural environments and mentality gradually change. It is however worth noting that, in Asia, cultural familiarity of Confucianism and ethnic resemblance as Asians has continually contributed to transcending cultures. Japanese culture which is the pioneer in this case has reorganized and modernized itself to fit its Asian context, under the influence of western culture. This is exonerated by trendy dramas which represent modern, stylish urban life in its Asian background as well as received by the young people. Conclusively, it is worth noting that, in Asia, Japan has been the most influential culture having managed to dominate in many regions (Yoshitake, 2012). Additionally Japan has managed to control and maintain its cultural values even though western culture has still infiltrated the region. Indonesia on the other hand has been westernized due to the movement of its young people to Japan or USA. This therefore means that, Japan have not been successful in maintaining their cultural values as well as popular culture. China in the same case has been impacted by westernization but this is as a result of adhering to global power forces. Western culture can be traced in Asia. However, its presence is not without opposition. For it to infiltrate the region it has received diverse opposition and corrosions mostly from the older generation and the governments. In most cases, the authorities have regulated the contents which they deemed would impact their popular culture but due to the dynamism and the availability of internet and media technologies, it has been futile to regulate most of this elements for they can still be received from the media. This therefore means that, popular culture and western culture are common in Asia and in most parts of the word. Americanization is the common element in these regions. Bibliography Allison, A. ( 2006). Millenial Monsters: Japanese Toys and the Global Imagination. Berkeley, CA:: University of California Press. Baldissera, Lisa and Knelman, Sara. (2008). Great New Wave: Contemporary Art From Japan.Exhibition catalogue. Victoria, Canada:: Art Gallery of Hamilton. Birnbaum, P. (2006). Glory in a Line: A Life of Foujita: . London: Faber and Faber. Delanty, G. (2009). The Cosmopolitan Imagination: The Renewal of Critical Social Theory. . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Foster, Hal, Krauss, Rosalind, Bois, Yve-Alain, Buchloh, Benjamin H.D., Joselit, David. (2011). Art Since 1900: Modernism, Antimodernism, Postmodernism. London: Thames & Hudson. Koichi, I. (2002). Recentering Globalization: Popular Culture and Japanese Transnationalism. . Durham, NC: Duke University Press. Papastergiadis, N. (2012). Cosmpolitanism and Culture. . Cambridge: Polity. Philipsen, L. (2008). The Globalization of Contemporary Art. . University of Aarhus PhD:: Section of Art History. Sharts-Hopko. ( 2003). “People of Japanese heritage.”. Philadelphia: F. A Davis Company. Stallabrass, J. (2004). Art Incorporated: The Story of Contemporary Art. . Oxford:: Oxford University Press. Ahonen T.T., A. (2008). Mobile as 7th of the Mass Media: Cellphone, Cameraphone, Iphone, Smartphone,. UK: Futuretext. Vine, R. (2011). New China, New Art. New York: : Prestel. Yoshitake, M. (2012). Requiem for the Sun: The Art of Mono-Ha. Los Angeles: : Blum Edition. Read More