Issues in Chinese Culture for Chinese Speakers - Coursework Example

Name: xxxxxxxxxx Course: xxxxxxxxxx Institution: xxxxxxxxxx Title: Issues in the Chinese Culture Date: xxxxxxxxxxxxx Issues in the Chinese Culture Introduction Stuart Hall argues that there is no cultural identity which is not affected by the impact of the personal identity of the others. According to Hall(1981) in “Notes on Deconstructing” ‘The Popular’, the concept of “popular” in regards to culture raises certain issues. Hall notes that culture is viewed in the domain of what is “popular” and “not popular.” The popular aspects become thus become integrated into cultural values. Moreover, in his article Hall argues that the concept tradition and culture are ever changing. He argues that culture is ever changing since it is based on the “popular” which is evidently ever changing, what is popular in one time period may not be popular in another. The Chinese culture is viewed as one of the most ancient and complex cultures in the world. Evidently, the phases of modernization, westernization and globalization have to some extent influenced the Chinese cultural identity. There are certain stereotypes that the Chinese media has enforced to the Chinese population by the way it portray the image of the westerners (Hall 1981). This essay seeks to discuss the image of western culture in the Chinese media with reference to the sentiments of Stuart Hall and John Story. In addition, this essay will discuss my personal view of the Chinese cultural identity. The image of the westerners in the Chinese media Media coverage in China is state-controlled, both broadcast and print media must conform to the regulations of the government. Even the free flow of internet media is regulated by the government. As a result, societies in China end up having a particular outlook on social issues within their community and a totally different world about the world outside China. Representation of cultural issues and values of the Chinese in the eye of the global community is often a product of the free mind of individuals from different parts of the world. Westerners are viewed by the Chinese media and at times, that of other countries in the world as more ignorant in understanding foreign culture (Pimentel 2001). Westerners are perceived as being more reluctant in trying to understand or appreciate other cultures of the world. As a result, westerners feel threatened by other cultures should they invade their space. As a result, they meet members of other nations who come to their countries with hostility that may at times run out of control. Most immigrants of western communities find it hard to continue upholding their cultures freely due to prejudice, ignorance or even hostility that may be extended to them due to identity issues. As a result, most immigrants are assimilated into the western ways in an effort to blend in with the new cultures or even in trying to protect their own lives. This may lead to a diminished cultural practice in immigrants of western economies (Washingtonpost.com 2010). By observing and interacting with Chinese people from and in different parts of the world, individuals come up with varied perspectives of the Chinese culture. This may however paint a completely different picture of what this culture is depending on various factors that may contribute to these variances. This does not however mean that the Chinese culture has vanished. On the contrary, just like any other culture, it has undergone some slight modification and at times even improvement. Ethnic stereotypes can be found anywhere in the world. This is because it is a trait anyone may adopt. Chinese Media’s view of the Western World China seems to bring out different ideas different people. Fantasies and fears by the west about China are have with time revealed a big deal about the ideals and interests that shape the political and social landscape of the west towards China (Lee 1996). The media in China cries foul in the west’s failure to teach the world sufficient ideas and information about the true China. The institution claims that China has been romanticized and demonized at the same time. In addition, the media in China claims that that distorts the worlds understanding of the foreign policies in China. The way people talk about China has been seen to influence the way Chinese people understand other people in the world and vice versa. Such muddles would be used to explain the war involving Korea, Vietnam and the United States between 1950 and 1973 (Sing1989). In addition, the conflict between the US and Taiwan remains a possible platform for further disagreements in the 21st Century. Differences in cultural beliefs that arouse social conflicts have evidently caused increase in political friction that has at times led to unfavorable outcome. Suggestions to create better China policies that continue to raise debates in order to improve the relationship between China, the larger Asian continent and the rest of the Western world. Exoticism and Mysticism Impacted on Asian Culture Most stereotypes of East Asian cultures are found in Western societies. These stereotypes are manifested through the societies’ literature, its media, common knowledge of the society’s knowledge and other aspects that depict the culture of Chinese people. In many occasions, the media portrays Asians as having a dominant Eurocentric sensitivity to Asians as opposed to an authentic or realistic representation of the true customs, behavior and culture of the people. In most cases, stereotypes have negative perceptions of the Asian community and interact poorly with Asian immigrants. This has been noted to have extended to legislative, governmental and events issues that affect Asian communities living in Diaspora. As a result, Asian immigrants have been subjected to discrimination, hate crimes and other acts of violence that are related to cultural stereotypes which has with time led to an increment in xenophobic sentiments. The manner in which westerners have been observed to interpret Asian culture is because there has been no room to encounter or interact with an unfamiliar culture. The term ‘Orient’ is an invention of the West to depict Asia as a region of romance, exoticism and a remarkable amount of experiences which at the same time denote some negative concept that goes against/are different from cultural aspects of Western Civilization. Orientalism in the west involves classifying Asian Americans and Asians to ‘others’ group and in essence, sidelining them. Their culture is not considered as ordinary but as ‘exotic’ and as very contrasting to western ways. While the cultures in the west are considered as changing to conform to or improve modernization, Asian culture is considered ancient. This arouses a feeling of seclusion and inferiority on the Asian community living in western countries and those in Asia too (Pimentel 2001). Hostility and Exclusion For many years, the term ‘Yellow Peril’ has been used to indicate Caucasian nervousness towards individuals of Asian descent. The term was adopted in the 19th Century by white inhabitants of Australia, United States and Canada in relation to the anxiety the natives felt about the immense flooding of Asian immigrants who were feared to be capable of filling the nation with their strange culture and language that was rather incomprehensible to the natives They also felt like the foreigners were there to take away jobs from the white inhabitants. Within this period, there were numerous sentiments that were Anti Asian which were expressed through political mediums and literature. There situation was extended along the West Coast with newspapers bearing headlines like the ‘Yellow Peril’ such as the Los Angeles Times in an 1886 headline. In 1905, the same newspapers bore the headline ‘Conference Endorses Exclusion of Chinese.’ Later on, the Japanese exclusion Act and the Immigration Act passed in 1924 saw the limitation of more Asians into the country since they were considered as being an undesirable race(Sing1989). Similar fears demonstrated in Australia saw to it the establishment of yet another White Australia policy that ensured the restriction of immigration between the years 1901 and 1973. After the enactment of this law, immigrants were supposed to pay poll taxes. However, some Chinese descendants continued to suffer discrimination. In the 80’s, Helen Clarke, New Zealand’s Prime minister gave authority to pursue representatives of families of early settlers in an effort to achieve some sort of reconciliation for the social ills against the early inhabitants. This was expected to be of benefit to the acceptance of the Chinese community (Lee 1996). Once a Foreigner, Always a Foreigner, representation of Asia by the media in the West Many eras of American History were marked by the Asian community being perceived as perpetual foreigners and as a result are incapable of being adopted as whole members hence referred to as foreign irrespective of them being citizens (Sing1989). Ling-chi Wang, a professor of Asian American studies has the same view. He claims that the conventional media coverage of Asian communities in western countries depicts a miserable community. The political eye and the mainstream media alike, tend to ignore the existence of Asian Americans (Freeman 2003). A Washington Post writer by the name Jose Antonio claims to be fond of a game he calls WTAG (Where is the Asian Guy?). The 2007 television series ‘Lost’ in which co star Daniel Kim hardly got any parts irrespective of the fact that he spoke Korean only in the show. This depicts the minute role the Asian community is offered within the society. In a research conducted by center for Asian American justice of UCLA, findings revealed that there was very little progress within actors of Asian American descent within network television. Inadequate of poor representation of Asian characters on television has created a feeling of less recognition of Chinese and the wider Asian community in the global network(Lee 1996). The Chinese community seems to be ignored within other communities that they exist in. The worldwide broadcast series OC (The Orange County), which was cast in the Orange County, has no representation of an Asian character. The program is cast in a predominantly white and rich community. In a 2000 statistical survey, it was discovered that a minimum of about 875,000 inhabitants of Orange County were Latino. This constituted about a third of the 2.8million population. In addition, the county hosted the biggest population of Vietnamese inhabitants and at the same time a reasonable number of Filipinos, Indian Americans and Japanese (Washingtonpost.com 2010). Jointly, the Asian population in Orange County is the most responsible for investing in real estate, buying homes which are often valued at two times the average for homes in the county. Orange County is also home for UC Irvine which is a high-status university that has the population of Asians actually outnumbering that of white people. As such, there is a misrepresentation of the county in the television series that bears the name of the county and is set in the county. Where did the Asian guy go to? White Americans in the county account for 28-54% which includes white Hispanics. Only 44% of public school enrolment is accounted for white students while Orientals account for the rest. The show never represented this vast presence of the Asian community in it. This leaves a lot to viewers in the US, China and the rest of the world. The show which depicts family, youth, business and other social cultures ought to have represented the obviously present Asian vulture within the county unless the elimination suggests absence, or lack of richness in the Asian culture. Chinese Cultural Identity In order to understand extensively Chinese nationalism, it is important to give a keen ear to Chinese language, China’s different aspects and that of the rest of the world. The introduction of western readers with the understanding of China’s neo-nationalicism is important to diversify western societies’ understanding of Chinese culture. Focus on Chinese perceptions of China’s two great rivals, America and Japan, is important to be paid in order to understand China’s social culture (Guy 2004). The extensive neglect of China’s perspective on America and Japan, the world’s great economies, has been expressed in world renowned Chinese literature material. These include movies, documentaries, cartoons, TV shows, posters, magazines and bestselling books from as early as the beginning of the 90’s. This new generation of Chinese descendants seeks to distinguish themselves from the previous generations of Chinese society. In addition, they seek a fair share of attention in the global society and a level platform to air their views to the world. The new generation also seeks to uphold relevant parts of their culture and history and also give impact to the world and also to create sense out of their different experiences they go through in the liberal times of the 80’s. This has made most 4th generation Chinese individuals to conform more to popular culture than their ancient one (William & Hickey 2005). It is ironic that the later generations of Chinese descent have found fresh victimization of Chinese distress from Western imperialists. The different is that, unlike their descendants, they do not face it directly. The spirit of the new generation commands that China is still able to not care enough to fret over the materialism faced by the generation. Spiritual and cultural fast foods are observed to have taken over cultural values of the 4th generation Chinese society. This society envies the former third generation that boasted of their food culture, eating corn bread that was fried as they sat to reminisce on the good old days when their cultural value had great impact. Despite not having gone through as much as their older counterparts did, young Chinese people seem to have be assimilated by the many existing subcultures of the world (Guy 2004). Conclusion Like many other cultures in the world, Chinese culture has been subjected to mild and adverse changes in its various aspects. This can be attributed to the various experiences members of societies go through that require them to conform to other ways. This may be due to neo-educational needs, immigration, personal decision and also lack of knowledge and information of the existence of particular aspects of Chinese culture (KaYing 2004). On the other hand, other aspects of Chinese culture continue to be practiced not only in China but the rest of the world. This may be due to the beneficial contribution to human societies in either economic ways or well being. Such include, fashion, religion, medicine, film and other areas. These still remain a personal choice for individuals to adapt to such. It is therefore important for new Chinese generations to uphold their cultural values lest they values. Other members of society should also be keen enough to understand cultures of different people in an effort to understand diverse people through understanding their culture. Bibliography Freeman, C., 2003, The Closing of the Western Mind, Knopf, New York. Guy, A., 2004, Coexisting contemporary civilizations: Arabo-Muslim, Bharati, Chinese, and Western, INU societal research, Volume1, INU Press, Geneva. Hall, S., 1981, Notes on Deconstructing the Popular In People's History and Socialist Theory, Routledge, London. KaYing, Y., 2004, Southeast Asian American Children: Not the Model Minority, The Future of Children, Volume 14, Issue No. 2: pp.127–133. Lee, S., 1996, Unraveling the "Model Minority" Stereotypes: Listening to Asian American Youth, Teachers College Press, New York. Pimentel, B.,2001,Model Minority Image is a Hurdle, Asian Americans Feel Left Out of Mainstream, San Francisco Chronicle, 5Th August 2001, pp.25. Sing, B., 1989, Model Minority Resentments Spawn Anti-Asian-American Insults and Violence, Los Angeles Times. 31 Feb 1989, pp. 12. Story, J., 1998, Cultural Theory and Popular Culture, 2nd edition, Prentice Hall, New York. Washingtonpost.com, 2010, Slanted Screen' Rues the Absence of Asians, Retrieved on October 31, 2010 from: William, T & Hickey, J., 2005, Society in Focus, Pearson, Boston, MA. Read More

Most immigrants of western communities find it hard to continue upholding their cultures freely due to prejudice, ignorance or even hostility that may be extended to them due to identity issues. As a result, most immigrants are assimilated into the western ways in an effort to blend in with the new cultures or even in trying to protect their own lives. This may lead to a diminished cultural practice in immigrants of western economies (Washingtonpost.com 2010). By observing and interacting with Chinese people from and in different parts of the world, individuals come up with varied perspectives of the Chinese culture.

This may however paint a completely different picture of what this culture is depending on various factors that may contribute to these variances. This does not however mean that the Chinese culture has vanished. On the contrary, just like any other culture, it has undergone some slight modification and at times even improvement. Ethnic stereotypes can be found anywhere in the world. This is because it is a trait anyone may adopt. Chinese Media’s view of the Western World China seems to bring out different ideas different people.

Fantasies and fears by the west about China are have with time revealed a big deal about the ideals and interests that shape the political and social landscape of the west towards China (Lee 1996). The media in China cries foul in the west’s failure to teach the world sufficient ideas and information about the true China. The institution claims that China has been romanticized and demonized at the same time. In addition, the media in China claims that that distorts the worlds understanding of the foreign policies in China.

The way people talk about China has been seen to influence the way Chinese people understand other people in the world and vice versa. Such muddles would be used to explain the war involving Korea, Vietnam and the United States between 1950 and 1973 (Sing1989). In addition, the conflict between the US and Taiwan remains a possible platform for further disagreements in the 21st Century. Differences in cultural beliefs that arouse social conflicts have evidently caused increase in political friction that has at times led to unfavorable outcome.

Suggestions to create better China policies that continue to raise debates in order to improve the relationship between China, the larger Asian continent and the rest of the Western world. Exoticism and Mysticism Impacted on Asian Culture Most stereotypes of East Asian cultures are found in Western societies. These stereotypes are manifested through the societies’ literature, its media, common knowledge of the society’s knowledge and other aspects that depict the culture of Chinese people.

In many occasions, the media portrays Asians as having a dominant Eurocentric sensitivity to Asians as opposed to an authentic or realistic representation of the true customs, behavior and culture of the people. In most cases, stereotypes have negative perceptions of the Asian community and interact poorly with Asian immigrants. This has been noted to have extended to legislative, governmental and events issues that affect Asian communities living in Diaspora. As a result, Asian immigrants have been subjected to discrimination, hate crimes and other acts of violence that are related to cultural stereotypes which has with time led to an increment in xenophobic sentiments.

The manner in which westerners have been observed to interpret Asian culture is because there has been no room to encounter or interact with an unfamiliar culture. The term ‘Orient’ is an invention of the West to depict Asia as a region of romance, exoticism and a remarkable amount of experiences which at the same time denote some negative concept that goes against/are different from cultural aspects of Western Civilization. Orientalism in the west involves classifying Asian Americans and Asians to ‘others’ group and in essence, sidelining them.

Their culture is not considered as ordinary but as ‘exotic’ and as very contrasting to western ways.

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