Cultural Expression in Modern Asia - Literature review Example

Cultural Expression in Modern Asia Institution: Instructor: Course: Cultural Expression in Modern Asia Introduction Asia is a continent of enormous diversity and richness. Scholars argue that, the existence of man in Asia began half million years ago, a time when the world was covered with ice. According to Stuart-Fox (2004), the western rule, and the influence of civilization, catalyzed by human migration, led to development of multi-lingual and multi-ethnic societies in Asia. Basically, every Asian country had its own culture before it was influenced by the western culture. Stuart-Fox (2004) observed that, the culture of Countries such as Japan, china and Indonesia had many variations, which bore a variety of common characteristics. In this regard, during colonization in Asian countries, the western colonizers equally affected Asian culture and religions. Rutten (2004) posited that, even though the encroachment of western culture looked like cultural imperialism, it was interpenetration. That could enrich both the Asians and western people[Rut04]. For instance, an Asian boy can wear blue jeans from Germany and top it with Kimono a Japan traditional wear. Rutten (2004), defines Western culture as a term used to refer to tradition customs, social norms, and ethical values. Historically western culture originated from Greece, developed during the roman civilization, vanished during the early middle ages before revealing again in the late middle Ages impelling to Renaissance[Rut04]. In addition, the development of western culture led to the scientific revolution, American Revolution and to what scholar referred as modern civilization. Presently, according to Rutten (2004), western culture dominates a substantial part of western, central Europe and Asia. Western Culture in Chinese Culture Radtke (2007) posited that, Asian culture is shaped by a wide variety of religions, societies, and ethnicities. Basically, the Asian culture is a collection of diverse traditions, social values and customs, which form the heart of Asian societies. Historically, during the cultural revolution of 1966-1976, people of china spent most of their time trying to deny cultural heritage from the western countries instead; they preferred modifying and improving their own culture[Stu04]. Moreover, this denial created a temporary blank in the development of Chinese culture, prompting people to search pabulums to satisfy their spiritual hunger, after the Cultural Revolution. This hunger provided a platform for introduction of the western culture to the Chinese culture[Rad07]. According to Wei (2008), the modern world is a commercial world, where the economic value surpasses the cultural values. Wei (2008) asserted that, Chinese have continued believing in the norms and value of their tradition, despite the intrusion of the western culture. For instance, the western brands in china shopping malls have outnumbered the Chinese brands. Consequently, the entertainment, lifestyle, and fashion of the Chinese people have widely changed. Because, the young generation prefers buying western brands due to quality, wide range of sources and reputation, as compared to Chinese brands, which are cheaper and low in quality[Wei08]. In addition, KFC and McDonalds have more than 2000 branches in china. The two companies are brands from the western countries, which provide western foods. According to Radtke (2007), the dominance of western companies in china, has led to closure of the few Chinese brands, which provide Chinese foods and beverages. For example, Feichang Cola, a company that used to produce soft drinks in china was closed, because it failed to overcome the dominance of Pepsi Cola and Coca-Cola, which were people’s preferences[Wei08]. Moreover, the western movies and music have surpassed that of Chinese by a bigger ratio. According to Rutten (2004), many young people anxiously wait for a release of an English movie rather than a Chinese movie. Wei (2008) posited that, 69% of Chinese youth eat western food, dance to western songs, follow western entertainment, and have started thinking like westerners. As a result, their attitude and behavior are influenced; Wei (2004) argued that, these traits could be passed to the next generation thus increasing the effect of western culture to Chinese culture. According to Radtke (2007), western culture has been incorporated into Chinese culture in various ways. Firstly, through science and technology, this has improved the Chinese life by making it more colorful. For instance, Chinese no longer wear Zhongshan fu; instead, they have a variety of modern clothes from the western countries to choose. Secondly, most of Chinese language is borrowed from western language, for instance, coca cola and coffee, when altered in Chinese language it sounds almost the same with western language[Rad07]. Thirdly, the status of a Chinese woman in the society has changed. Traditionally, a Chinese woman was considered as an asset, whose main job was to do home chores and give birth. However, western culture has changed this, presently, more Chinese women are seen working and taking opportunities like their male counterparts[Wei08]. Finally, the elements of western culture have influenced china to develop social insurance system where lives of old and disabled people are secured. It is worth noting that, this system first began in the west before its adoption in Asian countries. However, the western culture has not escaped criticism in china; for instance, China president Hu Jintao wrote an essay which was published on January 2012, insisting that, china must reinforce its cultural production to protect the west from insulting the country’s culture. Mr. Hu lamented that, the western arts and culture was overshadowing Chinese culture. Wei (2008) observed that, western movies such as ‘avatar’ and song from ‘lady gaga’ were so popular in china than the western countries were they originate. Mr. Hu summarizes his essay by urging china media houses to broadcast programs that promote social core values and tradition virtues. However, it can be noted that, this will be hard, since the number of Chinese enrolled in western universities and colleges stands is high, this will be hard for china to include these students in the initiative of promoting cultural virtues. Western Culture in Japanese Culture The diversity and richness of Japanese culture dates back to 10000BC a time when Jomon community first settled in Japan. Japan is widely known for its contemporary pop culture and traditional arts. This culture has been retained to date, where a Kimono-clad clad woman can be seen maneuvering with an umbrella overhead[Dui07]. In addition, from the media houses to the streets of Tokyo, Japan people love watching over sized Sumo wrestlers battling in the ring. According to Chaiklin and Wittner (2009), westernization is the process of introducing the western culture to other countries. Westernization began in Japan approximately 200 years ago under the rule of Meiji. Before his reign, Japan then ruler had isolated it from the rest of the world, where no Japanese was allowed to leave Japan and no foreigner was allowed to enter Japan[Cha09]. This prompted US to send its warships in the bay of Tokyo to force Japan to open up for the rest of the world, as a result, it led to what is presently termed as ‘Meiji restoration’. Chaiklin and Wittner (2009) posited that, westernization started infringing into Japan culture after Meiji seized power. There are various aspects of Japan culture that has been infringed by the western culture. For instance, the Japanese dress. Currently it is hard to find a Japanese man or woman wearing the traditional Japanese dress Kimono in Tokyo. Most workers in Tokyo wear western clothes, they wear kimono on exceptional occasions such as festivals. Moreover, Japanese apartments are changing to western apartment styles. Traditionally, most houses in Japan were made of woods, they were extremely small offering only a place to sit and sleep with minimum elegant furniture. However, the influence of western culture has made them build mountainous western style houses, furnished with western furniture’s not to mention the showers, which was not there in the traditional apartments[Cha09]. According to kinzley (2008), western culture has not dented the Japanese culture, notably, the Japanese food and language. According to Kinzley (2008), most cities in Japan are flocked by western restaurants such as MacDonald. However, most Japanese prefer Japanese food; their love for Japanese is evident in most Japan food outlets, whereby Japanese foods are most expensive as compared to the western foods. In addition, despite the presence of cheap wines from western countries in the counters, Japanese prefer their own wine called ‘Sake’. In addition, despite English being part of their course, Japanese treasure their tradition language much. It is hard to find a Japanese man or a woman in London, city of English native speakers talking English fluently. This is because they love their mother language[Kin08]. From the above examples, it can be noted that Japanese embraced western culture into their culture to boost them economically and financially. However, they have set limits, which block the western culture from overshadowing its own culture[Dui07]. Western Culture in Indonesian Culture Just like its landscape and natural beauty, Indonesia culture is versatile and vibrant. Its culture has been molded through interaction between their own indigenous custom and foreign effect[Hen00]. Its location resulted to various cultural practices, which influenced its religion widely. Basically, Indonesia is located centrally between Middle East and Far East. Nevertheless, the western culture has widely affected its culture through science and technology[Hen00]. Currently, the Indonesian culture is a result of mutual action between aged tradition, which emerged from Dutch colonists and Portuguese traders from the western countries. In addition, Nordholt (2000) indicated that, religions such as Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and Confucianism widely influenced the culture of Indonesia making it a hybrid of western and Asian culture. The effect of western culture has influenced Indonesian youths widely. For instance, the presences of the western movies and programs broadcasted on Indonesian channels have significantly influenced Indonesian youth’s life. According to Nordholt (2000), music channel s such as ‘MTV’ which airs western music clips is widely broadcasted in Indonesia. This has made youths copy the western lifestyle in terms of dressing and behavior. In addition, development of satellite dishes has enhanced easy access of western satellite broadcasts, a darling to most Indonesians teenagers. Analytically, the western films, programs, and songs play a vital role in shaping the youth behavior, tastes, and attitude in relation to sex and sexuality. Even though, the Indonesian culture has been overshadowed by the western culture, it remains crucial to a few Indonesians who still believe in it.[Hen00] Conclusion Western culture elements have been incorporated in most Asian countries. As a result, the countries have economically and technologically improve. However, most Asia countries have taken precaution citing that, the western culture is like a virus, which can destroy the existing culture. For instance, china president laments that, the western culture is in the verge of overshadowing Chinese culture. This illustrates that, the encroachment of western culture is unavoidable; however, setting limits can prevent it from overturning the existing culture, as observed in Japan. References Rut04: , (Rutten, 2004), Stu04: , (Stuart-Fox, 2004), Rad07: , (Radtke, 2007), Wei08: , (Wei, 2008), Dui07: , (Duignan & Yoshida, 2007), Cha09: , (Chaiklin & Wittner, 2009), Kin08: , (Kinzley, 2008), Hen00: , (Nordholt, 2000), Read More

As a result, their attitude and behavior are influenced; Wei (2004) argued that, these traits could be passed to the next generation thus increasing the effect of western culture to Chinese culture. According to Radtke (2007), western culture has been incorporated into Chinese culture in various ways. Firstly, through science and technology, this has improved the Chinese life by making it more colorful. For instance, Chinese no longer wear Zhongshan fu; instead, they have a variety of modern clothes from the western countries to choose.

Secondly, most of Chinese language is borrowed from western language, for instance, coca cola and coffee, when altered in Chinese language it sounds almost the same with western language[Rad07]. Thirdly, the status of a Chinese woman in the society has changed. Traditionally, a Chinese woman was considered as an asset, whose main job was to do home chores and give birth. However, western culture has changed this, presently, more Chinese women are seen working and taking opportunities like their male counterparts[Wei08].

Finally, the elements of western culture have influenced china to develop social insurance system where lives of old and disabled people are secured. It is worth noting that, this system first began in the west before its adoption in Asian countries. However, the western culture has not escaped criticism in china; for instance, China president Hu Jintao wrote an essay which was published on January 2012, insisting that, china must reinforce its cultural production to protect the west from insulting the country’s culture. Mr. Hu lamented that, the western arts and culture was overshadowing Chinese culture.

Wei (2008) observed that, western movies such as ‘avatar’ and song from ‘lady gaga’ were so popular in china than the western countries were they originate. Mr. Hu summarizes his essay by urging china media houses to broadcast programs that promote social core values and tradition virtues. However, it can be noted that, this will be hard, since the number of Chinese enrolled in western universities and colleges stands is high, this will be hard for china to include these students in the initiative of promoting cultural virtues.

Western Culture in Japanese Culture The diversity and richness of Japanese culture dates back to 10000BC a time when Jomon community first settled in Japan. Japan is widely known for its contemporary pop culture and traditional arts. This culture has been retained to date, where a Kimono-clad clad woman can be seen maneuvering with an umbrella overhead[Dui07]. In addition, from the media houses to the streets of Tokyo, Japan people love watching over sized Sumo wrestlers battling in the ring.

According to Chaiklin and Wittner (2009), westernization is the process of introducing the western culture to other countries. Westernization began in Japan approximately 200 years ago under the rule of Meiji. Before his reign, Japan then ruler had isolated it from the rest of the world, where no Japanese was allowed to leave Japan and no foreigner was allowed to enter Japan[Cha09]. This prompted US to send its warships in the bay of Tokyo to force Japan to open up for the rest of the world, as a result, it led to what is presently termed as ‘Meiji restoration’.

Chaiklin and Wittner (2009) posited that, westernization started infringing into Japan culture after Meiji seized power. There are various aspects of Japan culture that has been infringed by the western culture. For instance, the Japanese dress. Currently it is hard to find a Japanese man or woman wearing the traditional Japanese dress Kimono in Tokyo. Most workers in Tokyo wear western clothes, they wear kimono on exceptional occasions such as festivals. Moreover, Japanese apartments are changing to western apartment styles.

Traditionally, most houses in Japan were made of woods, they were extremely small offering only a place to sit and sleep with minimum elegant furniture. However, the influence of western culture has made them build mountainous western style houses, furnished with western furniture’s not to mention the showers, which was not there in the traditional apartments[Cha09].

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