The of the Two Articles - Literature review Example

Literature review Name Institution Introduction Consumption-be it of goods or services- is directly influenced by a number of factors. Culture is among one of the major factors that directly influence what we consume and the way we consume things. Culture also gives us room to have a definite perception of the way people behave and we try to understand why they do some things in a certain manner and certain fashion than other people in a different societal and cultural setup would. In a bid to understand this phenomenon better, this paper takes a review into two articles that have been written using diverse settings. The articles to be illuminated upon are Ashley’s Cute Logics of the Multicultural and the Consumption of the Vietnamese Exotic in Japan and Jing’s Feeding China’s little emperors: food, children and social change. It will be noted that there are avenues of conflict as well as avenues of alliances on the same. While the first article focusses mostly on the Vietnamese condition in Japan, by scrutinizing how they eat and live with a societal umbrella, the second article is primarily focused upon how the children in China change their eating habits as they grow up and change social status. It will be shown from the analysis of both articles that the social status that a person finds himself or herself in largely contributes to how he or she behaves and the kind of products they consume. ‘Cute Logics of the Multicultural and the Consumption of the Vietnamese Exotic in Japan’ This article was penned down by Ashley Carruthers in 2004. Ashley (2004, p. 404) tackle the issue of multiculturalism from two different and diverse sectors; that of the lived multiculturalism, termed as the using the subordinate logic and the consumed multiculturalism termed as the dominant logic perspective. According to the author, in a societal set up there exist two distinct and diverse groups of people; those who conform to the ideologies and the way of life of the dominant group in the society and those who don’t. There seems to be a rift between these two parties in the way they behave, their consumption acumen and their general lifestyles. The case of Vietnamese society has been utilized here to bring about this difference. Ashley (2004, p. 403) suggests that once a person decides to visit a Vietnamese territory, he or she should be prepared to have an encounter with a territory that is unsecure and riddled of poverty. However, ‘nastiness’ as the author puts it is seen to be suppressed once a person lands in the country. The Vietnamese people, despite their absolute subtlety are accommodating to their foreign counterparts who travel to the country. The same applies when there is a concentration of the people in a certain cosmopolitan setup, especially in a country like Japan. The author tackles the issue of subject less multiculturalism from a number of fronts. The Japan case for instance is a good phenomenon and a rich ground of study for the author. The multiculturalism effect in Japan is largely unorthodox and not in any way planned out. This is in effect due to the fact that the nation has been built up by persons who migrated into the country from other places and claimed the nation, suppressing the minority non- dominant groups of people they found in the nation. This brought about a new culture and a new level of co-existence among these different people leading to a sense of multiculturalism that had no definite balance and no focal point. Following this mix, it has been found that the Vietnamese people are welcoming to the Japanese people on one hand but on the other hand, they are quite suspicious of the motives of these Japanese bearing in mind that the Japanese people are quite liberal and imposing in their approach. Living together and having these communities co-exist in Japan territory forms a basis of acquired multiculturalism. People are presented with Vietnamese foods and products in Japan and they get to have a sense, albeit remote of the native country itself through the cosmopolitan engagement in Japan. Ashley (2004, p.413) attributes this success of the Vietnamese in Japan to a number of underlying factors. Vietnamese is viewed as a cost effective tourist destination. Other factors include the quality of Vietnamese aesthetic and the imaginary common civilizational heritage of the Vietnamese people. The factor that Japan had the country under its colonial wrap sometime also makes is alluring to the Japanese who wish to visit and understand better on the national and cultural composition and heritage of the people of Vietnam. Taking a brief look of the same case from the Australian perspective, Ashley (2004, p. 416) states that the situation is a direct contrast. Multiculturalism that puts the Vietnamese immigrants in Australia into the picture is loathed rather than welcomed as in the Japanese scenario. The immigrants in the country are treated as minorities and even they can’t have the capacity to access employment in the land, being termed as ‘unemployable’. Ashley (2004) concludes by stating that the perceived multiculturalism existence in Japan and other territories is just a façade. People take advantage of this perception to come up with ideologies and even businesses that are designed to make an income despite offering highly inauthentic products. ‘Feeding China’s little emperors: food, children and social change’ In this work, the author, Jing Jun takes a rather interesting illumination into the behavioral changes of children in China as they advance through various stages in life. From the onset, Jing (2000, p. 115) introduces the concept of social liberalization brought forth by a sense of transnationalism. Transnationalism has had a very significant effect upon how different people in the society dresses, how they speak and the kind of food they eat among other things. Increasingly, due to this concept, and its worldwide adoption and implementation, people have started becoming more and more subtle in the choice of products that they consume on a daily basis. It is found that these products, despite them being a little differentiated bear a lot of similarities the world over. Jing (2000) decides to investigate this phenomenon in this research article using China and Chinese children as experimental tools. Jing (2000, p. 116) states that the consumption of products or services by a certain group of people is almost directly related to the influence caused by huge transnational organizations that operate arbitrarily in many nations of the world. Whereas before the feel and influence from these corporations was negligible, today they play a very significant role in dictating what people eat, drink, wear or just consume on a daily basis. Chinese children have become a prototype of this research. Jing (2000, p. 117) argues that the products and/or services that these Chinese children consume are directly linked to the influence created by these multinational corporations existing in their country. The author takes an example of KFC, Kentucky Fried Chicken; a multinational fast food outlet which has is origin in the West. KFC has gathered and taken much ground in the Chinese food industry since its inception into the country Jing (2004, p. 116). The most affected are the youth, the teenagers who can be seen flocking these eatery joints from ‘out there’ because their counterparts as well as the adverts supporting the same present them as being ‘cool’. Chinese children have largely been affected by this influx of multinational and transnational organizations offering modernized and highly advertised products. This has led to certain degree the homogenization of culture and subsequently the neutralization and significant erosion of the well-guarded culture of the Chinese people. The chines children prefer the glorified image and products of the KFC in comparison to their own Chinese traditionally prepared chicken delicacy. It is imperative to note however, that KFC doesn’t necessarily present the best chicken just because of its glorified nature. What makes it more alluring and hence becoming the choice of many teenagers and children is the aura of modernization surrounding the same. Areas of convergence from the two articles The two articles may be seen as to be having a focal point where in both cases, factors beyond the control of the natives threaten to undermine their heritage. Vietnamese in Japan are presented with issue where the Japanese natives have taken over the Vietnamese image in Japan and capitalized on the same to produce highly publicized but inauthentic Vietnamese products. In the second case, the involvement of transnational corporations has led to an erosion of the cultural as well as heritage of the people in China, forcing them to adopt foreign products such as KFC. Conclusion Based on the discourse and the review of the two articles in the preceding paragraphs, a number of things have come out quite clearly here. That the erosion of culture van largely be attributed to the imposement of a different form of culture look-alike that replaces the ethnic one. It has been noted also that this does not always go down well with the native people affected. In conclusion, it is important to note that for a foreign culture to have dominance over the native one, the native people must have, in one way or the other allowed or created a niche for the same to infiltrate. References Ashley. C. 2004. ‘Cute Logics of the Multicultural and the Consumption of the Vietnamese Exotic in Japan positions’ East Asia cultures critique, Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 401-429. Jing. J. 2000. ‘Feeding China’s little emperors: food, children and social change’ Stanford University press: California. Read More

This brought about a new culture and a new level of co-existence among these different people leading to a sense of multiculturalism that had no definite balance and no focal point. Following this mix, it has been found that the Vietnamese people are welcoming to the Japanese people on one hand but on the other hand, they are quite suspicious of the motives of these Japanese bearing in mind that the Japanese people are quite liberal and imposing in their approach. Living together and having these communities co-exist in Japan territory forms a basis of acquired multiculturalism.

People are presented with Vietnamese foods and products in Japan and they get to have a sense, albeit remote of the native country itself through the cosmopolitan engagement in Japan. Ashley (2004, p.413) attributes this success of the Vietnamese in Japan to a number of underlying factors. Vietnamese is viewed as a cost effective tourist destination. Other factors include the quality of Vietnamese aesthetic and the imaginary common civilizational heritage of the Vietnamese people. The factor that Japan had the country under its colonial wrap sometime also makes is alluring to the Japanese who wish to visit and understand better on the national and cultural composition and heritage of the people of Vietnam.

Taking a brief look of the same case from the Australian perspective, Ashley (2004, p. 416) states that the situation is a direct contrast. Multiculturalism that puts the Vietnamese immigrants in Australia into the picture is loathed rather than welcomed as in the Japanese scenario. The immigrants in the country are treated as minorities and even they can’t have the capacity to access employment in the land, being termed as ‘unemployable’. Ashley (2004) concludes by stating that the perceived multiculturalism existence in Japan and other territories is just a façade.

People take advantage of this perception to come up with ideologies and even businesses that are designed to make an income despite offering highly inauthentic products. ‘Feeding China’s little emperors: food, children and social change’ In this work, the author, Jing Jun takes a rather interesting illumination into the behavioral changes of children in China as they advance through various stages in life. From the onset, Jing (2000, p. 115) introduces the concept of social liberalization brought forth by a sense of transnationalism.

Transnationalism has had a very significant effect upon how different people in the society dresses, how they speak and the kind of food they eat among other things. Increasingly, due to this concept, and its worldwide adoption and implementation, people have started becoming more and more subtle in the choice of products that they consume on a daily basis. It is found that these products, despite them being a little differentiated bear a lot of similarities the world over. Jing (2000) decides to investigate this phenomenon in this research article using China and Chinese children as experimental tools.

Jing (2000, p. 116) states that the consumption of products or services by a certain group of people is almost directly related to the influence caused by huge transnational organizations that operate arbitrarily in many nations of the world. Whereas before the feel and influence from these corporations was negligible, today they play a very significant role in dictating what people eat, drink, wear or just consume on a daily basis. Chinese children have become a prototype of this research. Jing (2000, p. 117) argues that the products and/or services that these Chinese children consume are directly linked to the influence created by these multinational corporations existing in their country.

The author takes an example of KFC, Kentucky Fried Chicken; a multinational fast food outlet which has is origin in the West. KFC has gathered and taken much ground in the Chinese food industry since its inception into the country Jing (2004, p. 116). The most affected are the youth, the teenagers who can be seen flocking these eatery joints from ‘out there’ because their counterparts as well as the adverts supporting the same present them as being ‘cool’.

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