How Has Diasporic Media Culture Transformed Hegemonic British Cultures - Research Paper Example

Media How Has Diasporic Media Culture Transformed Hegemonic British Cultures Discuss With Close Analysis Of At Least Two Media Examples. The British Culture, like many other European cultures since the Second World War, has been influenced by the multi ethnic nature of the nation, though the English culture remains dominant. "citizens are not only individuals but also members of particular religious, ethnic, cultural and regional communities, which are comparatively stable as well as open and fluid. Britain is both a community of citizens and a community of communities, both a liberal and a multicultural society, and needs to reconcile their sometimes conflicting requirements" (The Runnymede Trust. 2000). There is notable relationship among media, race, diaspora and national identity. "Paul Gilroy's prolific writings on race, diaspora, and national identity can be traced to an intense critical engagement with "the canon" of British cultural studies." (Durham and Kellner 2006. p. 340). He wanted to have the development of the cultural studies on an ethno-historical perspective and felt the importance of cultural perspectives in presenting "for the images of their racialised others as objects of knowledge, power, and cultural criticism" (Gilroy 1993. p. 5) Thus, Gilroy makes it clear that "Analysis of the political dimensions to the expressive culture of black communities in Britain must reckon with their position within international networks. It should begin where fragmented diaspora histories of racial subjectivity combine in unforeseen ways with the edifice of British society and create a complex relationship with has evolved through various stages linked in different ways to the pattern of capitalist development itself" (Gilroy 1991. p.157). The contribution of the media in the development of diasporic cultures in the UK cannot, at any stage, be neglected. The boundless dialogue between communities and cultures has been crucial in the development of community relation of the British with the ethnic diasporic communities and the meanings of uniqueness and ethnic individuality. "Diasporic media cultures develop as meditation becomes increasingly central to social and cultural life. Everyday culture has become media culture" (Silverstone 2005). The British culture is very much connected with the diasporic cultures and the contribution of the diasporic media is notable in this regard. Media "images can connect local experiences with each other and hence provide powerful sources of hermeneutic interpretation to make sense of what would otherwise be disparate and apparently unconnected events and phenomena" (Urry 2000. p.180). The experience of hegemonic British cultures that have been transformed by the diasporic media culture points to this impact of the diasporic media culture and many of the diasporic media examples in the UK proves this point. Ever since the rapid expansion of digital technologies, satellite and the Internet, there has been an enormous growth of diasporic media in the UK which in its turn have affected the superior British culture. Diasporas in the UK use the minority media alongside the mainstream media. Whereas the former help them in developing a feeling of belonging to the UK the nation they live in and to the global community, the latter help them in reconstructing a mood of diasporic idiosyncrasy. The diasporic media has great impact on the cultural diversity of the already multicultural community in Britain. As Myria Georgiou, in a conference presentation clarified, "diasporic media communication practices advance (re)imaginings of Britain as a space of (in-) tense cultural meetings against the top-down ideologies of a compartmentalised multiculturalism. The dominant ideology of multiculturalism recognises co-existence of difference but it undermines the importance of the encounter for emerging multicultural diversity. Inevitably, this ideology leads to conflicts and misunderstandings around difference. Media and communications, as producing images and narratives and as being adopted and appropriated for intercommunity and interspatial connections, play an active part in processes of identification with(in) Britain and with competing and co-existing imagined communities" (Georgiou). Apart from this, the diasporic media has been crucial factors in the transformation of the hegemonic British cultures. In the modern world, the multicultural nature of the UK, like that of many other European nations, is commonly accepted reality and there is visible evidence to the domination of the British culture over the different ethnic cultures of the cultures which are minority and strange to the mainstream culture. There have been conflicts of various types between these minority cultures and the superior British culture and the former always felt subdued by the power of the dominant group. It is notable that "in uses and appropriations of media and communication technologies, groups and individuals, who find themselves trapped in the politics which assumes a dominant, normal and ever-present mainstream and a peripheral, foreign and minority Other culture, sometimes find ways of opposition and negotiation in mediated practices" (Georgiou). This attempt by the diasporic media may not be a means of conflict against the mainstream culture and diasporic media is not the only element where this opposition and negotiation happens. However, the role of diasporic media is remarkable in this effort. When we consider the different cases of diasporic media cultures in the UK, we come to notice the impact of these on the dominant culture of Britain and how these media cultures have transformed the British culture. The examples of Ethnic Media Group "the UK's leading publisher of weekly newspapers, magazines, websites and digital newspapers for Britain's African, Caribbean, Black British and Asian communities." (Ethnic media. 2007). The group has been influential in uniting the Black and Asian people around the world, especially in the UK. Black and Asian Digital Newspapers are now immediately available worldwide in an exciting new newspaper experience and these new tendencies have great influence on the media cultures throughout the UK. Such diasporic cultures are growing at a fast rate in the UK which affects the hegemonic British culture tremendously, bringing about transformations in the cultures. We cannot distinguish the diasporic media from the mainstream media in the UK today and they are not anymore strange to mainstream media. The relevance, meaning and aesthetics of these diasporic media can only be learned in the context of the mainstream British media and British cultural context. The example of 'Asia Times,' one of the significant diasporic media published in Britain by Ethnic Media Group reveals the fact. In the layout, aesthetics and other characteristics the paper and the internet edition appear same as the mainstream media and thereby show the influence of the dominant media style and representations of the mainstream media. However, in the case of the news and other story items, it highlights those of the Asian culture and society. In this manner, 'Asia Times' awakens, in the readers, self-consciousness about their culture, identity, and society. This consciousness is not of the diasporic culture alone but the mainstream British culture as well. The writers of the news items are able to feel the connection of being part of the British society as well as related to the diasporic culture they belong to. Stories of this nature have great significance to the mainstream culture which is challenged and contradicted by the existence of diasporic cultures which grow tremendously both as diasporic particular and as mainstream general. This influence has changed the concept of the hegemonic British culture and the domination of the mainstream culture, as such, does no more exist. In the other characteristics like the advertisements also the diasporic media follows the path of the mainstream media, blending the British ways and the peculiar diasporic culture. A classification between the British culture and the Asian tradition in these services is too difficult and this illustrates the power of the diasporic media on the diasporic culture which in turn challenges the mainstream British hegemonic cultures. Migration and movement from home country to another in the form of economic relocation has involved an experience of severance in the minds of the migrants from the home land, its cultures, and characteristic nature. This discontinuity or the radical break from the original cultures of the diasporic people is much reduced by the diasporic media. It may be noted that the "new media technologies are making it possible to transcend the distances that have separated 'diasporic communities' around the world from their 'communities of origin'. 'Diasporic media' are said to be providing new means to promote transnational bonding, and thereby sustain (ethnic, national or religious) identities and cultures at-a-distance" (Aksoy and Robins). This is important to note that these cultures have, now, the double identity and all the possibilities for the growth in both the diasporic and the mainstream cultures of Britain. Thus, the influence of the diasporic media on the British cultures is particularly notable. "The extensive use by diasporic groups of online services likes the Internet Relay Chat, e-mail, Usenet, Listserv and the World Wide Web is allowing for relatively easy connection for members of communities residing in various continents. As opposed to the broadcast model of communication which, apart from offering little access to minority groups, is linear, hierarchical and capital intensive, online media allow easier access and are non-linear, largely non-hierarchical and relatively cheaper." (Karim 2003. p.13). In the UK especially, this has been found true. The use of Internet and other facilities make the diasporic cultures more benefited and this place them always connected with the left-back cultures. The extensive use of media like Internet and the like influence the diasporic cultures in enjoying greater possibilities compared to the British cultures. They can keep themselves updated with the original cultures as well as they can enjoy the hegemonic cultures of Britain. Thus the development of these media by the diasporic communities may be particularly mentioned here. There have been diasporic media examples those relate to the everyday contestations and methods of resistance to ideologies of rigid cultural difference. These examples show how the diasporic media culture has affected the British hegemonic cultures causing transformations in the cultures. One such example is that of the Club Asia Radio which has come to define young Asian London since its launching in September 2003. "The station has been instrumental in the emergence of rising new Asian music stars and it is widely recognised as the UK's leading brand in the Asian youth market." (What's New). The system of this media is particularly interesting. "If you see the self-representation of the station's identity on its website you can see that it has nothing to do with dominant perceptions on Asian culture and at the same time it has everything to do with it this self-representation has nothing and everything to do with what is considered as contemporary British (consumer) culture. This representation of British Asian youth can raise some eyebrows among the Asian community and others within the mainstream" (Georgiou). This is one of the many examples of what the diasporic media cultures can mean to the hegemonic British cultures. "London is the most characteristic example of a multicultural city with all the pros and cons that this over-concentration implies" (Georgiou). The ethnic community in the UK enjoys many privileges and the diasporic media culture of the land puts them in a better position. "'Diasporic media' are said to be providing new means to promote transitional bonding, and thereby sustain (ethnic, national or religious) identities and cultures at-a-distance" (Karim 2003. p. 93). The growth of diasporic media culture in the UK has influenced tremendously in the transformation of the hegemonic British cultures. The examples of the diasporic media in the UK affirm the same fact. Works Cited The Runnymede Trust. The Future of Multi-Ethnic Britain. The Parekh Report. London: Profile Books. 2000 Silverstone, Roger. Media, Technology, and Everyday Life in Europe. From Information to Communication. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. 2005 Urry, John. Sociology Beyond Societies: Mobilities for the Twenty-First Century. London and New York: Routledge. P.180. 2000. Karim, Karim Haiderali. The Media of Diaspora. Rutledge. P.13. 2003. Karim, Karim Haiderali. The Media of Diaspora. Rutledge. P.93. 2003. Georgiou, Myria. Re-imagining Multicultural Britain in Diasporic Media Practices. 04 Jan. 2008 . Ethnic media group. 2007. 04 Jan. 2008 . Aksoy, Asu and Robins, Kevin. Banal Transnationalism: The Difference that Television Makes. 04 Jan. 2008 . What's New National Business Award. Club Asia. 2006. 04 Jan. 2008 . Gilroy, P. The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness. Verso. London. p. 5. 1993. Durham, Meenakshi Gigi and Kellner, Douglas. Media and Cultural Studies: Keyworks. Blackwell Publishing. P. 340. 2006. Gilroy, P. There Ain't No Black in the Union Jack: The Politics of Race and Nation. University of Chicago Press. Chicago. p.157. 1987. Read More