China the new ‘glam’ country?
A few days ago, my mother’s China student proudly declared to her, “Very soon the entire world will be learning Chinese because China is the superpower of the 21st century! There won’t be any need for the Chinese to learn English; the world will have to learn Chinese if they want to work with China!”
My mother, previously an English teacher at a private school, then asked her, “If that’s the case, why are you learning English?”
“Because I want to go to America and live there,” the student replied. Needless to say, her final destination was either California (Los Angeles) or New York City. Most of my mother’s China students, despite professing China to be the best country in the world, have intentions of heading to the United States once they have the relevant qualifications to find work there. To them, the United States is the land of glamour, Hollywood, movie stars, freedom, and Donald Trump’s apprentices striding around Wall Street in imposing business suits.
This little episode made me think about the cultural imperialism debate. When one speaks of cultural imperialism, the dominant ‘culture’ in question here would most probably be the United States. Ever since the rise in technology and media forty to fifty years ago, the culture of the United States has flooded the world. I recall someone being quoted once as saying that “the biggest export of the United States is its entertainment and culture.” Certainly the world has embraced the U.S.’ culture with wide open arms. Singaporean youths in particular have adopted many of the American views towards behaviour and expression; American slang has also crept into our youth language. It’s cool to be as ‘Western’ as possible (speaking in an American accent, behaving like a Western (or what we view as Western), liking Western entertainment), while our own Asian culture takes a very small backseat.
There are many reasons for the United States’ cultural dominance in our lives, but I shall only highlight a few. U.S. has the richest and most advanced filmmaking industry; its movies and television dramas are aired in most parts of the world and, as discussed in a previous lecture, less developed countries depend on the U.S. to fill up their local airtime. Same goes to the music industry; the U.S. has the power to push forward its musical genres like jazz, blues, country, R&B, etc. The U.S. also has the benefit of its main language being English. As English is recognized as ‘the international language’, more countries would readily purchase programmes from the U.S. as compared to, say, Japan or India. Besides, the U.S. is in general viewed favourably by the world as a rich, glamourous, free and open-minded country.
Knowing all these reasons, I shall now refer back to what my mother’s China student said about China’s coming dominance in the 21st century. China may be the up and coming economic superpower, but will it ever be able to achieve worldwide cultural imperialism (or even, for that matter, regionally)? My opinion is that even if it does, it will take at least fifty years to reach the level of cultural imperialism by the U.S. For one, Mandarin Chinese is definitely not an international language, and, unlike the highly flexible and fluid English, is too stiff and set in its construction to become one. For two, China’s worldwide reputation is still somewhat tarnished by its Communist past (and present). It will take a couple of generations to correct this reputation into one as favourable as the U.S.’. Lastly, China’s political climate does not allow for the same creativity and freedom of expression seen in the U.S.’ media and entertainment. Numerous films, commercials, and print advertisements are banned in China, some for very obscure hidden meanings that may or may not have even been intended by the makers. This climate stifles the opportunity of filmmakers and musicians in China to create something truly groundbreaking. An example of this would be the mania over ‘Kungfu Panda’ last year; most Chinese citizens asked why China could not produce such a culturally appealing movie when foreigners could. A filmmaker replied to the complaints saying that the industry was under too many restrictions to produce something creative.
Cultural imperialism is therefore not something that can be achieved so easily. Language, reputation, political freedom and economic/technological prowess all contribute towards it; while China may be the fastest growing industry in the world, I do not think that they are adequate enough in those four areas to become a cultural power within a generation. And, I beg to differ from my mother’s China student’s opinion; Mandarin Chinese may be the most popular language for people to learn now, but English will still remain the international language for a long while yet. It doesn’t do to be too ethnocentric!
Javiera replied:
I had a choice, when I decided to study languages, long ago, between Chinese and Japanese. I decided on Japanese, because I very much liked the music and the culture and it’s way easier to pronounce, but I knew then and I know now that it pays VERY well to know Chinese in my country, considering China is our second biggest economic market after the US. For us, it doesn’t really matter everything else. China brings along pretty much the same things the US and Japan and Korea do: a mix of culture and entertainment and cheap things to buy and computers parts and take out food.
Yes, of course the US is still the biggest influence out of everyone else, but I don’t think they are as strong as they once were or that they will keep they place as number one for much longer. For one, the last government these guys had pretty much screw up their reputation and whatever idea we had of their “political freedom” and their “economic/technological prowess”. Maybe it’s watching too much of the Daily Show that makes me so sarcastc, but I have to laugh if we actually think of the US as a “rich, glamorous, free and open-minded country” because for all the money and power that place has, it has *exactly* the same issues we have in my third world country, and that goes from their huge amounts of homophobia and racism (and their weird religions don’t help) to a bad educational and health care system and a huge distance between poor people and rich.
I’m not saying China is the best place ever, but the US is no saint as a country and we all know that by now. We also know that, thanks to Globalization, not everything comes from one place anymore. I think China can’t become a “worldwide cultural imperialism” not because it can’t out-thrown the US, but because the way the world works now doesn’t allow *one* big power and the rest following behind. I think we have more of a balance now, and that’s great, though it also means we have to learn to keep up.
March 16, 2009 at 3:30 am. Permalink.
Your mortal replied:
I am sort of out of it and my thought process is hardly lucid, but I’ll give this a try. I would agree on your argument about China’s potential cultural takeover and America’s current stronghold on international culture. As an American who is taking Chinese, I definitely understand the desire to learn the language and about the culture in order to be prepared for China’s proverbial takeover. However, I also cannot see China becoming the cultural hub anytime soon. For decades, American media has affected everyday life and viewpoints on an international level, both overtly and subtly, as you’ve mentioned. America has such a stronghold on media that frankly, it is difficult to imagine Hollywood and the music industry being challenged by China’s controlled media system. Your arguments are solid and I don’t really have anything to add, but mainly, I think China wouldn’t be able to take over as the cultural imperialist because the international media system is rooted so deeply in American media that it makes a takeover of Eastern media highly unlikely.
March 16, 2009 at 3:34 am. Permalink.
Geri replied:
I’ll make this one short and sweet – I think English will always be THE language in the world. It seems to me that the current popularity of Mandarin is simply due to China’s expansion. Whether or not China can continue to maintain it’s already potentially weak credibility in the world will play a big part in the rise or fall of Mandarin’s popularity.
Anyway, it amuses me that someone would want to leave the “best country” to go to other places. Grass greener on the other side and all that?
March 16, 2009 at 12:08 pm. Permalink.
a.m. replied:
China is indeed becoming a prominent player in the world market and from the increasing number of people who are starting to learn Chinese, it is clear that many are aware of this. Yet I cannot picture China having the same kind of cultural influence that the United States had and still has over the world since the last half decade. When the U.S. emerged into the world’s attention, it was everyone’s dream country because it was new, different, and the lead in various aspects of technology, entertainment, and mindset. Even now I believe that kind of positive view hasn’t completely died down, seeing as how your mother’s China students have dreams to live here. In contrast, I don’t think China holds the same appeal that the U.S. held and still holds today. People view China as somewhere to invest in, to start their business. People realize that China will grow even bigger than it is now and will have a huge impact on the world’s money flow. I feel that China is viewed business partner that everyone wants to befriend more than a country that is desired for anything else.
March 16, 2009 at 2:52 pm. Permalink.
Chi Tsosie replied:
In a previous post, you mentioned Chinese students flooding the universities. I think this reflects what the Chinese language student said about moving to the United States. Though many of my friends and neighbors remark that China, with the use of soft diplomacy, has the potential to be the upcoming economic superpower, Chinese culture is not catching on. Americans who found interest in China following the Olympics have since moved on to the next Adam Sandler movie. And foreigners still want to move to the United States. I think both countries, America and China have the potential to win or lose this wager for control, but a lot will depend on their abilities to reach out to other countries culturally, as well as financially. One thing that is interesting now that the US is in depression, would be how the national $10,942,165,294,650.89 debt, many of its creditors in China, affect American Chinese relations, as well as the rest of the world.
March 17, 2009 at 6:35 pm. Permalink.
valerie replied:
To a certain point, it is no doubt true that Chinese is an important language to master, but no.. I disagree with the fact that it is the ONLY language to master, it is just like saying that we all have to start learning India’s main dialect because it is in economic terms improving almost just as good as China’s…well Almost.
Honestly, with booming economics, China would still require many years of development to reach the height that America has accomplished, as we all can see. It may be handy however to understand a bit of Chinese here and there… with all the Chinese businessman, the opportunities are great. Maybe as a second or third language, but I can never see Chinese taking over English as the mainstream international language any time soon.
March 20, 2009 at 3:31 am. Permalink.
brennagh replied:
I’m proud to say I’m effectively billingual (: although I find it hard to believe that people would be scrambling to learn Chinese more nowadays. Afterall, English seems to be more of a universal language so I can understand why the Chinese student said that.
I agree about your point on Kungfu Panda. With the influence of Chinese culture, such as martial arts, only can Hollywood come up with a great film. Afterall, didn’t Bruce Lee also receive fame and popularity through his black-and-white Hollywood films made way back? So yeah, indeed America’s products, especially in the media has taken over a lot in our world, long before we actually realise it.
March 22, 2009 at 8:22 am. Permalink.