文化外交与文化帝国主义 英文版.docx

文化外交与文化帝国主义 英文版.docx

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文化外交与文化帝国主义英文版

Critically evaluate the major debates surrounding the conduct of cultural diplomacy, as distinct from cultural imperialism

ChapterIIntroduction

Culturaldiplomacyreferstothediplomacycarriedoutforthecontentofculturaltransmission,exchangeandcommunication,itisadiplomaticactivitywhichasovereignstateusestoachievecertainpoliticalgoalsorexternalstrategicintentthroughmakinguseofculturalmeans.Lookingatthedevelopmentandevolutionofthewayofinternationaldiplomacyinrecentyears,itcanbeseenthatmoreandmorecountriesintheworldhavepaidattentiontotheuseofthemeansofculturaldiplomacytoachievetheirexternalstrategy.Underthethemeofpeaceanddevelopment,theroleofculturaldiplomacyisincreasinglyobviousinacountry’sachievementofitsinternationalstrategicobjectives.Comparedwithtraditionaleconomicdiplomacy,militarydiplomacyandpoliticaldiplomacy,ithasmoreflexiblefeatures.Beforetheendofthecoldwar,culturaldiplomacyisalmostasynonymforculturalimperialism,butwiththedevelopmentofmediatechnologysincethecoldwar,themodeoftransmission,impactandconsequencesofculturaldiplomacyhavetakenplacetremendouschanges,thenwhetherculturaldiplomacyistantamounttoculturalimperialists,manyscholarshavegivendifferentanswerstothis.Thisarticlewillcriticallyevaluatethemajordebatessurroundingtheconductofculturaldiplomacyfromtheperspectiveofmedia.

ChapterIIDebatesonculturalimperialismandculturaldiplomacy

2.1Thedefinitionandcharacteristicsofculturalimperialism

Westerncountriestakeadvantageoftheirstrongpolitical,economicandculturalstrengthtotakeleadingpositionsinculturalcommunicationandgrasptherulesofthegameininternationalexchanges.Inculturalexchanges,theytrytoturntheirownvaluesorideologyintotheworld'suniversalvalues,hopingthattheirownculturaltraditionswouldbecometheworld’sculturaltraditions.Thus,inculturalexchanges,theyvigorouslyimplementtheculturalstrategyofculturalimperialismandareinabidtousethisnewpotentialapproachofculturaldiplomacytoachievethegoalofcontrollingtheworld.TheU.S.internationalpoliticalscientistHansJ.Morgenthau（1978）pointedoutthatthepolicyofculturalimperialismisthemostdelicate,ifithadsucceededindividually,thenthisisthemostsuccessfulpolicyofimperialism.Itspurposeisnottoconquerterritoryandcontrolovereconomiclife,buttoconquertheheartsofpeople’sanduseitasameanstochangethepowerrelationsbetweenthetwocountries......ifculturalimperialismcanachievesuchacompletevictory,whichwouldmakeothermethodsofimperialismredundant.Andthelawpresentedbyculturaldevelopmentandexchangehasalsocontributedtothepromotionofculturalimperialism.Inculturalexchanges,Theflowdirectionofaculturaloftentakestheformofflowingfromacountrywithacultureofstrongradiationforcetoacountrywithacultureofweakradiationforce.Thus,duetotheirweakpositionoftheoverallstrengthinpolitical,economicandotheraspects,developingcountriesareofteninpassivepositionsinculturalexchanges,whichmakesthewesterncountries’implementationofculturalimperialismindevelopingcountriespossible.Culturalimperialismhasthefollowingthreebasiccharacteristics:

intermsofform,itismainlythroughthemassmedia;intermsofthecontent,itmainlypromotespost-modernculture;itmakesuseoftheformofcommunicationtoimplementculturalimperialism.Thesethreebasiccharacteristicsarealsoconsistentwiththedefinitionwhichaconsiderablenumberofpeoplecurrentlyhavedefinedforecessivecolonialism.Andscholarswhoupholdtheperspectiveofculturalimperialismgenerallybelievethattheso-called‘freeflowofinformation’whichadvocatedbytheUS-ledwesterncountrieshasresultedintheseriousunbalanceoftheworld'sinformationproductionandcirculationstructure.Itisreflectedinthefollowingaspects:

first,theimbalanceininformationproduction,namely,theimbalancesofnumberofmediaandmediapower.Second,theimbalanceofinformationflow,thatis,themonopolyofinternationalnews,theone-waycommunicationofpopularcultureandtheimbalanceofdisseminationofcross-borderinformation.Third,theunevendistributionofcontent,ontheonehand,westernmediatransmitalotofwesternvaluesandwayoflifetodevelopingcountries,ontheotherhand,theyalwaysignoredevelopingcountries’economicandsocialdevelopmentandarekeenonreportingdevelopingcountries’scourgeofcrimeandtheharshenvironment,suchassocialunrestandothercontent,distortingandevenvilifyingthedevelopingcountry'simage.Fourth,theimbalanceofresourceutilization,developedcountriesmakeuseoftheireconomicandtechnicaladvantagestofirstleaduptheinternationalpublicresources,whichmakescountriesofthethirdworldencountergreatdifficultiesinthedevelopmentofsatellitetransmission,whichcanbeseenbythebattlefortheinternationalwaveresources.

2.2Thedeclineofculturalimperialism

In1960s,theword‘imperialism’isenoughtodescribethecharacteristicsofthetimes,butnow,'globalization'hasreplacedit.Thisinterpretationindicatesthattoexploreculturalimperialismdeepintothe‘cultureofglobalization’wouldbemorerealisticthantostudyitfromaperspectiveoftheideologicalconfrontation.

Foralongtime,culturalhegemonyhasbeenequatedwithculturalimperialismbypeople.Mostcountriesaroundtheworldcanreceivenews,entertainmentandsportsnewsinEnglishthroughsatellitebroadcast.Itseemsthatalmostalltheworld'sTVsarebroadcastingwiththesameTVshows,eventhoughthecontentisdifferent,therulesofnarrativeisalsoidentical,sincetheyallcomefromNewYork,HollywoodandLondon.SomepeopleworrythatthepopularityofEnglish-languagebroadcastsmakesusincreasinglyclosertotakingEnglishastheonlycommonlanguageofbusiness,research,scienceandentertainment.ManypeoplebelievethattheprevalenceofEnglishposesathreattomanyothercultures.Forexample,thereareapproximately80%oftheelectronicinformationintheworldiswritteninEnglish.English-speakingpeoplearelessthanhalfofInternetusers,however,EnglishisthemainlanguageoftheInternet.U.S.programsmaystronglyadvocatetheideologyofindividualism,andtheywilldestroythetraditionalfamilyvaluessuchasrespectingandloving.Althoughthereissufficientevidencewhichhasprovedthattheglobalizationofwesternmediaproductshascreatedafar-reachingimpactontheculturesoutsideofEnglandandAmerican,whilethereisatrendthatmediacontenttendstodevelopingtowardthedirectionofregionalizationandlocalization,thedevelopmentofculturalisomorphismofglobalizationandregionalizationhasalsocausedpeople’sgrowingconcern.Internationalmediaorganizationsareincreasinglyawareofthediversetasteofotherusers’indifferentpartsoftheworld.Astheycurrentlyoperateintheglobalmarketplacetoadjusttheirproductsandservicestomakethemsuittolocalculturalconditions,whichisimperativeinthecommercialsense.Althoughwhichhasaffectedthemismainlythemarketpowerratherthanaspecialrespectfornationalculture,theglobalmediaconglomerateclearlytendstouselocalculturalresourcestopromotetheirproducts.Somescholarslookontheregionalizationofculturalproductsasalogoofculturalconvergencefrom‘theglobaltothelocal’.Theglobal-localculturalinteractionisleadingtotheformationofamixedculture,itisconsideredtobeblurringtheboundariesbetweenthemodernandthetraditional,thehighandthelow,nationalcultureandglobalculture.Robertsoncalledthisphenomenon‘globallocalization’.Takinginter-culturalintegrationasthefeatures,thisintegrationistheresultoftheuseofnewcommunicationtechnologiestotransformthewesternmediatoadapttothelocallanguage,customsandculturalpractices.

Culturalidentityisnotfixed,itisconstantlychanging.AsStuartHall（1991）said,globalizationhasbroughtsomeimpactonculturalidentity.Culturalcharacteristicshasitssourcesandhistory.However,likeallthehistoricthings,theyareevolvingallthetime.Theycertainlydonotalwaysbelongtoashortperiodoftimeinthepast,butconstantlybeingaffectedbyhistory,cultureandpower.Intheeraofglobalizationwhenthemassmediaintegrateswithahighdegree,whenmediafuelsculturalconflict,italsobuilttheculturalstructureindifferentregionsaswell.Avarietyofsoundsinaworldenablesthevillagersoftheglobalvillageenjoyunprecedentedglobalculturalelements.Whensomebodysaidthatthemedia,culturalproductsseemtocomingfromdevelopedcountries,itcannotbeforgottenthatthedevelopedcountriesthemselvesarealsoa‘meltingpot’.Culturesaroundtheworldcometogether,whichcannotbeinterpretedthroughtheprevious,simple‘culturalimperialism’.Tostudytheglobalculturalconflictandaggregationinabroaderperspectiveisundoubtedlymoremeaningfulthanthesticktoculturalimperialism（DonaldM.Snow.,2006）.

ChapterIIIFromthetechnologydevelopmentofthemediatoanalyzethedifferencesbetweenculturalimperialismandculturaldiplomacy

McLuhan（1968）hadafamoussaying:

themediumisthemessage,thatistosay,whatcontentshavebeendisseminatedbythemediaisnotimportant,theimportantisthatthemediaitselfexistsasamessagesymbol.Indeed,tosomeextent,themediaareasymbolofsocialdevelopment,astheprimitivetribeisnotlikelytoemergeinanewspaper,in