Ethnography and Prejudice

In class on Thursday, two groups presented their ethnographies -- one on the students of Howard University and the other on the culture of "the Dav." Each was interesting in its own way, but there seemed to be an underlying similarity between the two. Each group, as instructed, discussed the prejudices and preconceptions that they had to conquer in order to give a fair and unbiased report. This led to many interesting questions as I mulled over my own preconceptions of the culture that my group has chosen (it's a secret!). How, in fact, do we get rid of these notions? Is it even possible? Should we choose a group with which we have NEVER had experience?

I know it is very hard to get rid of our prejudices (trust me, I've tried), but I feel that there should be some sort of process for ethnographers to do so. I believe that this task IS possible, but like I said, extremely hard. However, I don't think that we are safe from any type of prejudice, even ones against groups that we have never seen. For instance, I read an ethnography about a car theft ring, and immediately, I was prejudiced, thinking that the members were just common criminals, and deserved to be punished. I have never come in contact with anyone from this sort of culture, but still, I had my own preconceptions. So, how do we keep these theories and thoughts at bay? I believe that we have to keep an open mind and see everything relatively. What do you think? Do you think it's possible for an ethnographer to stay free of any and all prejudices?

Ethnographies

I really enjoyed the first two presentations on cultural groups, both here at AU and also off campus. And I started to think about the term itself, ethnography. It breaks down to ethnos, which means people and then graphy or graphein which means writing. It is about observing other cultures and people in their "natural" setting or whichever setting you want to observe them in, work, social life, etc. It is a given then that because there is no empirical evidence, that the findings are subjective. And although I knwo most researchers try and eliminate their bias, it is hard to elimante something you are unaware of. If one of your own cultural beliefs is ingrained in you, then you might be focusing on the lack of it in otehr group unknowingly. Or when looking at groups of a different race, there has been so much institutionalized racism in our society we might over look that we are placing that bias on people. I found that these concerns most definitely affect students like us who are approaching this for the first time. We don't really know what to block our from our own perceptions or how to tell if others are aware of our presence. For instance, in our own ethnography we were looking at a group of people we knew little about structural and could not get an indepth view on without approaching them so once they were aware f our presence they coudl have very well changed how they reacted to proposed situations. Or in the Howard example, I am curious to see if another group of students from GW or georgetwon went to Howard, would they have acted the same?
Therefore I think ethnographies present a good starting point for oberving culture and drawing conclusion, but there are so many things to take into consideration that would alter those resutls, I question its efficiency.

Cultural Diplomacy

Thinking about what were discussing in terms of cultural diplomacy, the question of whether the U.S. had its own culture came up. It is hard to come up with a clear cut answer because, as we've said before, the U.S. is one big "salad" of cultures. At the same time, however, there are many examples in popular culture that shows the U.S. "Americanizing" movies, games, T.V. shows, etc. The movie Mulan is just one example of our so-called culture extending into another, forming a sort of "hybrid" culture. This also touches upon what Allison was saying about the cultural diplomacy conference attended. One of the speakers mentioned how important it was to join together with other cultures to form this sort of "hybrid" culture. If we joined forces and worked together, extending our culture onto one another, I think a lot would be accomplished. Learning about each other's cultures is not only beneficial in terms of sharing ideas, but also to create more diversity.

Cultural Diplomacy

I found it interesting that the Writers Guild's panel decided that Hollywood was not to blame for the negative opinions of America abroad. While the entertainment industry is certainly not the only contributor to our nation's reputation, it is clearly a contributor. As the Newsweek article mentions, movies and television shows often exemplify a "vulgar, violent, vitriolic" America that has a negative effect on our image. A recent Gallup poll proves this point. The poll (which asked individuals whether they approved or disapproved of the leadership of the United states) showed only a 15% approval rating of the U.S. among individuals in the regions of the Middle East and North Africa. A more important question to me is this: does it matter? Maybe this is just a little ethnocentrism speaking, but I feel like the United States is one few countries obsessively trying to export their culture. I get that the industry wants to open foreign markets in order to make more money (hey, Transformers 2 cost over $150 million to make) and I understand- to an extent- that the U.S. wants to improve the image that decades of self-centered foreign policy has created. But maybe these two things don't go together. Maybe the best way to improve our image is not to suffocate our friends (and enemies) overseas with CSI and Batman. Another Gallup poll showed a correlation between the development of communications infrastructure and disapproval of the United States. (Am I addicted to Gallup? The answer is yes.) According to the surveys, the areas that are the most connected to communication infrastructures had the highest disapproval rating- 54%.
Someone at the cultural diplomacy conference emphasized promoting cultures working together. I believe he mentioned artists from different countries working to create a joint project. I think it is this type of cultural diplomacy that the government should be focused on. We have such a culture of convenience in the U.S. that it is only natural for us to expect that sharing (I use this term loosely) our culture with others should follow the same formula. But that is not the case. Of course, the government is a creature of habit and is going to continue beating that dead horse. In the Omnibus Appropriations Act which passed in March, $341 million was given to the Federal Communications Commission to make worldwide communication services available. This is not to say that U.S. shouldn't be providing worldwide communication services, but that maybe we need to alter our approach to "communications".

Cultural Diplomacy

When I first heard this term I was intrigued as to what exactly it means and how it is looked at in real context. Upon first hearing the term, it sound as such a lofty idea and now I find it funny that talk of this idea has become politicized. Personally, I would summarize cultural diplomacy as appreciating another country's culture and expressing interest in it, while also recognizing certain actions as a direct effect of their cultural norms. Furthermore, I found it very interesting to hear ambassadors and figures of authority discussing how we can improve cultural diplomacy and develop programs to enhance it.
The panel surprised me with everyone's concern for this issue and input on the situation. Who even knew there was a situation? I figured if people want to learn about a culture they will go out and learn about it themselves.I never thought culture would be brought into a political context as jsut another tool for winning the other side over, gaining an ally. Instead to me it is about appreciating for it's value and influence on you, not what you can get out of the relationship by "appreciating it". The talk about developing programs makes it sound forced, as if these other cultures are so boring, no one would be interested in them unless told to do so.
And for the United States, maybe if they want to increase cultural diplomacy they should let ambassadors stay in a country for more than two years if they so desire. And we should make it easier for people to visit our own country so that they are not only influenced by the mass products that make it across the media connections, like Mcdonald's or reality shows. I feel as if the term cultural diplomacy is unncessary and a redundant term, because globalization in itself, heigtens the sharing and knowledge of cultures among nations, so we create another term that is jsut a broad? If only to make governmental figures feel more secure in their efforts, when they say we have attained a high level of cultural diplomacy, while to a normal individual, the idea escapes them because we do not use that phrase.

Cultural Dimplomacy Conference

A couple of things were impressed on me at the conference last week. The first was, obviously, the importance of cultural diplomacy and cultural awareness. The second however is a kind of negative, so I want to put out a disclaimer: I really liked the conference and thought a lot of important things were brought up. Anyways, I was struck by the lack of depth of content on the part of some individuals. Allow me to explain what I'm trying to say. For example, one woman (I believe she was the wife of the U.S. ambassador to Russia) spent a solid ten minutes talking about everything her embassy had done; to be more precise, all the money they had invested in so-called "cultural diplomacy". During the break, a man standing nearby was talking to me about the panel thus far. When I brought up what this woman had talked about, he told something along the lines of "she's a heavyweight of diplomacy, you should really listen to what she says". This sort of surprised me. I guess what I'm trying to get at is this: I feel like a lot of adults think their title should speak for them. In the world of diplomacy, this sort of mentality will not suffice. In any career you should have the knowledge to back up your title. I think this is especially important in international relations.

Disney-fying Mulan

One of the articles that we were asked to read for this week was about the Disney-fication of the Chinese story of Mulan, a young girl who pretends to be a man and takes her father's place in the army. I can still remember sitting in the movie theater, watching as the credit sequence unfolded, revealing the Great Wall being painted by an invisible hand in dark watercolors. It was like nothing I had seen before, so, of course, I was enthralled. However, I think I would have appreciated it more had I known what I know now after reading this article.

Two things (one being a sort of branch of the other) struck me about this article. Firstly, I was appalled to learn that the creators had tried to make Mulan a love story. As Joseph M. Chan reports in his article, the original text is "about filial piety, which is traditionally ranked as the most important virtue" (232). Understandably, Disney wanted to adapt the story to make it "work" in the American film circuit, but, seriously - a love story? To me, this is an issue of respecting the original cultural text. Readers, do you agree that it was the duty of Disney to stay within the reasonable bounds of the original story? 

As an offshoot of this issue, the heads of this project made the writers, who had been working on Mulan for at least two years, completely rewrite the script, making it about a woman who found her own strength through her trials. Okay, so it's not the original message, but it's much closer, right? Still, do you think it was the responsibility of Disney to respect the culture of China and to produce a film that closely followed one of its cultural texts? Or do you think this deviation is acceptable, making it both enjoyable for the American audience while reminiscent of the original story? Also, I'm curious to hear what you would think if Disney hadn't been presented with this story at first. What if this were a known story in America (that is, before this movie) and they had decided to use it to create a new project? I'm not sure I could say just how I would feel if this were the case. 

Mulan and the Cultural Diplomacy Seminar

I would like to start off saying that I truly enjoyed reading about Mulan in the perspective that we did. I am among many who watched Mulan as a young girl, but what amazed me is how much thought went behind the making of the movie. From the story behind it, to the style in which the characters were animated, every detail had to be considered. Traditional Chinese values had to be incorporated into the movie, but they also needed to make it enjoyable for children to watch. Because Mulan was shown to people all over the world, many accommodations needed to be made. Disney brought in all types of specialists and people of Chinese descent in order to produce a popular children's movie. Joseph F. Chan, author of "Disneyfying and Globalizing the Chinese Legend Mulan: A Study of Transculturization", writes:

"The idea is to get a first-hand feel of the actual location of their screen stories. The influence of the field trip shows in the movie, as evidenced by the presence of Chinese scenes such as vilions, tomb slabs, vertical flags and Budha caves. The influence also shows in the heavy use of spareness and simplicity, a visual style often found in Chinese art" (236-237).

I thought it was incredible how much thought and communication had to happen in order for the movie to be successful. Furthermore, it was the first Disney movie that used Chinese influence and didn't use the usual "Disney formula" where there is a love interest. I think Mulan successfully mixed Chinese and American culture to form a truly amazing movie.

The seminar we went to today, really helped to tie our talk about global media and culture. I thought it was really interesting to hear from a variety of panelists and to get their take on what cultural diplomacy meant to them. Even though some thought the man talking about Russia was too specific, I actually thought what he was saying was interesting. I liked hearing about what Russians thought about our culture and was surprised to hear that they weren't as enthusiastic about our culture as they used to be. The speaker explained that the Russians seem to think that they care more about our culture than we do about theirs. They also take culture a lot more serious and believe it makes up their identity. I enjoyed hearing about this alternate perspective on American culture. The different studies that were discussed and various points about the arts promoting diplomacy made me realize how important cross-cultural communication is. Without it, we would not have dialogue and would not know anything about other cultures. We would ultimately become isolated. Overall the seminar was fun to hear and I learned a lot.

International Popular Culture

Pop culture is everywhere. Quite literally, one cannot escape it. Every time we walk into a supermarket, there are tabloids and magazines with headlines that seem to be screaming, "Is Jennifer Anniston really happy?" or "Kristen and Robert's wedding!" However, it seems that the American culture is obsessed with only American culture. 

For instance, one of my favorite singers is Jamie Cullum, a fabulous British jazz singer. Whenever I mention him, people always look at me as if I were crazy. "Who is that?" they ask. No one knows his work or anything about him. Unfortunately, this is because the United States seem to be impervious to foreign culture's attempts to penetrate "the scene." Sure, a few people could sing along to the Jamie Cullum originals, or even quote a French movie, but the majority of the population is obsessed about what "our" stars are doing. 

I believe that is why the video portraying the Korean Wave stars so important. For years, I have been trying to introduce the international culture that I have experienced in my years of travel and study to others. It seems as if it's an almost impossible task, but the odd thing is, we never think about this task unless we are forced. How often do you sit in your dorm, thinking, "What new Korean song can I listen to today?" This oblivion is the thing I believe we must destroy to make a more unified and culturally-friendly world. 

Hello!Hallyu

When talking about the Korean Wave in class, I remembered that my friend Cuong is a fan of some Korean dramas. I was intrigued about the whole hallyu phenomenon so I decided to briefly interview him on the subject.
Allison: What parts of hallyu do you follow? (TV shows, movies, music)
Cuong:I follow Movies and TV shows.
A: How did you get interested in hallyu?
C: It's a long story, actually. As a family we've always watched tv shows and movies that were foreign, ie from China/Hong Kong/Japan/ and of course, Korea. My mom is a huge fan of tv shows from Korea and that's how I started watching it. It's really just grown from watching what my parents watch to finding what I want to watch.
A: How do Korean television programs differ from U.S. shows?
C: One of the most basic differences is that a Korean program begins with an end-date where U.S. shows hope to "last". A Korean TV show is filmed with a specific number of episodes to air before the show is over. Sometimes when a show does really well, they'll extend it by a couple of episodes.
A: Do you think hallyu could have mass appeal to U.S. consumers?
C: I definitely think so, the reasons why Korean shows/movies are so fun to watch is because they're equal parts whimsical and dramatic, I've watched movies that have plots that are probably deemed "unreal" for U.S. TV/movies.
A: American entertainment exports have often been accused of promoting American values like capitalism and individualism. What values do you think hallyu promotes?
C: Hallyu promotes family values, your standard good/bad and, as corny as it sounds, overcoming adversity.

A lot of what Cuong brought up was echoed in the Youna Kim article, "The rising East Asian 'Wave'". When talking about South Korea's most popular television show, Winter Sonata, Kim mentions that it showcases "love in its purest form". Kim believes Americans would have a hard time embracing an 'old-fashioned' love story; that, as Cuong says, it would seem unreal.
The article also touches upon the values behind Korean shows, such as "family values and traditional emotive delicacies", saying that "Asian sensibilties" are part of what makes the shows so popular. The Joseph Chan article suggests that Americans do not relate to stories of filial piety, or as it's called in China, xiaodao. Chan describes how Disney changed the story of Mulan from a tale of familial duty to one of fierce individualism. If family values don't sell in the U.S., it would suggest that the Korean Wave might not be able to cross the pacific. But I find it interesting that my friend describes Korean shows as more whimsical than American television. With programs like Glee making a dent in the ratings, it seems to me that Americans are looking for more whimsy in their television; maybe the United States could be hallyu's next big market.

POP! There goes my heart

So for those of us who have seen the movie, Music and Lyrics, I have taken a line from one of there songs in order to explain the phenomenon of popular culture. It is addicting like allison was saying, whether it is in print form, TV, film or music, we all have some source we are intrigued or entertained by. We pour our hearts into TV shows, hoping certain characters have relationships with others. Or even in celebrity life, hoping Brad and Angelina don't split. We talk of popular culture as if we are living it and apart of it directly. Using first names of stars as if they are our everyday friends. We dedicate ourselves to ceratin genres of music, and attempt to recreate ceratin astyles of our favorite actresses or celebrity idols.We pour dedicate hours of our time to watching reality TV shows when can go live our own reality. The discussion of the trends and influences of popular culture saddens me, as much as I, myself, am enthralled. It saddens me to think that we care so much about thinks that do not affect us. Or on an opposite end, only those thigns that 'affect" us as Americans.
I would love to watch foreign films and follow foreign bands, but it is extremely difficult with our media lines clogged with American popular culture. I also would love to say I hate these new teenage stars that arise and bands liek the Jonas Brothers, becuase that isn't real music, but I can't help. I still even watch the disney channel at times. I am not as bad as some of my friends who live on people.com and update me 24/7 on celebrity relationships or read spoilers to tell me in advance what the outcome of our favorite TV show is going to be, but the majority of our culture is like that. I think there is something fundamentally wrong with the type of popular culture we have come to idolize. It is fake and has no substance and I think we all as consumers of such media need to demand a change.