Monday, November 23, 2009
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.
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When looking at how cultures of countries or cultural groups are described, people tend to define cultures by unique traits (relative to other cultures) and by outstanding cultural works by members within the cultural groups. I would say that America possesses both generalizable traits and famous cultural products, yet others still question whether America has its own culture. I can discern two reasons why this is the case. Firstly, America is still a "young" country relative to other countries/civilizations, and therefore American culture is, for lack of a better word, not as cultured as its older counterparts. Secondly, I would agree with your assessment that America is a "salad bowl" of disparate cultures, and therefore it is hard to pin down a national culture that represents all of America.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I believe that the reasons listed above did provide enough evidence that America does not have a culture. Just because being "an American" is a newer concept and also that America is a less-bounded culture than others, does not mean that the United States does not have a culture. On the contrary, American culture is just as vibrant as any other, and I believe, given the opportunity and more time, it will become more respected by other cultural groups around the world.