From this week’s readings, Shanti Kumar’s argument
about the challenges of overcoming the urge to compare cultures was the one
that mostly inspired my thoughts. Is
There Anything Called Global Television Studies?, Kumar’s circuitous essay,
evokes standard myths that follow – and obfuscates – the concept of
globalization. One of his conclusions is that no study of global television would
be complete without the “subaltern studies”. The concern towards cultural
comparison, combined with the solution through interdisciplinarity, leads to
the idea of Orientalism, developed by
Edward Said in 1978. When thinking contemporary history and postmodern culture,
Said’s notion of cultural representation needs to be taken into consideration.
The main argument that supports this present discussion is the thought towards the
identification of the self when
representing the other. The Orient is
no longer a geographical mark, but rather the foreign culture, the outsider.
Sense8 is an
example of fictional globalization that translates this actual tendency. Even
considering all of its problematic characterizations, the show fits as an
interesting illustration to this discussion. Portraying the lives of people all
over the globe, connected by psychic powers, the show brings to light
particularities of certain culture in a way to connect them to one another.
Within the strategies found by foreign (non-English)
productions, one specifically stands out to me. It seems that local productions
have been redoing conventions typical of Western productions, in a way to
create a product that is appealing to the general audience. Instead of focusing exclusively on local
particularities, these products of media have been developing a trajectory that
goes from micro (as a start point) to macro (as conclusion), reaching aspects
that would share meaning with the dominant western culture. I would argue that
this case is more a strategy to broad the spectrum of audience than a movement
towards disappropriation of cultural particularities.
Here is the trailer of Sense8, for those who haven't seen it yet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9c_KSZ6zMk
Hey, Lille!! I like the point you made about definition of "Orient" and how local production are remaking the western successful production. I agree with you that "Western" and "Orient" is not longer a geographical mark, but they are terms refer to the outsides, higher culture, less developed culture, etc... Even if a product is transfer from the "Western" culture to "Orient" culture, it will not survive unless changes are made. It made me realize the globalization of a show not only occurs when everybody is seeing the same show, but every country is making its own version of that show. Both these phenomena could be globalization of television.
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