This week we discussed many new concepts to help classify global growth and better understand which sociological ideas apply. One of these concepts was hybridization, which is the mixing of cultural elements while still keeping the structure of the culture in tact. We can see this by looking at the United States as a salad instead of a melting pot. In place of many cultures coming together to make one consistency, like a homogenized world, we can view each part of the salad as it it.
I think the idea of hybridization is every present in pop-media and society. It is becoming ever popular to be "global" and see other aspects of a culture without actually leaving the United States. The two examples we talked about in class are the film Slumdog Millionaire, which talks about slums in India and it all ends up connecting to a game show, Who wants to be a Millionaire. The other example that I decided to dive into was Shakira. She performed a song called Waka Waka, translated to "Time for Africa," at the World Cup in 2010. There are mixed views on this song choice and the artist singing it.
Some South Africans found it offensive that a Colombian woman, who has no cultural ties to the Cameroonian marching chant was therefore overstepping her boundaries as an artist. Others felt it was OK because a group with African heritage was playing along side her called Freshlyground. Finally, some just enjoyed the idea all together because people got to experience a small part of African culture. I understand where the anger is steaming from because even this small amount of African culture is manipulated to appeal to the crowd and to make the song more mainstream or popular. The article I included provides a video of Shakira singing Waka Waka, a video of the African group, Freshlyground playing music, and a bit more insight on the issue surrounding the World Cup song.
I prefer to look at the globe with hybridization in mind because as people we should not lose our identity. Each individual makes up a fraction of the world, no matter how small and that contributes to the plethora of cultures in it. Although Shakira does show some prime examples of hybridization, I believe it is more important for countries to represent themselves in the cultural market.
Article and videos ---> http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/blog/2010/06/world-cup-song-by-shakira-stirs-controversy.html
Hey Hannah,
ReplyDeleteI too can see where some people would be upset with Shakira for this song, being that she had no cultural ties and that it was an attempt to make money but I think as the phenomenon of globalization continues we will see examples like this increase. Really its has been happening ever since the dawn of humanity, like when the Europeans took African and Native American farming technologies and made them their own, but I think as we are ever more connected via the media and the internet we will see even more hybridization taking place. A current example I remember seeing was on Selena Gomez adopting an Indian flair to her music and attire. She even wore a bindi in one of her videos and it caused controversy too.
Hey Hannah,
ReplyDeleteI think you bring of great ideas in your blog this week, I think the one that really stands out is the idea of hybridization. I agree with you that looking throught he scope of hybridization is really one of the best ways to go when looking at globalizations. I do feel torn with the whole Shakira incident because there are far too many sides to view it from, but I agree that it is a great example of hybridization. Good read!