One world, one word
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Cable television and other forms of mass media are taking us to a world of linguistic and cultural homogeneity. M. Shafey Kidwai
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Photo: Bijoy Ghosh
Glocalisation TV has made us feel human well-being is inextricably linked to the prowess of consumption
In our post-modern world, it seems nothing can impede the cultural homogenisation of our environment. This unparalleled global integration of values, attitudes and codes of social behaviour is the result of the mass media, which have created an unpre
cedented cultural paradigm. By conjuring up a dazzling environment of sights and sounds through the use of graphics, digital images and the printed word, the mass media throw the spotlight on a reality that is amazingly bereft of local, linguistic, or value-centred specifics. Globalisation and cultural homogenisation have become the central metaphors of this world.
Globalisation is a term that surfaces everywhere, but ‘informatisation’ needs to be made intelligible. ‘Informatisation’ cashes in on the irresistible human instinct for being informed. The mass media nurtured this urge to a point where it is considered a passkey to unlock the gates of all-round progress. The media, especially cable television, takes viewers to a space shorn of local peculiarity, cultural ambience and value system. TV has made us feel human well-being is inextricably linked to the prowess of consumption. Mass media no longer propagate moral or cultural values; on the contrary one sees a world where information and communication technology shape cultural discourse.
Mass addiction
The phenomenon led communication scientists to discuss the “Big Mac Theory” which says people have become addicted to mass media to the extent that they have lost the will to challenge social inequalities and further their adherence to a particular ideology or set of beliefs. Values no longer break into their cascade of thoughts.
We have been forced to find our way in media-generated space that is devoid of region-specific values. In this world, infinite consumption and unending consumerism has become a value. Through its emphasis on vicarious thrills, TV shows how fiendishness has replaced human values such as compassion, equanimity, sensitivity and sympathy in a completely altered social context.
Mass media as the purveyors of social change now concentrate on amusing people continuously, so that coalescence of many and distinct cultures could pave the way for sensory pleasure that is the hallmark of monoculturalism. Through their tantalising power, the mass media ask people to go for imagined hedonism instead of real hedonism, without moving outside the geographical terrain. Now religious pilgrims can use online video streams to have a virtual visit to the places religious importance.
The cultural homogenisation emanating from the glamour and unstoppable spread of globalisation has become almost a socio-cultural cleansing movement, as it has gulped down more that 6000 dialects and languages.
Endangered scripts
Some renowned linguists and anthropologists have predicted that by the end of the century only four scripts of the world will survive. The ceaseless quest for monolingulism has robbed thousands of peopled of their sole means of articulation.
In India, Hindi dailies are on the wane, while Urdu dailies have very limited circulation. That drives the point home that we have been inching towards mono-lingualism. Hindi dailies and popular news channels are replete with English expressions and terms, and their readily available indigenous equivalents are ignored deliberately.
It is time to pause and introspect over the more amenable mode of mass media. There is no denying that values are the mainstay of human existence. Values encompass a society’s beliefs, customs, traditions, and code of social behaviours but they differ significantly in different cultures. Value is not a matter of geographical consideration, and the mass media, instead of propagating certain area-specific values, must concentrate on inculcating freedom of expression, individual resources, rational behaviour and social justice. These values are universal. The mass media falter on this count. For instance, the Pepsi advertisement and its catchline – “Yeh Dil Mange More” mocks at the age-old value of contentedness. It put emphasis on flamboyant consumption.
The pervasive denomination of the mass media for propagating alien values and consumerism has prompted some social scientists and thinkers to propound an alternative theory of mass media.
The theory exhorts the mass media to rivet on glocalisation instead of ‘globalisation’, as it would strengthen culture-specific values.
Global and local
Glocalisation can be defined as the interpenetration of the global and the local (or cultural specific values) resulting in unique outcomes in different geographic areas. The concept of globalisation focuses on the imperialistic ambitions of nations, corporations, organisations and the like, and their desire – indeed, need – to impose themselves on various geographic areas.
On the contrary, glocalisation is a more heterogeneous, diverse, effervescent coalescence of different cultures. Glocalisation is essentially an altruistic phenomenon through which lingual and cultural diversity may seek expression. It is braced for wiping out the miasma of cultural uniformity of creative stagnation. It is intended to arrest the decline of both tangible and intangible elements that are central to the lives of a particular group of people.
Mass media, a major conduit of cultural transmission, can resist the ethics of globalisation by making glocalisation the specific frame of reference. By harping on values, manners and cultural consciousness, media can resurrect their local identities that would bolster glocalisation. If the mass media start inculcating certain values of glocalisation, the global village would be hassle free and cultural exuberance would flourish.
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