Konnichiwa, My Name is Fa Mulan Smith

Hollywood plays such a huge role in the way cultures are represented and perceived. I had never really thought about the inconsistencies, stereotypes, and misrepresentations of cultural groups that Hollywood has portrayed over the years until this class. I have seen "Mulan" several times and never once did I think about the huge inconsistencies that the movie exhibits. Fa Mulan is a Chinese woman living in China during 5th century amidst the Hun (Xiongnu) Invasion. There are many clear indications that the movie takes place in China and the characters are Chinese such as, the surname Fa is Chinese, the Great Wall of China and the Forbidden City are seen throughout the film, and their are Chinese cultural symbols such as fireworks and "Chinese Dragon Dance." However, there are many inconsistencies and blurring of Chinese culture with other Asian cultures, especially Japanese. For instance, Mulan is dressed up like a Japanese Geisha at the beginning of the movie and her father's army gear looks more like a Japanese Samurai than a Chinese warrior. This cultural borrowing and blurring of cultures is known as transculturation.

I also have never realized how Disney movies are almost always "Americanized." In addition
The film also goes on to exhibit American values that would not have been seen in any ancient, or present, Asian culture. In the Chinese legend of Mulan, Mulan was a very filial and obedient daughter, a valued quality in the Chinese culture. However, the Disney version of Mulan is barely obedient, especially when she doesn't even ask to take her father's place in the army; she just leaves. This clearly exhibits an American attitude to the situation. Also, the love between Mulan and her father is more reciprocal, an American trait, whereas the love exhibited in the Chinese legend is more obligatory. Feminism is also very present in the Disney film. Feminism is also a very Western value, not often found in Chinese culture.

Obviously these things don't mean much to the movie's demographic, but on a cultural level, this movie can seem a bit offensive.

Cultural Diplomacy

I think Martha Bayle's article "The Return of Cultural Diplomacy" makes a good point about American pop culture in countries around the world and whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing. Being a foreigner to the United States I have experienced the impact of its entertainment in another country. I understand how watching shows like CSI and Desperate Housewives can cause a negative perception about Americans. I would like to think that people aren’t naïve enough to believe that Americans really live these lifestyles. However, those who have never been to America have no reason to not believe; this is the entertainment America is sending them about themselves, so why not believe it?

I think spreading jazz music during the cold war probably did help cultural diplomacy at the time. However, American popular culture is different now than it was back then. Music like rap contains a lot of profane lyrics, and the TV shows and movies have many unrealistic storylines that may confuse foreigners about what Americans are really like. I enjoy American music, TV shows, and movies. However, the majority of people around the world, especially in Muslim countries may not. Therefore, I think for entertainment purposes American pop culture is great. However, I personally don’t believe it's a good source for cultural diplomacy because a lot of the time popular culture is not a realistic representation of that society.

In regards to the ethnography presentations, one thing stood out for me and that's stereotyping. One of the issues we had to address was the stereotypes we had about the cultural group. I think whenever were outsiders to a cultural group we will have preconceived notions about them. Therefore, I think this may affect our judgment about them especially when doing a project like this. This is definitely something that I will be paying attention to while working on my project.

Responses to Some of the Cultural Diplomacy Readings

In response to one of the articles that we had to read for last week, “The Return of Cultural Diplomacy,” I think that they tend to underemphasize the impact that U.S. cultural products have. In one section of the article, they remark on how U.S. cultural products have been declining in popularity in certain areas of the world. However, I would argue that although some media forms that are exclusively in English are declining in popularity, the stories and structures of many of these media products are still spreading in use and have been effective in spreading American ideals. I know that a few years ago when I was on a student exchange trip in Russia, I was sitting in my host family’s kitchen when I suddenly heard a familiar tune wafting in from the living room. When I walked into the living room, I saw that most of the family was watching a Russofied version of the once popular show, “The Nanny.” The plotline was exactly the same as the American version, and the only big difference was that the characters spoke Russian.

Now, this Russofication of “The Nanny” might not necessarily spread American values or act as a form of cultural diplomacy, but its success shows that American products are still viable (albeit in different forms) in many parts of the world. The article also failed to talk about the success of a variant of “American Idol” in the Middle East. This show, unlike the example used above, does promote American values by giving usually disenfranchised people the chance to practice voting when they choose their favorite candidates on the T.V. show. Other shows that the article also failed to mention includes the show “Friends,” which was popular in Egypt and which is very popular in China now, which gives common people a largely positive view of the United States.

One more comment that I would like to make is in regard to the article about the Confucian centers being set up around the world to promote a positive view of China. Not only are these centers largely used to promote learning only the Chinese language (a shortcoming the article mentions), but also I believe the Chinese are going about cultural diplomacy all the wrong way. Confucian centers are limited in their ability to reach the general populace, and act more like a plethora of small embassies than anything else. If the Chinese want to be able to change a nation’s views on China, I believe that they will have to create cultural products like those produced by American companies now. I believe that this is the most viable form of cultural diplomacy because inherent in selling any product is taking into account local tastes and interests, thereby ensuring the widespread consumption of the cultural product. If a product is not widely consumed, no matter how effective it is on the few people who consumed the product, then the product is an inefficient use of resources.

What Do Culture and Cultural Diplomacy Mean to You?

I really enjoyed watching the first two ethnography presentations and seeing what cultural group they looked at. Both were interesting because they looked more at a cultural space, rather than a specific cultural group. This made me realize how hard it is to find a clearly defined cultural group. Even groups like Jewish people or Mexicans are not as obviously defined as we might think. There are some people that do not consider themselves part of the group, although they may fit all the criteria. For example, is a student that was raised Jewish, but does not agree with the religion’s beliefs considered part of the cultural group or not? What about someone who is not of Mexican heritage, but has lived in Mexico since they were a child, are they considered Mexican? This goes back to the topic of culture that we talked about in the beginning of the year. What is culture? How can we define it? These ethnography projects reaffirm that culture has many different meanings for many different people.

This connects to our readings about cultural diplomacy. I think that there are so many disagreements about what cultural diplomacy should involve because cultural itself is so hard to define. What aspects of our lives as Americans can be considered our culture, and what parts of this “culture” do we want to share with others? Part of the issue with cultural diplomacy may be that there have only been serious efforts to export American pop culture, but this is only a small part of who we are. We need to try to show the world the more meaningful side of our culture, rather than just violent movies and pop music.

Its the Culture, Stupid

It is the culture, stupid. It always has been.

As a currently applicant for a Boren Scholarship, a Fulbright one-day-hopeful, and engaged student of International Studies, cultural diplomacy and the idea that communication through non-political means can bring about change from the inside of rigidly anti-American societies is my raison d'etre.

However, the conference we attended two weeks ago, and this article, highlight the importance of what has in the lag 1970s Moscow st decade been considered a diplomatic relic of the Cold War. This is abhorrent. What makes the story of Voice of America antiquated?

Dr. Schneider's article echos my sentiments exactly.

I encourage interested classmates to also read this Foreign Affairs article, which underscores many of the same sentiments: http://www.foreignaffairs.com/print/59359

On Gross National Cool

I found the 2002 Foreign Policy Article on Japan’s Gross National Cool intriguing, in how challenge us to reconsider the economic prerequisite for pervasive and persuasive international soft power.

The article highlights that in the 1980s, when Japan was at the peak of its 30 year climb from post-war destruction, its cultural influence on the rest of the world was minimal. Even though full employment and national pride were abundant, the country could not seem to reach out to foreign markets. The author of the article proffers that since Japan’s population was much older, youth culture and new ideas had no voice.

Now with an embattled economy, and the value of its much younger population—aptly deemed ‘child kings,’ Japan has found a way to become a regional and larger international influence. Nike, Sony, and Hello Kitty are examples of Japan’s success, and even though the countries hard infrastructure and economic portfolio have a loose footing, Japan has found a way to circumvent traditional power norms with mere aesthetics

Japan is obviously the greatest globalization success story, but maybe bits and pieces of its recent history could be adapted to the less powerful, fledgling democracies of the world. Maybe with a small amount of aid they can develop small a small infrastructure that can support. a niche into the international consciousness.

Hip-Hop Ya Don't Stop

After reading "Cultural Diplomacy: It's the Culture, Stupid" I now realize how much of a role the media plays in our perceptions of other ethnicities, religions, and cultures. In fact, I never really would have thought that media and culture would play such a large part in relations and perceptions of people in other countries. As far as media goes, I think it is really important for everyone, especially Americans, to understand how important the potrayal of cultures are. Our minds and opinions are so easily shaped around the images that we see on the television and in movies. It seems that whomever is our political enemy is, whether it be the Russians during the Cold War, or Middle Eastern Muslims during the post-September 11th period, they are also our cultural enemy, best represented in television and movies. There are very few examples that I can give where a Middle Eastern person is the protagonist in a movie or television episode, whereas I can give countless examples of Middle Easterners as "the bad guys."

However, culture and media can have a positive effect on cultural relationships as well. In the article by Cynthia Schneider she says that people in Egypt based their opinions off of the television show, "Friends." In this aspect, we can use media as an advantage to further our political and cultural aims across the world. We can show other countries that all Americans are not filthy rich money grubbers and power hungry tyrants. In the same aspect, Schneider claims that hip-hop and jazz can bring our different cultures together because everyone can identify with a similar struggle. We are not so different from Russians and Middle Easter Muslims, and we can used culture and media to bring us close together and further our understanding of each other.