Cultural Imperialism

Definitions

• Imperialism is the policy of extending the control or authority over foreign entities as a means of acquisition and/or maintenance of empires.

• Cultural imperialism is the practice of promoting the culture or language of one nation in another.

Cultural Imperialism Today• An American baby food jar with a smiling baby on the

label caused African villagers to be horrified. They thought that "the jar must contain food not made for babies, but made of babies".

• This anecdote illustrates how imperialistic discourses fail to take account how other cultures will adapt and

understand messages that are outside their own cultural framework. They often adapt to their own

purposes the values found in other cultures

The affects of cultural imperialism = cultural misunderstandings

• When Coca Cola was first marketed in China in the 1920's, the name was translated phonetically ("ke-kou-ke-la) to mean "female horse stuffed with wax" or "bite the wax tadpole" depending on the dialect. It was quickly revised to sound more like "happiness in the mouth."

Cultural misunderstandings

• Nike made a television ad promoting it's shoes, with people from different countries saying "Just do it" in their native language. Too late they found out that a Samburu African tribesman was really saying, "I don't want these”

• Ford’s low cost truck the Fiera meant "ugly old woman" in Spanish. It's Caliente in Mexico was found to be slang for "streetwalker." The Pinto was introduced in Brazil under the name of Corcel which was discovered to be Portuguese slang for "a small male appendage."

Cultural Misunderstandings• Chicken-man Frank Perdue's slogan, "It takes a tough man

to make a tender chicken," was remarkably mistranslated into Spanish. A picture of Perdue with a chicken appeared on billboards all over Mexico with the caption, "It takes a man to make a chicken aroused.”

• One beer company put its slogan, "Turn It Loose," into Spanish, where it was read as "Suffer From Diarrhea."

Larger Repercussions• When President George Bush went to

Japan, he made explicit and direct demands on Japanese leaders. To the Japanese it is a sign of ignorance or desperation to lower oneself to make direct demands.

• Some analysts believe it severely damaged the negotiations and confirmed to the Japanese that Americans are barbarians

The Dark Side of Imperialism• The dominant

culture often imposes its beliefs, using force to back them up. One race, ethnicity, or group is often margainilzed based on its identity.

• Imperial Side Affects:Violence, Enslavement, War, Genocide

Destroying Culture• Cultural influence can

be seen by the "receiving" culture as either a threat to or an enrichment.

• However, the dominant culture’s attitude is often that as a conquered nation, those peoples are inferior.

Will the Internet be another source of cultural imperialism?

• 90% of traffic worldwide on the Internet is in English

• Most information and entertainment products are produced by a few, increasingly powerful American companies

• American movies, television, and music are popular throughout the world. Many argue that these serve to inculcate populations with American values while at the same time destroying indigenous cultures

The Gods Must Be Crazy