Week Ten: African Media

This past week's class discussed the types of media that are accessible throughout various nations of Africa. As cities and countries across the continent become more developed or "modernized," citizens are exposed to more and more media, whether local, international across Africa, or global. One aspect of this increased exposure to various forms of media discussed in our readings was the idea of "mental modernization.' One young African shared that he was not aware of how poor he was, or how rural his surroundings were until he saw a television program featuring well-dressed characters in an urban environment. It was after seeing this bright and idealized television world that he began to desire a 'better', or more modern life.

The discussion of this phenomenon in rural Africa made me reevaluate Western reactions to media influences, influences which I experience first hand as a born-and-raised American. It is nearly impossible to discern exactly how we are affected by our media in the West, for we are incessantly bombarded with idealized imagery and manipulative messages through our media. I seriously doubt anyone would want a fancy car or a thin body if either were not portrayed as ideal in a variety of media outputs. In a society whose social norm is, to an extent, created by the media, real life often seems not good enough, leaving citizens dissatisfied, in a constant state of want. Now, with British TV shows tackling a few of these issues--for example 'Supersize vs. Superskinny' where two real-life unhealthy eaters are given the tools to reshape their bodies and their diets--I wonder if there will be a shift, however small, in the values of mass society. Can the representation of real people struggling with specifically Western issues (half of the world struggles to feed itself on a daily basis--obesity is the furthest issue from its reality) snap us out of our mental modernist mentality? And how will rural, undeveloped communities compromise their reality with increased Western media exposure? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Week Nine: Spring Break Diasporic Media

On my spring break vacation, I traveled to Florence, Sicily, and Dublin. Though I had travelled to Paris and Amsterdam earlier in the semester, I speak French and practically everyone in Amsterdam spoke perfect English, so it was new for me to be somewhere where I really didn't know the language. With an ear not quite tuned for Italian, I found myself drawn to any type of media put forth in English. In Taormina, a small town on the Southern coast of Sicily, very few locals spoke English, so I was surprised to find that our hotel room broadcasted BBC World News 24/7. It took us two attempts to find a store that sold magazines and books in English (for our day on the beach), one of which was an Art Rock magazine that focused on English indie rock and electronic bands. It was really random, and I wondered why they carried that transnational magazine but not typical international publications like Vogue or Architectual Digest.

It was a nice change in perspective to go somewhere where I felt completely foreign. I feel as an American English speaker that I take for granted the fact that I can speak my native lanuage wherever I go. I feel that the Italian portion of my Spring Break widened my perspective and gave me insight into how it feels for those who enter a new country without knowledge of the language, like many who travel to foreign countries for less leisure-oriented reasons.

Week 8

While exiting the tube station, I spotted a poster for a Bollywood-style theater production of Wuthering Heights, a classic Victorian English romance. I know there have been other Bollywood versions of British literature (namely the film Bride and Prejudice), but I thought the idea of a West End theater production brought the idea even more into the realm of the crossover mainstream. Because the play is targeted towards all types of audiences, it can't be wholly classified as diasporic media, but the play--which is set in India--definitely would have never been conceived without the huge British Asian population in London. Its appeal extends both to lovers of Bronte's story, and to fans of the Bollywood genre.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/mar/17/bronte-bollywood

What I found most interesting about the article above was how the play's cretor found striking similarities between Wuthering Heights and the typical Bollywood plotline. Maybe I'll go check it out.

Post # 6: Jamaican/West Indian Diaspora

During week six's class we discussed the influx of Jamaican and West Indian culture into Britan following World War II. As huge numbers of islanders immigrated to the UK to fill positions left vacant by soldiers, they brought traditions from their homeland into an increasingly diverse United Kingdom. These traditions included food and celebrations, but also longstanding forms of media and communication.

Because of the history of slavery in the West Indies and the lack of public education it entailed, the written word was not the strongest form of communication for those emigrating to the UK. However, letters became a very important mode of communication between families living in Britain, and those that remained on the islands, illustrating the importance of "small" documents as a form of diasporic media. As our guest speaker Yvonne--a second generation Jamaican Briton--stated, only small percentage of these immigrants were literate. Other members of the community relied on one or two people to read and write their letters to and from their homeland.

Another form of diasporic media with roots in Jamaican culture is the "call and response" style of song, where messages were transmitted using catchy tunes and rhythms. This tradition, while seemingly out of date in our world of instant communication, manifests in much of the popular music produced by Jamaican and West Indian Brits. Artists ranging from reggae groups (like Steel Pulse) to hip hop (like Slick Rick) have incorporated traditional musical communication methods into their songs and performances.

Steel Pulse, "Steppin' Out"--the bridge before the chorus works as a call and response between the lead singer (who is Jamaican British) and the backup singers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hdlPzBlil4&feature=PlayList&p=AB203BD9A73F66CA&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=76