Session 6a: Global Trends and Influences
5th Global Conference
Friday 9th March – Sunday 11th March 2012
Prague, Czech Republic
Global World Revising Words: Globalization and European Culture
Trandafir Andreea Alina
Faculty of Philosophy and Political Sciences, Al.I.Cuza University, Iasi, Romania
This paper relates to cultural identity of Member States of European Union in the context of globalization. It is often stated that we live in an era where most of the social life is subordinated to global processes, an era in which cultures, economies and national borders are about to get dissolved. Although the term itself tends to be vaguely defined and covers a wide range of meanings, the enthusiasm for practicing the new language of globalization has tended to transform itself into a major global phenomenon.
Besides the debate on the legitimacy of political institutions of the European Union, the issue of cultural diversity has become relevant since the last decade. The EU is facing an anthropological and historical problem, involving differences of the cultural, mental and linguistic substrate of the Member States. The system of common values and political institutions is very important to the success of European construction, but it can not dissolve the deep differences related to the symbolic practices shaped by particular historical experiences and which confer an identity to the constituent nations of the old Europe.
We therefore deal with an identity based on differences, but the question is whether we can also talk about an identity arising from the resemblances of various European cultures? Which would be the features that could define its content? And how can a cultural (pan) European identity be built, while maintaining a diversity of languages and local traditions in this area? European identity would be an addition of similar features of different cultural identities or a hybrid “synthesis” thereof? The formula of “unity in diversity” can be a generous slogan used in theoretical and political discourses, but, in fact, we are dealing with a structural report, defining for the human condition, a report that can be extended also on the process of European integration.
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Globalization and English as a Lingua Franca: Is there the Future of Carbon Copy or Inimitable Societies?
Irina Khoutyz
Kuban State University, Krasnodar, Russia
Currently, English is affecting modern languages and local communication styles. Numerous studies by linguists with various cultural backgrounds – Russian, Italian, German, French, Korean, Uzbek, etc. – speak about extensive use of anglicisms in specialized areas and everyday communication, often when local equivalents are available. Yet, anglicisms provide modern discourses with a special flavour, adding situational meanings and fulfilling a function of ideological markers.
However, some tendencies, which happen in Russia, point towards the fact that the spread of the lingua franca, caused by globalization, brings about counterbalancing tendencies. This has been noticed by Fettes (2003: 38), who mentions that “the defence of local interests becomes inextricably tied to the definition and protection of a particular niche in the global linguistic ecosystem”. Therefore, on the one hand, globalization increases Russia’s interconnection with the rest of the world and its similarity with it. On the other hand, there are processes which intensify local features in the events originally caused by globalization. I call it the duality effect, which shows that globalization will not turn our cultures into carbon copy societies. On the contrary, the appearance of features, which establish our cultures and languages as unique, is intensified.
To prove this point, first, I look into the interconnection between globalization and the use of English as a lingua franca in modern Russian society. Changes in the society and use of anglicisms prove that Russians want to be westernized. Then I analyze social transformations which illustrate some ‘Russianness’ in all these processes. This observation can be corroborated by statistical data combined with facts from everyday life. The duality effect is reflected in the changing status of the Russian language (language planning policies), in business practices (‘local’ understanding of universal business practices) and in combination of international socializing patterns (small talk) with local conversational practices.
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“Brave Words”: A Comparative Study of Contemporary Publishing in Small Nations: The Cases of Scotland and Catalonia
Daniel Boswell
Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland
This paper will address the role of art in culture formation and representation at global and local levels by discussing book publishing in political zones which can be defined as ‘small nations’. The specific areas under examination are Scotland and Catalonia. Each is comparable to the other by retaining degrees of autonomy whilst remaining part of a wider political ‘state’.
In these locations the role of cultural production is vital in reinforcing both national and local identity as a primary signifier of differentiation from approximate cultural entities. However each region also embodies many of the inherent contradictory dualisms of cultural identity. Within their publishing sectors, the cultural function of production often necessitates the navigation of two potentially conflicting forces in national development, cultural integrity versus economic growth. This tension between development and the safeguarding of identity enters a new light when set against the background of emergent global cultures. Another intersecting concern for the book cultures of these locations is the problem of language. Scotland and Catalonia are custodians of both local and international linguistic cultures and must navigate these demands with care.
The paper will expound on these issues by investigating the structure of the publishing sectors in the above national cases and highlighting cases of interest, an approach informed by social network theories. The identification of spheres of influence in cultural production in these locations and the comparison of these spheres offer distinct revelations about the nature of cultural production at different levels, informed not individually but as an industrial network with distinct internal and external pressures. Through comparison, the common features present a potential framework model of how local culture is stimulated and grows whilst distinctions draw out the affect differing political and socio-cultural forces may have on this growth.
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