Week 3 - Barker, Chapter 6

It has been interesting for me to read about the hybridization of cultures.A widely shared opinion about globalization in France is that it is basically a form of cultural imperialism, some kind of American invasion. Mac Donald’s has invaded the streets, a huge proportion of movies in theaters come from Hollywood, American music is everywhere, and interestingly this opinion is so strong that a law was passed so that 40% of the music aired on the radio has to be francophone. A lot of artists also come back to older kinds of expression, in music for example where music style from the time when the American corruption hadn’t destroyed all that loved yet.
Some people feel like the American culture (which isn’t a REAL culture, you know… only 300 years old… ha.) is taking over the good French values.

However, Barker makes a few good points. There is no dominance of one culture on the other, but each culture influences and transforms the other.
Mc Donald’s hamburgers will have that “French touch” (even though they will still be frowned upon by purists), French movie producers are adding some Hollywood ingredients to their movies, many songs considered as great accomplishments of the French culture will be bilingual…

So in a sense, globalization really is enriching, culturally speaking. New forms of expression grow from the mix of both cultures and as a “defensive” measure, more traditional forms of expressions are brought back to life and cherished.