Suchergebnisse

The spread of Japanese media culture to many parts of the world has been domestically & internationally acclaimed for its cultural creativity that stands out from its American counterparts & for its promotion of Japan's "soft power." However, such an affirmative discourse tends to ignore how it has been occurring in the uneven globalization process. This paper will argue that the developments of Japanese media culture export are symptomatic of the restructuring of unevenness in the transnational media & cultural flows, in the process of which the logic of neoliberalism has deeply penetrated not only the corporate production & circulation of media culture but also the state's cultural policies in its opportunistic uses to maximize national interests. Adapted from the source document.

An attempt to clarify misunderstandings caused by Marxist & functionalist interpretations of the sociological theories expressed in Jean-Claude Passeron's & Pierre Bourdieu's La Reproduction: elements pour une theorie du systeme d'enseignement ([Reproduction: Elements of a Theory of the Educational System], Paris: Minuit, 1971; English translation, London/Beverly Hills: Sage, 1977). It is argued that most models of sociocultural reproduction are limited to the description of observable & measurable phenomena, serving only a heuristic & systematic function that never permits adequate description of historical changes or logical explanations of the transformations of social systems or subsystems. The Hegelian concept of "internal contradiction" & Weberian notion of "routinization" are discussed in relation to Karl Marx's model of the mode of capitalist production. The contribution of diverse theoretical constructions of sociologists & historians for shedding light on the epistemological presuppositions of such reproduction theories are explored. A framework by which to analyze cultural or social systems of reproduction is offered, & comparisons are made to the models of scholarly autoreproduction & intergenerational reproduction of collective inequalities. Particular attention is devoted to the educational system. It is cautioned that models of sociocultural reproduction cannot be viewed as global models of society, nor as laws or tendencies that govern the order of history. Modified AA

After 1964, Soviet cultural diplomacy used the cinema industry more than ever to compete with its main enemy, Hollywood, in a Cold War battle across different continents. From the famous adaptation of Tolstoy's War and Peace (1965) to the now forgotten military saga Liberation (1971), the first part of the Brezhnev era witnessed an important effort by Moscow not only to recover cinematic territory from Hollywood, but also to counter the Western films whose vision of history contradicted the Soviet vision. Although these efforts seem disappointing, the analysis of co-productions shows that in reality the traditional model of interpretation (efficiency v inefficiency) needs to be reconsidered when studying Soviet cultural diplomacy. Adapted from the source document.

At the end of the XIXth century, protectionism & the survival of smallholders were the main concerns of German agriculture. This can be seen as proof of the failure of this sector to adapt to the burgeoning context of economic globalization. This study aims to show however that the choices that were then made were not the result of agricultural archaism, but rather of an economic strategy of modernization & a willingness to adapt to these new conditions. Adapted from the source document.

L'auteur pense que l'etude de la philatelie des pays de l'Afrique noire independante montre dans quelle mesure ceux-ci ont su preserver leur authenticite nationale meme s'ils sacrifient trop souvent aux gouts et aux exigences des consommateurs etrangers; celle-ci demeure l'expression culturelle et artistique d'un pays. Il analyse dans quelles mesures les timbres poste restent le symbole de la souverainete des Etats tout etant des objets utilitaires soumis aux lois de l'offre et de la demande et dependant des techniques etrangeres. Il recapitule l'histoire des organismes postaux et le role joue par les collectionneurs, nostalgiques des empires perdus. Il etudie le sens et l'origine de la panoplie d'allegories et de symboles que l'on retrouve sur les timbres, essentiellement des pays de l'Afrique francophone, et tente de mettre en exergue les realites de l'Afrique derriere les placages qui sur meme sur les timbres, reste ecartelee tout en cherchant a forger son unite. L'auteur termine son article par un tableau representant la production philatelique par pays. (DÜI-Mfg)