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ZorbaTHut  1yr ago (text post)   35166 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of September 19, 2022

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What would a China-led world order look like, in cultural terms?

Its a hypothetical, so let's set aside the probability of such a future for the moment.

Part of what made the US so uniquely influential over the world was that its primary language is widely spoken across the world. And American books and movies feature events and histories from across the world. These two factors have allowed the US to transmit its culture and values far and wide. Americanism is now the de facto culture of the Western web, and it has shaped the cultures of countries as diverse as India, Australia, Israel, the UK, Philippines, etc. Hollywood, comics, animations even back in the rubber hose and classical Disney era, were very popular globally.

But right now, Chinese culture is largely closed off from the outside world. Chinese books and movies are mainly about China. Furthermore, few people outside of China speak Chinese. However, this might not necessarily be a barrier for China to project its cultural capital. Hong Kong films have been very popular outside China too. Kung Fu icons like Bruce Lee left a lasting impact on Hollywood. While this seems to have retreated as a trend in recent years, the mainland Chinese developer Game Science Interactive seems to be intent on marketing Black Myth Wukong to the global audience. And of course, there's Japanese anime and video games, Kpop and Kdrama that have penetrated into the western market despite lingual barriers. Films coming out of mainland China are targeted at the Chinese audience, so they'll likely maintain some form of insularity? The Battle at Lake Changjin and its sequel were extremely successful, easily held up by their massive domestic market. I think HK films will also increasingly rely on the Chinese market as the Kung Fu magic isn't quite working anymore.

Furthermore, if China does compete in cultural hegemony, would the US finally be forced to roll back on its own excesses re wokeism? Or would China continue to be inward looking and be content with its economic weight, and the US would remain the cultural hegemon?

Furthermore, few people outside of China speak Chinese. However, this might not necessarily be a barrier for China to project its cultural capital.

Maybe this is a just-so-story that could be just as easily reversed, but I do feel like the fact that that language is written with a catalog of thousands of characters instead of an alphabet could be a significant source of friction. English's mangled orthography is bad enough - our language may need an orthographodontist to put its letters in braces - but the situation can be worse.

I do feel like the fact that that language is written with a catalog of thousands of characters instead of an alphabet could be a significant source of friction.

There is a compromise, but you're not going to like it.

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