Blog 2: Cultural Globalization——HUANG CHENXI

Summary

In the article Cultural Globalization, John Tomlinson talks about how globalization and culture are connected. Globalization is not only about business and the economy. It is also related to politics, technology, the environment, and our everyday culture. Today, people from different countries can communicate more easily, and we can see many things from other countries in our daily lives. For example, we can listen to foreign music, watch movies from other countries, and buy products made in different parts of the world.

The author explains that culture is not just something that globalization changes. Culture can also influence globalization. Our daily choices, such as what we buy, what we watch, and what we like, can become part of global connections. I think this is an important point because globalization sometimes sounds like something very big and far away from our lives.

Another idea in the article is about whether globalization will make all cultures become the same. Some people worry that Western culture will spread everywhere and local cultures will disappear. However, the author does not think globalization automatically creates one global culture. Even when people use the same products, they may have different ideas and cultural values.

The article also introduces deterritorialization. This means culture is becoming less connected to one particular place. Because of the Internet and modern technology, people can experience cultures from other countries without actually going there. At the same time, local cultures still exist.

Finally, the author talks about cultural identity and cosmopolitanism. People can have more than one cultural identity, and they can care about their own culture while also respecting other cultures. Globalization may give people more chances to understand the wider world.

New / Interesting / Unusual Things

One thing I found interesting was the idea of deterritorialization. Before reading this article, I had never really thought about the relationship between culture and geographical places. I usually thought that if I wanted to experience another culture, I needed to visit that country. But after reading this part, I realized that I had already experienced this in my own life.

For example, I have liked K-pop for a long time. Before I came to Korea, I often listened to Korean songs and watched performances online. Sometimes I also watched Korean variety shows. Even though I was living in China, I could still enjoy Korean entertainment and learn a little about Korean culture. I think this is a good example of what the author means.

Another interesting point was that globalization does not mean everyone will become the same. I used to think that if people around the world liked the same music, movies, and brands, their lifestyles might slowly become similar. But the article made me think about this differently. People can enjoy the same things but still have different habits and ways of thinking.

After coming to Korea, I noticed this more clearly. I like Korean food and enjoy learning about Korean culture, but I still miss Chinese food sometimes. I also keep my own habits and talk with my friends in China. I do not think liking another culture means I have to stop liking my own culture.

This part of the article helped me understand that different cultures can exist together in one person’s life. I think this is something interesting about globalization.

Question / Concern / Discussion Angle

After reading this article, I started thinking about social media and how it affects our understanding of other cultures.

Today, we can learn about other countries very easily through TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and other platforms. For example, many people become interested in Korea because they watch K-pop performances or Korean dramas. I think social media is very useful because it gives us chances to see things we might never experience in our own country.

However, I also wonder if social media sometimes makes us misunderstand other cultures. Most of the videos we see online are about interesting, beautiful, or popular things. We do not always see the normal or difficult parts of everyday life.

Before I came to Korea, I learned many things about Korea from the Internet. But after living here, I found that real life was not always the same as what I had seen online. There are also ordinary things like studying, doing homework, and dealing with language problems. These experiences made me realize that watching videos about a country and actually living there are quite different.

So my question is: Does social media really help us understand other cultures, or does it sometimes make us see only one side of them?

I think social media is a good way to become interested in another culture, but it is not enough to understand everything. We should also try to learn about people’s real lives and listen to different opinions. For me, globalization is not only about seeing more things from other countries. It is also about learning how to understand people who have different experiences from us.