LANGUAGE AND CULTURE IN THE GROWTH OF IMPERIALISM, McFarland, 2012 (original) (raw)
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Language and Culture in the Growth of Imperialism
It studies the history of global aggression and expansion in the Greek, Roman, Islamic, British, Russian, and American empires. It presents imperialism as a cultural phenomenon rather than merely a military and economic expansion. Imperialism is the natural result for a young and vibrant culture, which emerged from a hybrid of languages. It could be a culture that grew in a multi-lingual environment (Greek, Roman, and English), an established culture revitalized by injection of a new ideology (Islamic and Russian), or a language uprooted from its sub-verbal soil and transplanted into a new cultural mosaic (America). These hybrid giants developed a brand new identity and vision of the world, as well as an inflated sense of self, and a desperate need for gratification and glorification. On the other side of this fragile ego is an exaggerated fear, which became the engine of war.
Special Issue: Cultures and Imperialisms
Le Simplegadi, Year XII, Number 12, 2014
Rivista internazionale on-line di lingue e letterature moderne International refereed online journal of modern languages and literatures http://all.uniud.it/simplegadi
Linguistic Paradoxes and Cultural Domination
International Multilingual Research Journal, 2007
Spring (this volume) provides an interesting account of the global flow of education ideas and how it has always been largely motivated by a fear of the "other". In the past, fear of western imperialism had caused Asian countries to westernize their school systems and open their doors to American progressive education. Similarly, fear of the rise of Asian countries had also caused western countries to take Asian models of education seriously. The globalized economy, according to him, has speeded up the flow of educational ideas and the spread of industrial-consumerism. This has led to emergence of the educational security state as the dominant educational model. In his article, Spring examines in particular the rapid spread of English in Asia and the fear of the "other" intensified by globalization. He observes that much of the teaching of English, however, is mediated by local cultural traditions. For example, English is taught through local stories and legends, and not just through American and British literature. Conversely, western cultures and consumerism are mediated through local languages. He argues that though English has become the language of the global economy because of the history of English imperialism, it is no longer a tool for imperialist domination but one for participation in the global economy. The spread of English is self-imposed in non-English mother tongue countries rather imposed by external forces. Moreover, what it propagates is consumerism rather than western cultures and values. Hence, globalization
2006
There are six sections in this paper. In section 1, I summarize views on discourse as a facet of globalization in the academic literature, and then introduce an approach based upon a version of 'critical discourse analysis' (CDA) and 'cultural political economy'. In section 2, I discuss different strategies of globalization (and regionalization) emanating from governmental and non-governmental agencies, and the different discourses which constitute elements of these strategies. In section 3, I discuss how processes of globalization impact upon specific spatial 'entities' (nationstates, cities, regions etc) in terms of the idea of 're-scaling ', i.e. changing relations in processes, relationships, practices and so forth between local, national, and international (including 'global') scales. I focus here upon the national scale in its relation to the global scale and the scale of international regions (in particular, the process of 'European integration'). In section 4 I deal with the media and mediation. In section 5 I discuss people's ordinary experience of globalization, and its implications for and effects upon their lives. Section 6 deals with war and terrorism.