Global Television and Cultural Identity Reconstruction Among Moroccan adolescents (original) (raw)

Sciences, Language et Communication

Over the past decades, the concept of media and cultural identity has gone in and out of fashion within media and cultural studies. In fact, in this age of globalization of media and culture, societies have to reconstruct and clearly define themselves within the culture in which they live. This paper attempts to explore implications of global media, especially satellite television, for adolescents' cultural identity formation. The rationale behind this thesis is that adolescents increasingly form multilayered identities because they grow up enmeshed with various cultural beliefs, values and behaviors, based on indirect media interaction. The analysis is principally carried out from the perspective of research on globalization, media and adolescents cultural identity formation. Therefore, two main questions are to be answered. First, How do Moroccan adolescents use satellite television in terms of the amount of time they spend on viewing and the kinds of programs they watch? Does this use differ demographically? (Gender, age, social status, parents, educational level, home satellite television access, religious orientations). Second, to what extent does satellite television viewing context and preferences influence dimensions and indicators of cultural identity? Over 316 students were asked to fill out the questionnaire designed by the author. Results indicated the ambivalent and diverse nature of cultural identity. Finally, findings are discussed based on the results of the study.