Lioudmila Berlejung 1

http://gsevenier.online.fr/culturalImperialism.html

This article deals with the phenomenon American Cultural Imperialism. Its title already points at the ambivalence of the Transmission of the American Culture. The opinions to this point are so very different. Cultural Imperialism is nothing but  imposing of cultural values of one nation to other countries.

Through the media America is spreading some universal values and human rights. In the study of Cultural Studies we deal with definition(-s) of the Americanisation. The English Journalist W.T.Stead defined it in the year 1901 as “ the growing power of the United States not only in military and economic terms but also in the area of ideas, values and culture. “ If we think of the values we think first of all about American ideals of equality, freedom and democracy. Most of the countries in the World especially  in Western Europe take them for granted. Authoritarian states that disregard human rights and undervalue women and children see these ideals as evil. Consequently is America for them a foe.

In the article of Gaelle Sèvenier two definitions of American Cultural Imperialism are presented. The first one is of Irving Kristol “ the emerging American imperialism presents imperialism as an unintended consequence of market expansion rather than of a conscious goal”. The second definition of Christopher Dunkley states that with the help of this phenomenon that America provides some of the best available anywhere in the world. One of the reasons that American series are so successful in the world is that “ thanks to its immigration policies, the US has a population with the mixture of Anglo Saxons, Scandinavians, Asians and so on that provides American broadcasters with a domestic audience which is , to all intents and purposes international”. Christopher Dunkley underlines in his definition the immigration aspect.

MacQuali’s theory states that not only was United States influencing other cultures, but other cultures were also influencing the US. In this context we are talking about the interpretation of cultures instead of American invasion.

The USA exports worldwide not only the information but also its good. There is hardly a person on our planet who is not familiar with Pepsi, Coke, McDonalds. Who is not aware of Hollywood that dominated the international film industry? As for me I take these goods for granted. But lots of people who I am acquainted with I very angry about this fact . They see the expansion of the American goods as threat for the national economy.

Today, the spread of American culture goes through every communication medium: 90 % of the information available on the internet is in English, CNN is seen in 120 countries.

The American dominating involvement on the political scene is treated ambivalently. Some people see it a rescuing act for our planet but the others ( mostly authoritarian states ) treat the interference of the United States as threat.