Analysis of William Mazzarella's "Culture, Globalization, Mediation"

The author of “Culture, Globalization, Mediation”, William Mazzarella firmly believes that media has become a basic part of our ever expanding culture and undeniably impacts the way people view other cultures. Furthermore, Mazzarella perceives media as a mirror image of ourselves, “It is the process by which the self recognizes itself by returning to itself, renewed and once removed” (2004:357). Thusly, Mazzarella believes media represents us and our culture back to us, thus making media the mediator between the two neutral parties. Media allows the viewer to compare themselves to other cultures all across the globe and see fragments of themselves manifested in other cultures because media gives the viewer access to these images. These presentations of culture through media allows the viewer access to a wide array of culture and the ability to manipulate and influence our own identity with media images that we have been presented with. Thus, a homogenization of culture is produced. This statement is best illustrated in the across the globe popularity of food and beverage chains like McDonalds or Starbucks, were cookie-cutter images of these establishments appear all over the globe, Mazzarella terms this the “McWorld-Style homogenization” (2004:352). Thus rituals of usage occurring in some small town in Canada could essentially also be mirrored in Bangkok. Essentially, a hybrid effect or assimilation is created across cultures due to the onset of globalization and Mazzarella views media as the catalyst.

Furthermore, media can be viewed as a retarding agent on society because authenticity and legitimacy essentially begins to diminish because media can present false images of culture and predators of the market manipulate the market to their advantage, mainly in the form of large scale corporations. These manipulations can have the largest impact on the local in terms of authenticity because with the homogenization of cultures due to globalization, uniqueness of cultures deteriorates and hybridization takes over. This is largely due to the fact that media is so easily accessible by all spheres of society. Thusly, media is essentially a force that is used to change society and does not aid in the understanding of the rest of the world because media supplies the masses with a false sense of culture.

Posted in: Culture,Globalization