Job Discussion Forums

[arioch36]

Is American culture really that young? In China, they talk about their 5,000 years of culture. I know more about Confucious (Kongzi) then 99% of my students. I don't know if it is true, but someone said that america has the oldest continous government. China's is just 50 years old. They tried to destroy their past culture. Now, many of the things considered "culture" have been recreated, invented, just like much of the Great Wall (They are now busy adding new sections to the Great Wall)

Does American culture start only with Jamestown or the Mayflower. Or did the first Euopeans to take control of the continent come with a culture already established?

Is "traditional" American culture new, or is it an old culture (or many old cultures) that had a rebirth, a chance to grow up and become expressed in new ways. Has America been grafted on to old culture, or is American culture a new offshoot which has allowed other cultures of imigrant to become grafted on. In either case, is the culture really only 250 years old?

And please...america IS NOT a democracy!

[october]

Hollywood is not culture but an indusrty we choose make or not to make a culture of. This is not culture based but again education!! and "real violence" on TV ?? that has nothing to do with culture.
Real violence or antiguinizing between different people living in the same country is not culture either but historical anger and all about stupid territory claims. I agree with the opinion that we are all passing through and we must respect each culture we live in. Saying like "this g-d dams yankees" show ignorance and a scar from the past not culture!
and real violence- i live in it almost every day of my life - i witness it all the time - this is not a symbole of culture.
A culture has to be something good!

[Roger]

In my previous post I mentioned politics as a culture defining element. We can all see that politics has the most formidable impact on culture - in a democracy (well, some say the USA has no democratic system, but Americans are trying to play by democratic rules anyway) culture is the product of more participants than the national culture of a one-party country is - just compare formerly-fascist Chile with its more more recent incarnation, compare any Western country with Burma or China or North Korea. Compare even Hong Kong with its "motherland" that abides by separate rules within one country and two systems.
Culture is what we all contribute to it, the sum total of intellectual and material improvements or innovations. Applying the term of "culture" to "arts" is too exclusive. In the Germany of the 19th century, the arts were thriving (Mozart, Beethoven) as much as the industrial genies were (railways, cars, electrification, invention of pesticides and fertilisers foragriculture, medical breakthroughs, philosophy).
It is a sad thing when culture gets nationalised - what happens is, see Germany: Fascism.
I am not afraid of American domination of the arts - if you read Henry Miller you know who inspired him (and other great novelists); the mass entertainment part has to be accepted. I am free to choose those artists whose creations target more elitist "consumers of art", and this choice is still available.
I am more afraid of jingoism, chauvinism, national self-righteousness.

[arioch36]

Is Hollywood culture? Hollywood certainly has its own culture. Whether it is culture or not, I think I would throw Hollywood into the mass media already talked about. But Hollywood/massmedia certainly impacts culture.

How do we know about those damn Yankees? Through mass media. Who is better at shaping our way of looking at life without our realizing it (bseides our parents) then Hollywood? What, the average kid sees how many hours of TV everyday, mostly dominated by Hollywood?

Hollywood destroying culture? I think so, which can only mean that it is playing a significant role in shaping the emerging culture

[Capergirl]

All of my students seem to like Eminem and TuPac (sp?). Is that American "culture"?

[Romulus]

Clambakes- are a real American cuisine or style of cooking similair to a Hawaiin luau.Steamers,lobster,sausage,etc.
Tex-mex- chili,BBQ beef and other foods which is a fusion of native American and European.
Cajun-A mixture of creole,african and indian food known for its spiciness.Jambalaya,Gumbo Pan, Blackened.
Native American-Buffalo,johnny cakes,wild rice,tortillas,etc.
Southern -fried chicken,corn bread,collar greens,black eyed peas,cobbler
Inuit-salmon,seal,whale,etc.
Hawaiin-Kahlua pig,poi,coconut,passion fruit,guava,etc.