LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 13 : 3 March 2013
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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Multicultural Context of Chetan Bhagat’s
2 States: The Story of My Marriage

Ms. Renu Singh, M.A., M.Phil.
Ms. Shikha, M.A., M.Phil.

Globalization Advancing Monoculturalism

We are living in an era of liberalization, privatization and globalization. These ideologies, which were used primarily in the discourse of economics, have come to dominate the discourse of all the social sciences as well as the general social discourse. All these ideologies are so much intertwined and mingled that it is almost impossible to think of them separately and for the present purpose globalization is used to represent all of these together. Broadly speaking, globalization stands for open competition in market, liberal policies and free trade. It has resulted in patterns of life that were never seen nor experienced during earlier times in human history.

Metropolitan cities, information technology, fast food, migration, consumerism, free trade etc. are some of the manifested forms of life. Fresh air and open expanse gives migraine and Malls and multiplexes give a new lease of life. Things have certainly changed. This phenomenon has immense implications. First, and foremost, the center of the inherently hierarchical structure lies with the West and establishes the superiority of Western things like advanced technology, money, cut-throat competition, nuclear-families, success at any rate etc. It sidelines Eastern concepts like joint families, slow-paced life, mutual trust, spirituality etc. By impact, it swallows other cultural patterns, promotes one culture and kills plurality. Everything gets reduced to pay-packages, hotel living, canned MNC food, rapid technological changes and fast changing paradigms. In short, it causes cultural mutations. Though it claims to liberate us from shackles of narrow-mindedness, it seems to be working against multiplicity and advancing Monoculturalism.

Three Definitions of Culture

Raymond Williams cannot study culture without reference to those issues which have become most vital to our understanding of human being and calls it ‘one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language’ (Williams, 1983 87) and proposes three broad definitions. Two of these are broad generalizations and adhered to by majority.

First, culture can be used to refer to ‘a general process of intellectual, spiritual and aesthetic development’ (90). In this sense it may refer only to intellectual, spiritual and aesthetic factors—great philosophers, great artists and great poets and come out to be an understandable formulation.

Second, it may refer to ‘a particular way of life, whether of a people, a period or a group’ and finally it may be used to refer to ‘the works and practices of intellectuals and especially artistic activity’ (90).

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Ms. Renu Singh, M.A., M.Phil.
Assistant Professor
Department of English
Government College for Women
Rohtak 124001
Haryana
India
renu67singh@gmail.com

Ms. Shikha, M.A., M.Phil.
Assistant Professor
Department of English
Maharani Kishori Jat Kanya Mahavidyalaya
Rohtak 124001
Haryana
India
shikhaphogat001@gmail.com

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