1.

INTRODUCTION

The history of international communication and cultural interchange is as old as human

civilization (Kamalipour, 2002:viii). Cultural exchange forms a complex part of human
communication phemnomena that has had, and continues to have, a large degree of influence on
the way in which humans create, interpret, and gain understanding from social interaction.
Recent technological developments have allowed cultures from previously isolated regions to
forge relationships and exchange knowledge obtained through generations of collective wisdom
and heritage. However as a result of these new technologies, the term 'globalisation' has
surfaced that encapsulates the bringing together of cultures and countries and the subsequent
exchange of information and new experiences. This globalisation phenomena has not, however,
been accepted with open arms by all, many countries feel that the strongest countries (e.g. USA,
England, etc.) control the information flow through which culture is acknowledged and embraced.
This had lead to minority groups (e.g. Hip-Hop culture, many African tribes, etc) reinstating their
identity in an otherwise mono-cultured global identity. This essay will examine the history of the
western transformation as it has liberated itself from powerful repressive ideologies, as well as
discuss the notion of identity as it relates to Hip-Hop culture as a global minority that is
increasingly been popularised through media imperialism and persuasive symbolic structuring.

2. THE WESTERN TRANSFORMATION: REPRESSION AND LIBERATION

The shift from pre-modernity to modernity has reflected humankinds desire to challenge and
transcend their present condition in an attempt to create a collective and cohesive existence
while still possessing a sense of individuality and uniqueness. From the religious revolution to
contemporary issues of ontology and identity, western societies have continually questioned,
challenged and reformed cultural practices, political structures, economic methodologies and
industrial infrastructures that reflects the dynamic nature that is the human condition.

2.1. Early Modernity

During the 16th century society was exposed to the churches abuse of mythology and
superstition and fraudulent acts amongst religious figures (Burger, 2006:8), this resulted in a
change of worship and people started to question their unchallenged ideas of destiny, the

1
supernatural, and mans relationship and position in the world. During this time members of
society obtain knowledge through the unscientific method of authority, whereby they "relied on
information or answers from many expert (religious leaders) in the subject area (meaning of life)"
(Gravetter & Forzano, 2006:8).

However, religious texts where made available to all when Gutenberg invented the printing press
around the late 1400's. Suddenly society had the means to interpret text for themselves and they
began to believe that information should be documented and built upon (Kamalipour, 2002:13),
this lead to the idea of Empiricalism and scientific understandings.

Science was the premise for many inventions during the 17th century and societies began to
obtain and record vast amounts of knowledge and information from distant lands as well as their
own. Some of these revolutionary discoveries include Newton's law of gravitation; Copernicus'
findings that the earth is round and the realisation of Galileo that the earth does not revolve
around the sun. Subsequently, there was the new belief and trust in knowledge and how
knowledge derived from the scientific methods; this was the beginning of western enlightenment.

As knowledge becomes more accessible and religions structures underwent demythologization,

people began to question other areas of the existence, namely the medieval notion of "common
wealth". Members of society began to discover individual wealth, which lead to the new concept
of competition; this was the birth of capitalism (Burger, 2006:9). As capitalism grew, powerful
nations like Britain began to colonise specific countries in order to minimise the production cost of
manufacturing goods, Britain’s powerful military might led to a euro-centric monoploar world trade
system guided by a newly created money economy.

2.2. The Human Liberation and the Industrial Revolution

This period is primarily marked by the French and Industrial revolutions and reflects man's
"addiction" to individuality and freedom. Humanity aspired to live in an individualistic free society,
which involved minimizing structures of overrule and maximizing variety of choice (Wallerstein,
1999:26). The French revolution marked the destruction of aristocratic rule and the secularisation
of the church, this strengthened humanity's quest for individual rights and freedom resulting from
democratic thought (Burger, 2006:16). Braudel (as quoted by Burger 1999: 16) identifies the four
industrial achviements that resulted in humanities mass urbanisation and mass production and

2
distribution, these include the internal combustion engine, steam, electricity and nuclear energy.
However, these achviements in human rights and industrial production had an adverse affect on
humanities identity and cause further demythologization, paradoxically causing humanity to
slowly return to a hierarchical structure and the subtle return of tribalism.

2.3. Post-Modernity (1960 - 2006)

Contemporary societies is identified by the term "global village", Gozzi (1996) describes this as a
metaphor that "{global village}...speaks to a deep need in alienated industrial-urban society. It
addresses a longing for connectedness and community". Athony Giddon (as quoted by Fourie,
2004:595) suggests that humanities transformation is a result of progressive social changes in
the universal concepts of time and space, both of which are becoming increasingly irrelevant in
order for society to maintain its transnational commercial practices. Communication technology
plays a central role in maintaining and contracting barriers of time and space between nations
through which transnational organisations engage in international trade. According to Sproull &
Kiesler (as cited by Saunderson & De Wet, 2005:107), Dynamic social communication networks
emerge due to communication technology and that global network organisations are impossible
to create without sophisticated communication and infrastructure.

Western societies have struggled for freedom for over five hundred years and during that time
freedom has been won and lost. Communication technology has contributed to a mass
transference of information to and from remote global locations and as a result we are now, more
than ever, aware of what is happening around the world and international organisation now
dominate the global information flow. This exposure has left developing countries feeling
exploited and under a cultural 'invasion' due to their lack of economic stature. This has resulted in
a return to tribalism amongst many nations in order to protect their cultural identity from becoming
lost in the new world order that is rapidly producing a cosmopolitan society that is navigated by
the economic powers of the world. A new world information order is now needed in order to
ensure that the freedom that was originally sort after is rediscovered and embraced.

3. GLOBALISATION AND IDENTITY

Since the euro-centric imperialism during the 14th and 15th, mankind has continually explored
and utilised the resources and locations of distance cultures and societies (Kamalipour, 2002:38).

3
After WWII America imposed itself as the new world economic power and since then it has
remained the global hub of electronic information and the distribution thereof. With new
communication technologies man has been able to transcend time and space, and as a result the
term globalisation has arisen (Giddens in Fourie, 2002:595).

3.1. GLOBALISATION AND THE MODERN WORLD

Globalisation is a human phenomena that has come about due to the perceived closeness that
has resulted from new and innovative communication technologies (e.g. e-mail, internet, etc.).
This movement from realistic societies to a more collective and cohesive global community is
describe/defined by Giddens as " a social process involving a growing number of people all over
the world whose lives are affected on a daily bases by disembodied organisation." (Gidden in
Fourie, 2002:595). By disembodied organisations Gidden refers to transnational companies that
are constantly expanding through vertical and horizontal integration in order to increase their
hegemony in the global market place. This expansion is a direct result of capitalistic economic
orientation that is spearheaded by media-imperialism localised in the USA.

The implications of globalisation are far reaching and concerning, issues of culture and individual
identity have arisen as a result of the creation of a consumer society that has become enslaved
by capitalist structures (Hartley, 2004:137). People now more than ever are looking towards
brands as a means of creating a pseudo-sense of self through the consumption of forever
expanding global brands (e.g. Nike, MacDonald’s, Microsoft, etc.). However, as noted by Gidden
(on Fourie, 2002: 602) this newly created cosmopolitan society is at the same time bring about a
revival of lost cultural identities as societies are now attempting to rediscover and define there
sense of self in response to a world that slowly creating a vacuum of consumer identities. Given
the amount of control the United States has over the global information flow, it is seemingly
becoming more and more critical to impose a NWIO (New World Information Order) that would
decentralise America as the information headquarters of the world.

3.2. IDENTITY FORMATION AND RECONSTRUCTION

As a result of continual globalisation societies across the world are having to reconstruct and
clearly define themselves within the culture in which they live. Culture defines what it means to
be human (Kamalipour, 2002:207) and with culture comes identity and understanding. During the

4
pre-modernity era societies where isolated from foreign influence and traditions, however since
the inception of information technologies, such as the Internet, cultures and sub-cultures around
the world have access (be it be choice or force) to endless amounts of knowledge of other
cultures and ideologies. These cultures have collectively 'archived' their believes and traditions
over great periods of time, but now the process by which culture mythology is being transferred
has shifted from oral practices to electronic records and archives.

In order for identity construction to develop, a young infant must be able to internalised the
symbolic interaction that conveys meaning in it's reality (Shaffer, 2002:232) This understanding of
symbolic communication results in a conscious comparison between different symbols and the
individuals who use them, in other words the degree to which we create our own identity is a
directly proportionate to the degree of identification we have with others. In this vein one can
come to understand how, through information technology and transnational communication,
identity ambiguity can manifest itself as a result of the increased exposure humans have which
each other in today's world. Hence the notion of globalisation deals with not only economic and
political issues, but also with the individual as a unique entity that contributes towards the
continual usage and understanding of the international symbolic systems and the context in
which they are used and understood.

4. MINORITY CASE STUDY: HIP-HOP AS A GLOBAL MINORITY AND ITS CULTURAL

VARIANTS

Hip-Hop is currently used to describe a form of expression that encompasses many forms of
symbolic representation and urban lifestyle. It originated in the United States of American as a
direct result of poverty and overt prejudice that was directed at black African-American's in urban
dwellings, however Hip-Hop has now transcended its origins from the Bronx of New York and has
become a international form of expression that appears to be contradictory to the original reasons
of its creation. Hip-Hop makes use of artistic expression (be it through music, dance, rap, street
art, etc.) as a means of seeking refuge from a society that seemingly ignores the issues and
beliefs of this minority group.

Hip-Hop makes use of a wide variety of symbol that have been adapted and moulded to
represent the global struggle for recognition and, to a certain degree, societal deviance.
Contradictory to this initial motivation of Hip-Hop, it has become a victim of western capitalistic

5
orientation. As previously mentioned Hip-Hop originated in the US, and with America now firmly
place as the head quarters of electronic information Hip-Hop has had the means to make its
ideologies know through media imperialism the US maintains. However, although Hip-Hop has
been embraced by a large variety of global nations (e.g. South Africa, Germany, Sweden, and
even Israel), each group has been able to use their own linguistically structures and language to
reform and revise the Hip-Hop culture into a new and more culturally specific form of identity. For
example, many German individuals have taken the basic parameters of Hip-Hop music (i.e. the
style, structure, etc.) and used their own language (German) to create a identity that is unique to
Germany but at the same time avoids alienating their version from the rest of the world. This
'middle-of-the-road' approach is the foundation of an international identity that allows for it
variants to be embraced in isolation, while at the same time promoting a collective understanding
of what is means to adopt a culture that opposes mass conformity.

When Hip-Hop first surfaced, it represented poverty and social suffering, it has now become a
culture marked by expensive jewels, flashy cars, designer clothes, and seductive women. In rural
South-Africa many black South-Africans are experiencing the same frustration that was once felt
in the Bronx, the difference being that poverty and social deprivation is still a serious issue and
Hip-Hop as a means of expression has follow the original paradigms whilst at the same time
recreating its symbolic system in order to be more localised in the S.A. context. It is in this vein
that many countries around world adopt Hip-Hop as a means of presenting and reflecting these
groups dissatisfaction with the mainstream culture (be it politically, economically, socially or
otherwise).

5. CONCLUSION

The process by which culture is being transmitted, understood, reconstructed and adopted is
largely due to the degree of influence communication technology has on global identity and the
express thereof. The degree to which images, information, and visual messages affect the
individuals identity development has been criticised as its control is not equally felt, in other words
the degree to which a nations culture is transmitted is directly proportionate to the level of
economic international power that country possess. This is leaving many minority groups overtly
expressing there identity in order to distinguish themselves from a increasingly pseudo-identity
that is globally constructed, however through this culture transmission many minorities are losing
their impact as a unique way of life due to continual international exposure. Paradoxically, the

6
way in which minority groups, such as Hip-Hop culture, adopt these forms of culture of
expression is largely affected by the culture and linguistically structures that already exist within a
country. In order words the degree to which culture minorities effect the international community
is not absolute and with out deviation, the symbolic nature and core meanings of any given
minority is fluid and can be subjected to reinterpretation and restructuring. It is in this vein that
additive identity creation can occur that allows selective usage of minority cultures, while at the
same time remaining true to the geographical location of that group. Thus, globalisation and
culture transmission is a dynamic conglomeration that is not as universal, at least not at present,
as many theorists has suggested. Hence minority identities can recreate their sense of self by
incorporating their own symbolic systems, language, and heritage into an otherwise overly
dominating global identity.

7
6. SOURCE LIST

COTTERAL, A. 2002. European mythology. ( In The encyclopaedia of world mythology, 54-132.)

BURGER, M. 2006. Lecturer notes. Socio-historic overview. Johannesburg: University of

Johannesburg.

FOURIE, P. 2004. Media studies vol. 1: institutions, theories and issues. Lansdowne: Juta. 638
p.

GOZZI, R, Jr. 1996. Will the media create a global village?. ETC.: A review of general
semantics, 53(1): 65(4). Expanded Academic ASAP. Thomson Gale. University of Johannesburg.
Date of access: 19 Aug. 2006.

GRAVETTER, F.J. & FORZANO, LB. 2006. Research methods for the behavioural sciences.
2nd Ed. Belmont: Thomson Wadsworth. 534 p.

HARTLEY, J. 2005. The 'Value chain of meaning' and the new economy. International journal of
cultural studies 7(1): 129-141

KAMALIPOUR, Y.R. 2002. Global communication. Toronto: Nelson Thomson Learning. 288 p.

LIITTLEJOHN, S.W. 2002. Theories of human communication. 7th Ed. Belmount: Thomson
Wadsworth. 378 p.

WALLERSTEIN, I. 2000. From sociology to historical social science: prospects and obstacles.
British Journal of Sociology 51(1): 25-35,
January.http://www.transformationaties.org/bibliotheek/wallerstein.pdf Date of access: 19 Aug.
2006.