A Travel into the Korean Culture 2012 Korean Festival in Houston

One of the most vivid and memorable events in the Korean culture, the Korean Festival in Houston makes one dive into the Korean culture and understand the essence of the Korean dances. Although the process of globalization shapes the Korean culture a lot, the dance tradition manages to remain the same, with only a few elements borrowed from the Western style.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on A Travel into the Korean Culture: 2012 Korean Festival in Houston specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The Korean Festival in Houston is a perfect reason to analyze the impact of the Western culture on the Korean dance, considering such essential factors as gender, modernity, empire, environmental concerns and globalization, much closer than ever. The first thing that comes to one’s mind when watching the 2012 Houston concert (ArirangDanceGroup, 2012 Houston Festival) is that it is completely unique, which seems incredible, given that the event takes place in the heart of America. Indeed, how can a group of people so detached from its native land set such typically Korean performance? The answer is, however, rather simple. Culture is far not as fragile as people think it is, and it takes much more conscious effort to make to disintegrate; in the case with the Koreans in the USA, migration is an obvious obstacle, yet this obstacle is rather easy to overcome. As Appadurai explains, â€Å"The story of mass migration (voluntary and forced) is hardly a new feature of human history† (Appadurai 4); thus, national culture must have become quite immune to the outer impact (Salih). Hence, the fear that the process of globalization is likely to kill the national culture and that â€Å"genuine humanism can degenerate into jingoism and false patriotism† (Said xxi) is less than reasonable – once there are at least a few people who can relate to a certain culture, it will never die, which the co ncert certifies. On the one hand, living in a foreign country does make the culture more vulnerable to the impact of globalization. As Mahfouz explains, the introduction of a more influential culture affects the inferior one in the most negative way â€Å"Everything has changed!† (Mahfouz 3). However, such events as the Farmer’s Dance (ArirangDanceGroup) claim the opposite. Their authenticity does not leave any shadow of the doubt that Korean culture can survive even on the American continent. Spawning from the issue of national identity raised in the paragraph above, the idea of empire and its gradual decay can also be traced in the elements of the concert. On the one hand, the concert makes it obvious that Korea has established its own culture against all the odds and the influence of the American culture; on the other hand, it is still clear that, unlike elements of culture, the principles of community structure are not going to stay within the American diaspora for too long. As Said explains,Advertising Looking for essay on cultural studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Every single empire in its official discourse has said that it is not like all the others, that its circumstances are special, that it has a mission to enlighten, civilize, bring order and democracy, and that it uses force only as a last resort. (xvi) Herein lies the fallacy of each empire. Relying on its own uniqueness, it falls apart once its people are out of the native land. However, it is still clear that the Korean national dances keep the flair of the empire (Appadurai). For instance, in 2012 Houston Festival, one can see distinctly that the dancers wear the traditional clothes; moreover, the rhythm of the drums, which sets the mood for the rest of the concert since the very beginning of the show, also creates the impression of a very strong community and a nation of impressive power and impact performing the d ance. Hence, the spirit of the Korean empire us still in the air, though slightly washed away by the sands of time. The concert also makes one thing of gender issues in Korea. Performed mostly by women, yet sounding rather bellicose, the concert displays rather feministic mood. The latter, however, is rather unusual for the Korean culture, since the spirit of a female guru is the most valid attempt at feminism in the modern Korean literature (Ghosh). The last, but not the least, the environmental issue must be mentioned. Addressed in the performances in a rather subtle way, the issue seems to have become one of the top priorities for most countries in the present-day world, and Korea is no exception for that. Though Appaderrai claims that â€Å"More people than ever before seem to imagine routinely the possibility that they or their children will live and work in the places other than they were born† (Appaderrai 175), such elements of the Korean concert as bright colors of th e costumes, which are supposed to symbolize the colors of nature serve as a cautious reminder of this possibility. Therefore, it seems that, slightly influenced by the process of globalization, the Korean culture still continues to develop in its own unique way. Keeping to the traditional motives and referring to the elements of the Korean culture, the modern dances also seem to incorporate certain features of the Western civilization, which can be considered as a positive trend.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on A Travel into the Korean Culture: 2012 Korean Festival in Houston specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, it is important to make certain that globalization contributes to the culture fusion, yet does not make distinct feature of the Korean culture fade into the background. Once maintaining the balance between the Korean dance traditions and the world legacy, the Koreans will develop their culture to re ach a completely new point. Works Cited Appadurai, Arjun. â€Å"Here and Now.† The Visual Culture Reader. Ed. Nicolas Mirzoeff. New York, NY: Routledge. 2002. 173-179. Print. Appadurai, Arjun. Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. Volume  1. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. 1996. Print. ArirangDanceGroup. â€Å"Farmer’s Dance.† YouTube, 4 Nov. 2012. Web. ArirangDanceGroup. â€Å"2012 Houston Festival –Nan Ta Dance.† YouTube, 4 Nov. 2012. Web. ArirangDanceGroup. â€Å"2012 Korean Festival Houston – Sword Dance.† YouTube, 4 Nov. 2012. Web. Ghosh, Amitav. Sea of Poppies. New Delhi, N: Penguin Books India. 2009. Print.Advertising Looking for essay on cultural studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Mahfouz, Naguib. Midaq Alley. n.d. Web. Said, Edward. Orientalism. London, UK: Penguin. 1977. Print. Salih, Tayeb. Seasons of Migration to the North. Oxford, UK: Heinemann Educational Publishers. 1991. Print. This essay on A Travel into the Korean Culture: 2012 Korean Festival in Houston was written and submitted by user Leighton Vazquez to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Effects of writing Essays

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