[ecrea] CFA - Academic Quarter - Global Tales

>CFA - Academic Quarter, 2nd issue, theme: Global Tales.
>
>Suggestion for articles, including an abstract of 150 words to be mailed to
>Pablo Cristoffanini ((pablo /at/ hum.aau.dk)) and Lotte Dam ((ld /at/ hum.aau.dk)) no
>later than 1 November 2010. Accepted articles ­ using the Harvard System
>Style Sheet ­ to be mailed to the editors no later than 1 December 2010.
>Articles will then be peer reviewed anonymously. The articles should be
>around 15,000-25.000 keystrokes. The issue will be published in the spring
>of 2011. See also the journals website: www.akademiskkvarter.hum.aau.dk
>(1st Issue available here).
>
>At a macro level global tales may be understood as globally disseminated
>thoughts, ideas and discourses; something that is a framework for the global
>community, e.g. the neo-liberal narrative. In this global narrative wealth,
>surplus, deregulation and repeal of custom barriers give positive
>associations, and the state is regarded as an obstacle to dynamic growth and
>development. After the fall of the Berlin Wall this narrative, which has
>influenced the policies of different nations on different continents, has
>provided a breeding ground for what Barber has christened Western culture,
>McWorld, a global, homogenized consumer culture, in which the same music is
>listened to, the same television is watched, and the same clothes are worn.
>
>In Asia, Latin America, and Africa the fascination with products from
>Western modernity has had a long history, not only clothes, furniture, and
>cars, but also culture products. After 1980 the world has witnessed a
>cultural Americanization through the massive consumption of American
>material and symbolic products such as the fast food chain McDonalds, Nike
>and Blockbuster. Shopping Malls have proliferated in Eastern Europe, Latin
>America and Asia, American through and through in their origins, but now
>notable symbols of the global culture. The film industry, especially
>Hollywood, and cable TV have created a common world of the imagination with
>figures, characters and narratives that make it possible for the audience of
>the world to project experiences, dreams and aspirations into them and
>through them.
>
>The same concept is realized in different countries through programs such as
>Strictly Come Dancing and The X Factor. Programs such as these contain tales
>like Believe in yourself and It is good to be famous, and in this way there
>are also global tales at a micro level.
>
>Today identity is not shaped by a priory tradition or culture, and the
>individual must create its own self-perception. The framework for this is
>postmodernism, which can be regarded as a global tale as well. In this tale
>cultures, subjects, and identities are seen as temporary, and in principle
>everything is negotiable.
>
>Earlier on the local ­ e.g. the family, the village, the nation etc. ­ had
>the most decisive influence on ideas and relations, but today the access to
>the rest of the world is easier, both in a concrete physical sense and in a
>technological sense, and ideas and relations have their point of departure
>in a more global perspective. It is generally known that changes in one
>place may create global changes. For instance it is not enough to think
>nationally, as not everything can be contained within borders, e.g.
>questions of climate and of economics. This heightened interaction causes
>displacement of cultures.
>
>According to Giddens the individual can participate in the creation of
>social influences through its creation of its own identity, and these social
>influences are of a global nature in their consequences. We are surrounded
>by narratives and possible choices, but the choice we make in every single
>situation has consequences for not only our own personal narrative, but also
>for others. And vice versa. This is strengthened as we get more closely
>connected in networks of information technology, media etc. We are in a
>dialectics between the local and the global.
>
>The total global frame of reference is enormous, and new, more uniform tales
>of a more global character may arise. It may even be ventured to say that
>globalization is also an epoch of global narratives.
>
>Global tales do not necessarily pertain to modern societies, but they may
>also be stories of any time common to all mankind. There is a treasure trove
>of legends and myths from different parts of the world with universal
>themes, dilemmas and morals. These can be found again in for instance
>folktales and cartoons, where the story is appreciated in a common
>understanding.
>
>We call for articles within the theme of global tales, and they may be
>understood at a macro level, a micro level on in a different way.

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