Главная страница «Первого сентября»Главная страница журнала «Английский язык»Содержание №6/2007

TEXTS FOR READING

American Pop Penetrates Worldwide

  • Think of five films, five TV programmes and five pop songs.

  • How many of these were American?

Before you read the text get sure you know.

VOCABULARY:

no longer больше не
the latest последний (новейший)
another way иначе
once когда-то
means зд. деньги (средства)
few мало
may возможно
say скажем
neither ни один
former бывший
for instance например
goods товары
a fair number of значительное количество
recent последний
succession последовательность
a bidder энтузиаст
to succeed превосходить
to impose навязывать
globe-straddling опутавшая весь земной шар
a peddler продавец
to offer предлагать
demand зд. спрос
to admire восхищаться
foremost лучший
to appreciate оценивать

Text. Part I

America’s biggest export is no longer the fruit of its fields or the output of its factories, but the mass-produced products of its popular culture – movies, TV programs, music, books and computer software.
Entertainment around the world is dominated by American-made products.
Sociologist Todd Gitlin calls American popular culture “the latest in a long succession of bidders for global unification. It succeeds the Latin imposed by the Roman Empire and the Catholic Church, and Marxism-Leninism imposed by Communist governments.”
Tom Freston, president of MTV, the globe-straddling music network, sees it another way. “Today’s young people have passports to two different worlds – to their own culture and to ours,” he said.
Once, back when I Love Lucy was still in its first run, U.S. made entertainment could be found only in places with the means to buy it, the technology to show it, and the political freedom to allow it across the border. Now, even in tiny Bhutan, a Himalayan nation so isolated that fewer than 5,000 people visit it a year, street peddlers offer illegally copied videos of Hollywood’s latest blockbusters.
Global consumerism and expanding channels of distribution may create more demand for entertainment, but neither says much about why people prefer the American variety to that produced in, say, Venezuela or Japan or France.
The answer is partly linguistic, partly economic, and partly a reflection of the unique historical, racial and ideological development of the United States. To its admirers, U.S. entertainment is something bright and new. “The United States has little history and it is very open to new things,” said David Escobar Galindo, El Salvador’s foremost writer. “Europe has many wonderful things, but it is very tied to its past. U.S. culture is fresher.”
Jack Lang, France’s former minister of culture appreciates American culture as pure entertainment. It’s without restraint, without shame. …It finds the soul of the child in the adult.

COMPREHENSION

1. Work in pairs. Ask and answer questions.

1. What is America’s biggest export?

2. What is MTV?

3. What was needed in the 1960s to view American culture? Why?

4. How does David Galindo think the USA differs from Europe?

2. In your own words, explain what is meant by.

export, a factory output, popular culture, American-made products, a global unification bidder, the globe straddling-music network, US made entertainment, global consumerism, a blockbuster

3. Translate into Russian.

1. the means to buy US made entertainment

2. the technology to show it

3. the political freedom to allow it across the border

4. Work in pairs. Make up questions.

1. Fewer than 5,000 people visit Bhutan a year. (Why?)

2. Streets peddlers offer illegally copied videos of Hollywood’s latest blockbuster. (Why…illegally?)

3. Global consumerism and expanding channels of distribution may create more demand for entertainment. (general question)

4. People prefer the American variety to that produced in any other country. (Why?)

5. France’s former minister appreciates American culture as pure entertainment. (How?)

5. Work in groups of four. Discuss the points.

1. What language did the Romans speak?

2. In what way did Romans impose Latin on the world? Why did they do it?

3. In what way did the Catholic Church impose its religion beliefs on the world? Why did they do it?

4. In what way did Communist governments impose Marxism-Leninism on the world? Why did they do it?

5. Does American popular culture impose itself on the world? In what way?

6. What do people feel when something is imposed on the world? What do you personally feel?

7. Where is Bhutan? What do you know about Bhutan? What makes this tiny country isolated from the rest of the world? Does the fact that street peddlers there offer copied videos of Hollywood’s latest blockbusters show that American mass culture has penetrated worldwide?

8. Is it a fact that entertainment around the world is dominated by American made products and it has lots of admirers all over the world?

9. American popular culture is pure entertainment, isn’t it? Who is the main consumer?

10. Do you agree with Emerson, who said: “Entertainment is the amusement of those who cannot think”?

6. Read the second part of the text.

Text. Part II

There has long been another view, of course. To religious conservatives, American culture is still the noisy electronic spawn of the Great Satan, undermining traditional values and encouraging wickedness. U.S. movies and television promote mindless consumerism, others complain, and emit a toxic vapor that chokes the wellspring of native creativity.
In its most extreme form, this distaste can serve reactionary political goals. In July, for instance, the Taliban militia, which controls most of Afghanistan, ordered that nation’s citizens to get rid of their TVs, video players and satellite receivers. Such goods were deemed morally unacceptable by the Department for Prevention of Vice and Promotion of Virtue.
A fair number of Americans might even agree with Fidel Castro’s recent critique of the United States’ “canned culture”, which he contended “transmits poisonous messages, in the social and moral order, to all families, to all homes, to all children”.

By Paul Farhi and Megan Rosenfeld
The Washington Post

VOCABULARY:

a spawn зд. изобретение
to undermine подрывать
to encourage поощрять
wickedness греховность
to promote способствовать
vapor испарения
to choke душить
to complain жаловаться
wellspring ручей, фонтан
distaste неприятие
to get rid of зд. выбросить
to deem судить
to accept принимать
to prevent предотвращать
vice and virtue зло и добро
to can консервировать
to contend утверждать

DISCUSSION

1. Do you find reasonable the order of the Taliban militia to get rid of TV’s, video players and satellite receivers?

2. Do you find reasonable the establishment of the Department for Prevention of Vice and Promotion of Virtue in every country to preserve traditional values and encourage native creativity?

3. What does Fidel Castro means by “canned culture”?

7. Work in pairs.

Do you agree?

If you do, say I agree that…
If you don’t, say I don’t agree that…

1. American’s biggest export is the mass-produced products of it popular culture.

2. Entertainment around the world is dominated by American-made products.

3. U.S. entertainment is bright and new.

4. The United States history is open to new things.

5. Europe has many wonderful things.

6. Europe is very tied to its past.

7. U.S. culture is fresher than that of Europe.

8. American culture is pure entertainment.

9. American culture is without restraint, without shame.

10. American culture finds the soul of the child in the adult.

11. American culture undermines traditional values.

12. American culture encourages wickedness.

13. U.S. movies and television promote mindless consumerism.

14. U.S. culture chokes the wellspring of native creativity.

15. American culture transmits poisonous messages.

The text presents two fundamentally different points of view.
Picasso argues that “the people who make art their business are mostly impostors”.
Emerson claims that “perpetual moderness is the measure of merit in every work of art”.
“Art is the collaboration between God and the artist, and the less the artist does the better.” – Anonymous

8. What is your point of view? Write tree paragraphs on “American Pop Penetrates Worldwide”. Is it a vice or a virtue for the development of the world civilization? Begin each paragraph with the topical sentence.

Compiled by Ekaterina Gvozdeva