Cultural Superiority Research Articles

Imperial Echoes: A Postcolonial Critique of Rupert Brooke’s “The Soldier”

This article provides a postcolonial critique of Rupert Brooke’s First World War poem “The Soldier” (1914), revealing the underlying imperialist ideologies embedded in the poem. Written at the beginning of the First World War, the poem epitomises patriotic enthusiasm and glorifies the idea of dying for one’s country. However, from a postcolonial perspective, the poem can be interpreted as a reflection of the colonial mindset that prevailed during Brooke’s time. The assertion that a piece of foreign land could forever be England illustrates the colonial pretensions and cultural superiority inherent in British imperialism. Brooke’s idealisation of England and the depiction of the soldier’s death as a sacrifice under the English heaven serve to morally justify colonial expansion and warfare. This perspective ignores the presence and experiences of the colonised peoples, reducing them to mere backdrops for British heroism. Furthermore, the poet’s emphasis on England’s inherent virtues such as flowers, air and rivers points to a narrative of cultural hegemony. By focusing exclusively on the British soldier’s allegiance to England and glorifying the sense of Englishness, the poem neglects the brutal realities and ethical aspects of colonialism. This study therefore argues that Rupert Brooke’s “The Soldier” employs patriotic idealism to glorify Englishness and sacrifice, which, from a postcolonial perspective, legitimizes the imperialist ideologies and cultural hegemony of British colonialism.

From Polski Crash to Meine polnische Jungfrau: Orientalizing Poland in the German Cinema of the 1990s

This article examines how German anxieties about reunification and shifting borders are represented through Orientalist portrayals of Polish women in two post-reunification films, Polish Crash, dir. Kaspar Heidelbach (1993), and My Polish Maiden, dir. Douglas Wolfsperger (2001). Building upon Edward Said’s theory of Orientalism and the idea that the concept of East-Central Europe has been invented as a counterimage of the “West” (Larry Wolff), the analysis reveals how depictions of Polish women as passive, vulnerable, and in need of German male assistance serve to reassert German masculinity in the face of perceived social and economic threats from the “East.” The article argues that these films perpetuate long-standing colonial paradigms within German discourse on Poland that cast Poland as an uncivilized other, and Polish women as feminized objects of control, reaffirming German cultural superiority. By analyzing specific narrative and visual strategies in both films, the text highlights the persistence of Orientalist representations of Poland in German post-unification cinema and their role in constructing national and gendered identities in the context of Germany’s changing geopolitical landscape.

A Visit to the Exhibition of All Nations: The Chicago World’s Fair and the United States in Vasily Sidorov’s Travel Writing

The Chicago World’s Fair represented a continuity of the World’s Fairs as key international events of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries which were widely covered, including in travelogues for home readership. The Russian Empire showed considerable interest in participating, especially after Americans organized a relief campaign during its famine a year ago. While the Russian government supervised the exhibits and sent specialists to study the American economy and society, many Russians visited the Fair individually, and some published travel accounts. This article explores the account titled America. Travel Notes and Impressions (1895) written by novelist and botanist Vasily Sidorov. Traveling with a group of European tourists, he admires American nature and praises American technological progress, mobility, and freedoms that could be potentially borrowed but shows uncertainty about major cities and excesses of industrialization and technological development, to a degree repeating what was pointed out by earlier Russian visitors. He evaluated the Fair and most of what he saw through the image of Europe which was also employed to emphasize his sense of cultural superiority.

The Shift Toward Imperialist Mentality and America’s China Policy:A Study Centered on The Open Door Policy

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, American foreign policy underwent a major shift toward expansionism and imperialism. This transformation was not only a natural result of the increase in American power, but also largely influenced by the mentality of national identity, American exceptionalism, cultural superiority, etc. The American images of China, influenced by this shift, had also undergone significant changes. China in the 19th century was seen as a byword for barbarism, but in the early 20th century, Americans began to talk about China’s awakening. A variety of changes in mentality and expansionist policies had turned the national imagination of Americans to imperialism, which was the driving force behind the change in China’s image. The change in China’s image had in turn affected U.S. policy toward China. However, on the other hand, the tradition of Orientalism had led American to regard China as a passive and static entity. China as a nation and Chinese laborers led the United States to view China as a “double other” rather than a free subject of thought or action. This ideology promoted the formation of the consensus of Open Door Policy and Chinese Exclusion.

Image of the Other by Al-Muhassin Al-Tanukhi

The research investigates studying the image of the other in the books of Al-Muhassin Al-Tanukhi. The research focused on defining the other and the beginnings of the formation of his image in Arab-Islamic culture, in the Qur'anic text, and in the writings of travelers and geographers. It then explains the image of the other in Al-Muhassin Al-Tanukhi's writings. The research concluded that his image of the other is not stereotypical according to a preconceived view because he acts and recognizes the difference between the other. The images presented in the study varied across three main perspectives. First, there was a portrayal of admiration for the other, which did not culminate in a sense of amazement due to perceived cultural superiority. Second, a positive image of the other was offered. Lastly, disapproval was expressed stemming from a lack of comprehension. Furthermore, the research examined the methodology of narrative presentation, categorizing it into two distinct structures. The first structure is characterized by its simplicity, relying solely on a linear narration of events or stories. In contrast, the second structure is more complex, involving what is referred to as the phenomenon of narrative generation. This approach incorporates intricate elements such as characters and situations. The research investigates studying the image of the other in the books of Al-Muhassin Al-Tanukhi. The research focused on defining the other and the beginnings of the formation of his image in Arab-Islamic culture, in the Qur'anic text, and in the writings of travelers and geographers. It then explains the image of the other in Al-Muhassin Al-Tanukhi's writings. The research concluded that his image of the other is not stereotypical according to a preconceived view because he acts and recognizes the difference between the other. The images presented in the study varied across three main perspectives. First, there was a portrayal of admiration for the other, which did not culminate in a sense of amazement due to perceived cultural superiority. Second, a positive image of the other was offered. Lastly, disapproval was expressed stemming from a lack of comprehension. Furthermore, the research examined the methodology of narrative presentation, categorizing it into two distinct structures. The first structure is characterized by its simplicity, relying solely on a linear narration of events or stories. In contrast, the second structure is more complex, involving what is referred to as the phenomenon of narrative generation. This approach incorporates intricate elements such as characters and situations.

Woody Grains In Chinese History: The Basis For New Agricultural Policies

Historically, China was not only a large agricultural country, but also a strong agricultural power. Because there were countless types of grains produced in China, it had never been a problem to feed tens of millions of people. After consulting Chinese literature records, we are always surprised to find that, in addition to the wellknown gramineous food crops, there are also many food crops produced from tall arbor or shrub. Such special food crops can be generally referred to as “tree- grains”. In this way, during the long history, the Chinese ancestors could not only have no worry about food, but also ensure an adequate supply of fuel and diversify clothing materials. Because of precisely out of a deep recognition and understanding of the superiority of Chinese traditional culture, the current Chinese government is able to put forward the decision-making on the modern agricultural transformation of establishing large-scale agriculture, large-scale food, and large-scale resources

Exercising Intercultural Performance in Adaptations: Regional Kerala Myths and Rituals used as tool in Shakespeare film adaptation in Kannaki and Karmayogi

Integral to the concept of "interculturalism" is an appreciation and knowledge of many cultural backgrounds. The major emphasis of intercultural performances is the equitable and meaningful interchange of performance standards and conventions. The timeless universal truths about mankind found in William Shakespeare's plays ensure that they remain relevant and influential even in our own day. Shakespearean plays are more amenable to adaptation into any genre because of their adaptability and flexibility as well as their inherent humanism. There is a lengthy history of retelling great stories in Malayalam film. The literary shifts, thematic echoes, and cultural subtleties that set apart the two film versions of Shakespeare's tragedies, "Hamlet" and "Antony and Cleopatra," from one another are the subject of this research. The exotic customs of Kelipathram and Poorakkali from Kerala have been included into the film to emphasize the cultural superiority of the Orient over the Occident. Shakespeare's Cleopatra continues to evoke mixed feelings in modern audiences; some see her as a manipulative force, while others find her aesthetically pleasing. Whatever your opinion, it's clear that Cleopatra defies categorization within patriarchal society's narrow definitions of women. The film's director gave Kannaki a mysterious air. Kannaki successfully achieves the characteristic of cinematic appropriation by meticulously blending mythological, cultural, geographical, and semiotic aspects within the narrative realm of Antony and Cleopatra. As a result, the director alludes to Antony and Cleopatra's politics inside Kannaki's oriental poetics.

Exploring the Legacy of Tibetan Mapmaking

At the 2019 International Conference on the History of Cartography (ICHC) in Amsterdam, the map historian Peter Barber stated in his ground-breaking keynote speech that ‘with a few exceptions, the emphasis in the traditional history of cartography [before 1980s] was on European mapping. In the age of European empires, it was assumed that, on grounds of technological skill as well as cultural superiority, European map making set the standard and that indigenous mapping in other parts of the world, with the partial exceptions of the medieval Arab world and China, was ipso facto inferior and hardly worth consideration.’ In recent decades the approach to the study of maps has changed and the field has been transformed. Researchers from different academic backgrounds have discovered the relevance of maps to their disciplines, and the primacy of the essentially European concepts of scale and accuracy as the sole criteria for assessing the quality of maps has been questioned. Finally, non-European indigenous mapping has been brought into the field. This paper makes a significant contribution to this development by presenting an important collection of Tibetan maps, namely those of the Harrer Collection held at the Ethnographic Museum at the University of Zurich, probably the largest corpus of Tibetan geographic regional maps outside of Tibet. For the first time, we show the entire set of maps and describe their cartographic characteristics. We also provide the Tibetan spelling, transliteration and translations for the numerous Tibetan inscriptions and explanations. We have endeavoured to study the maps using a comprehensive approach, and we discuss what we can learn from them in various respects: the human and geographic landscapes they show; their makers; the role they might have played within the historical context and the society in which they were produced; their circulation; and their role as historical sources.

(UN) COVERING KARACHI: THE CREATION OF A BRITISH VISUAL LANGUAGE IN SINDH

Karachi, a city of 14000 people, was evolving as an important port for strategic geopolitical reasons and increasing trade at the time of the British conquest in 1843. However, it was not equipped with the infrastructure — such as an all-weather port — required for its continued economic progress. The fort town had a Chabutra (Custom House), shrines, temples, and caravanserais interspersed among the large havelis and houses of Hindu merchants and government functionaries. Neither the fort nor the Chabutra survived British colonial rule in Sindh. In fact, in keeping with their plans for the city, the British demolished these structures fairly early on in their rule of Sindh. The subsequent establishment of British institutions and political infrastructure was reinforced by the construction of buildings and monuments that looked distinctly European in style. This was not only because of the architectural styles employed in these buildings but also in the choice of ornamentation. For example, by patronizing artisans that were well versed in stone engravings and sculpture making, the British shifted attention away from the art of traditional frescoes, painting, and glazed tiles. This paper explores how the Occident imported architectural and visual cultural styles and forms into their colonies to create an entirely new visual language for their colonized subjects in South Asia. It argues that this was done deliberately to ensure political legitimacy in the eyes of their subjects as well as to highlight their own cultural superiority. The lack of native creative expression and the emergence of the modernist movement eventually led to their disappearance from structures built after Independence. This was a colonial project deeply entrenched in discourses of racism and inequality. Keywords: Colonial Architecture, Hegemony, Tradition, Architectural Movements, Colonialism

Ethnocentrism to Cultural Relativism: A Food Journey of Hassan Haji's Family in Richard C. Morais' the Hundred-Foot Journey

This paper examines the conflict faced by select characters in Richard C. Morais' The Hundred-Foot Journey between Indian and French food culture through the lens of ethnocentrism and cultural relativism. It probes how Hassan Haji strikes a balance between two food cultures: the French culture and Indian culture meet, interact, compete and experience a collision of cultures related to ethnocentric issues from Madame Gertrude Mallory. Leaving one's cultural territory and migrating to another territory authoritatively represents one's cultural superiority. It takes time to understand the cultural practices of other ethnic groups in terms of their food and cultural contexts, which requires competence in cultural relativism. It examines three aspects of his food culture journey. To begin, it studies how Hassan Haji travels out of his home country and adapts to new food culture. Second, how he experiences blending two food cultures. Third, how well he manages, learns and adjusts to the new food culture and settles in with cultural relativism. The author portrays cross-cultural aspects of food's power through the confrontation between French haute cuisine and an Indian restaurant. Literature has enlightened readers' comprehension of many civilisations all across the world. It takes the readers on a voyage around the world without requiring them to leave their current location. Some literary works, on the other hand, combine two civilisations. These pages reflect how various cultures may reveal various facets of each other, including challenges, dreams, and secret scars shared by those who share space with them. As they learn about new cultures, they strive to maintain a balance between the two. Cross-cultural influences led the Kadam family to abandon their nativity and relocate to a new country after crossing cultural divides.

Cinematic Orientalism: East-West Perception in Netflix's 'Swimmers'

This article analyzes the movie "The Swimmers" using ideological and frame-by-frame film analysis methods. The themes, characters, and locations in the film are evaluated in the context of the critique of orientalism and self-orientalism, analyzing how ideological themes are processed and reinforced. The film associates concepts of faith and hope with Christianity, presenting Christian characters as saviors. While telling the story of Syrian refugees, the film chooses Christian and European-looking heroes, portraying Muslims negatively. Emphasizing the superiority of Western culture, the film depicts the Eastern world as backward and helpless. Countries such as Türkiye are coded as dark and uncanny, while European countries are idealized. The positive portrayal of Greece praises European efforts towards refugees but creates a negative image of the Turkish Coast Guard. The orientalist and self-orientalist elements of the film are attempts to present an attractive narrative for Western audiences. The Muslim screenwriter's distortion of Eastern historical realities under Western producers' influence represents self-orientalism. This approach reflects an endeavor to present Eastern culture in line with Western perspectives to gain Western approval, reinforcing prejudices rather than fostering understanding of cultural and political differences.

Intercultural Communication as a Veritable Tool for Church Growth and Management in Lagos Metropolis

The reality of pluralism or multiculturalism of the church is evident from generation to generation since the inception of the church. In Lagos metropolis, the existence of diverse cultural and religious belief systems make intercultural communication a necessary skill for church growth and management. In view of this, the study investigated the level of awareness of intercultural communication and its relevance for church growth and management in Lagos metropolis. The framework for this study is premised on communication accommodation and cultural fusion theories. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design method while questionnaire was used as the instrument to gather relevant data from two hundred and ten respondents (210) selected amongst leaders and members of Baptist churches in Lagos metropolis. Baptist is one of the dominant denominations in Lagos. The study discovered that there is a high level of awareness of intercultural communication skill among members and leaders of the selected churches, but there is the challenge of language and cultural superiority among the respondents. This is capable of hindering church growth and management. Therefore, the study recommends that language and cultural superiority should be prevented in the church. More so, the church leaders and members need to undergo constant training on intercultural communication skills. The church needs to create intercultural functional management and administrative structure for equity and oneness among people of diverse cultures in the church.

Anti-war Russophone Poetry after Feb. 24, 2022: Reinterpreting Russian History and Culture

Abstract Since launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, 2022, Russian authorities have provided several narratives to justify their aggressive actions and war crimes. According to the first, their war is only a response to the actions of the “Nazis”; therefore, the current war is a continuation of the Great Patriotic War in which Russia defeated Hitler. The second asserts the superiority of Russian culture over Ukrainian and explains the attack on Ukraine by the desire to protect the Russian language and culture on Ukrainian territory. Both of these narratives can be categorized as ressentiment, a term coined by Nietzsche that refers to a feeling of hostility towards an individual who is deemed responsible for one’s failures or hardships. This reaction involves glorifying an idealized past and vehemently opposing anything associated with the freedom and cultural values of another. Russophone anti-war poetry written after February 24th, both in Russia and abroad, deconstructs these propaganda narratives and offers its own narrative strategy for talking about Russian history, which I term the poetics of “de-ressentiment.” This essay analyzes anti-war poems by Russian-speaking poets and identifies the principles and tasks of de-ressentiment in the context of Russia’s catastrophic policies. The paper explores how Russian-language anti-war poetry tries to find the right language to discuss the most traumatic topics in Russian history and proposes a total revision of Russian history and culture. This de-ressentiment revision should break free modern Russia’s destructive focus on its past that deprives it of any future.

A Plural Nomos: Law, Life, and Knowledge

AbstractEven in its limited state-based form, human law owes its existence to the natural physical world with its self-created value systems. What is understood as human law is grounded in human-nonhuman entanglements, themselves a subset of a multi-dimensional natural nomos consisting of the intricately connected normative worlds of animals, plants, earth, and cosmos. Complex and intersecting plural normative fields include those associated with the nonliving world, the multiple ontological worlds produced by life forms, and the many strata of human becoming – cultural, cognitive, social, and representational. As plural the nomos contains many irreducible dimensions. Normative fields intersect, hybridise, and clash; they can mutually strengthen and also negate other normativities. In this article, I set out and explore some dimensions of the plural nomos with a focus on living beings, notably the connectedness of being, knowing and normativity. The living nomos co-emerges with being and with the embodied knowledge of even the simplest forms of life. Life is both cognitive and normative; living beings inherit ancestral norms but, in living and adapting, life creates new norms, biological, cultural, and behavioural. The living-knowing being is always normative – produced by the norming processes and constraints of life and matter at large. Normative elements are a critical part of the ontological and epistemological embeddedness of human beings in more than human worlds. Before law (or knowledge) can be about life, it is also of or from life. Expanding the analytical frame of law in this way is one method by which we might reshape western narratives of law, with the aims of promoting better openness to First Nations laws, discouraging western cultural superiority and human exceptionalism, and moving toward a more eco-sensitive view of the continuity between human law-culture-society and the natural world.

Daffawi: self-Orientalism and identity work among Palestinians in Israel

ABSTRACT This ethnographic paper explores attitudes and perceptions of Palestinian citizens of Israel (PCI) regarding Palestinians from the West Bank (PWB). It focuses on the semantic complex of ḍaffāwi (‘who comes from the West Bank’), which entails a combination of cultural superiority, distrust, romanticizing, and ambivalence. Treating the ḍaffāwi as a speech act and reading it as a cultural text that is rooted in PCI’s collective political unconscious, we argue that their mixed attitudes of superiority and idealization with regard to WBP, and by implication their self-Orientalism, reflect a deep sense of deadlock that characterizes their identity work, as indigenous citizens of an ethnocratic state that has been colonizing their people.

The Influence of Chinese Online Novels on the Values of Adolescents

Introduction. With the development of the Internet, the popularity of online novels, especially in China, prompts the declining interest in reading paper books. The potential impact of online novels on adolescents has become a matter of public concern. Most studies examine the role of online novels in students’ learning process, as well as the impact on young people’s communication and social interaction. However, so far, the impact of online novels on adolescents’ values and psychology has been understudied despite their critical importance in shaping young peopleʼs identity. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine the influence of online novels on the values and psychology of Chinese secondary school learners. Materials and Methods. To address this challenge, a survey was conducted among students attending Yifu Educational Institution in Nanning, China. Questionnaires developed through the Question Star app were distributed through relevant user groups on social media platforms including WeChat and Tencent QQ. Results. As a result, positive (increased general knowledge and literacy, the opportunity to spend free time productively) and negative (impact on learning and physical health, decreased literary abilities, promotion of tendencies harmful for society) characteristics of the influence of online novels on adolescents were identified. Practical recommendations were formulated aimed at counteracting negative impact of online novels on adolescents such as the need to strengthen the ideological and moral education of students, the necessity to develop national cultural superiority and pride of modern youth, as well as to introduce young people to useful bibliography. Discussion and Conclusion. The results obtained will make a significant contribution to such fields as psychology, sociology and education. Also, the results of the study will serve as a basis for the development of new approaches to combat the negative impact of Internet novels on the values of adolescents. The results of the study may be useful for specialists of educational institutions and all those who care about the upbringing of the younger generation.

Visual Art as a Racemaking Technology: Implications for Education

Visual arts education must outline a defensible vision for our discipline that acknowledges the arts are White property. In this article, I argue that visual art itself should be recognized as a racializing technology contributing to the production and ranking of human difference. I show how a previous iteration of visual arts education—visual culture art education—also called into question the role of visual art in producing the cultural superiority of the Enlightenment subject, who was key to the historical emergence of whiteness itself. However, this approach to art education was more concerned with the political ontology of the image rather than the human. Drawing on Al-An deSouza’s studio practice, negotiated refusal, I begin to outline a vision for visual arts education that recognizes the arts as White property, and yet does not give up on either fine art or the human.

LA BELLE DANSE ON THE HABSBURG COURT STAGE AT THE END OF THE XVII — FIRST THIRD OF THE XVIII CENTURIES

Since its foundation in the first half of the 16th century, the Austrian Habsburg court has focused its cultural attention on Italy. This was due to many factors, among which in the XVI century one can name the undoubted cultural superiority of Italy among other European countries, in the first half of the XVII century — the marriages of the Habsburg emperors with the Mantuan princesses, in the second half of the same century — the competing policy of the Holy Roman Empire towards France; the latter factor also extended to the beginning of the XVIII century. As with other European courts, the dance culture of the Habsburgs began with court ballets, which gradually transformed into stage dance, and the dance turned into a professional one. At the same time, the center of dance culture moved from Italy to France, where already in the first half of the XVII century a set of choreographic techniques arose that raised dance art to a new level. Ballet was a significant interest of the French monarch Louis XIV (r. 1643–1715). This led to the establishment of the world’s first dance academy at the royal court, which played a crucial role in the development and spread of the French style of dance. Therefore, despite the anti-French policy of the Habsburgs, the style developed at Louis XIV’s Royal Academy of Dance and called la belle danse was practiced on the stage of the Vienna Court Theater. The article examines the background, appearance, place, role and significance of la belle danse in productions of the Habsburg court stage using specific examples of theatrical events.

The Chain of Cultural Disdain: Demystifying the Patterns of Intercultural Interactions on University Campuses in China

Extant research has explored practices and challenges for developing intercultural interactions on campus, but there is limited work on how cultural disdain has affected the development of intercultural interaction between domestic and international students. Drawing on interviews with 25 international students and 14 Chinese students in two Chinese universities, this study reveals that China's social history of intercultural encounters and internationalisation, together with people's individual intercultural experiences have fuelled Chinese students’ perceptions of the superiority of English language and Anglo-Saxon culture. While Chinese students prioritise communication with peers who are English native speakers, they tend to develop deeper intercultural friendships with students from non-Anglo-Saxon countries. This study uses the theory of cultural disdain to interpret the complex dynamics of intercultural interaction on campuses. It argues that Chinese universities need to increase cultural diversity and foster equality between different cultural groups in order to promote fruitful intercultural interactions for all students.

Disorienting the Native Struggle for Independence: A Postcolonial Reading of Leila Slimani's Historical Novel, The Country of Others

Novels can both reinforce colonialism and undermine liberation movements, especially when they echo colonial narratives. This dynamic is critically examined in Leila Slimani's historical novel, "The Country of Others," through a postcolonial close reading approach. The novel's depiction of France's colonialism in Morocco is presented in a misleading light. It offers a stark contrast in character portrayal: European characters are depicted as agents of a “civilizing mission,” with aspirations to bring prosperity, good health, and education to Moroccans. This portrayal not only feeds into a narrative of cultural superiority, depicting Europeans as emotionally complex and culturally advanced, but also subtly suggests benevolence in their colonial endeavors. Conversely, indigenous Moroccan characters are shown in a more one-dimensional and negative manner, often associated with violence, particularly against women. Furthermore, the novel intertwines Morocco's struggle for national independence with contemporary discourses on Islamic extremism, casting this historical fight less as a pursuit of freedom and more as an aggressive and antagonistic movement.