Cultural Production Research Articles

ETHICAL CULTURE AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

Ethics are typically a by product of a society's culture, and people of a particular culture adhere to it wholeheartedly. It alludes to an objective norm of good and evil that specifies what actions human beings should do to support their moral convictions. The research attempted to draw citizens ‘attention to the value of moral behavior in society and its implications for both individuals and government officials in the interest of the economy. The study useed an analytical method and has a focus on secondary data sources. Information is gathered from books, articles and other published materials. The article discussed the history of the study of ethics, as well as the essential terms, traits and codes, as well as its social functions. The study concluded that moral teaching and practices will create honesty and integrity in people, lower crime rates, and boost the economy if they are given pride of position and are broadly accepted in most nations.

Blending Cultures in BTS’s “Blood Sweat and Tears”

Pop culture often functions as a vehicle for what is deemed “high culture,” either through mentions and representations, or adaptations and recontextualizations. Hallyu, the wave of Korean cultural products overtaking the world market, including emerging markets such as the Romanian one, abounds in examples of cultural blending or hybridization. BTS, the Korean band who have made K-pop a truly global phenomenon, exemplify the blending of high culture with pop culture, as well as the blending of Eastern and Western cultures, especially in the video to their 2016 song “Blood Sweat & Tears.”

К ОСМЫСЛЕНИЮ ФЕНОМЕНА АРТ-РЕЗИДЕНЦИЙ. ОБЗОР ИССЛЕДОВАНИЙ

The problems of socio-cultural institutions and conglomerates, such as, in this case, art residences, from the author's point of view, have not been fully investigated and are only beginning to arouse scientific interest. In the context of the Russian creative space, this phenomenon is becoming increasingly popular as a program to support cultural and artistic figures. In this article, and this, in our opinion, is the novelty of the research, the most accurate definition of the phenomenon of art residences, from the author's point of view, is considered and confirmed. Examples of prototypes of art residences in the context of the history of Russia and other countries are given. The research of art residencies in the Russian scientific space is also analyzed. The differences between the publications of independent researchers and specialists belonging to scientific institutions are considered. The transformations of this socio-cultural phenomenon in a temporal context are actualized. For example, the introduction of creative culture products into the field of activity of art residences and the active use of the latest technologies. Based on the studied materials and observations, an author's addition to the classification of art residences is proposed, which actualizes the research work. As a conclusion, the authors come to the conclusion that the phenomenon of art residences is subject to certain transformations due to a number of factors, as well as the influence on socio-cultural formations connected with it, like any working open system.

The Linguistic Landscape of Popular Culture: Analyzing Military Speech in Manga

This study investigates Japanese popular culture, focusing on manga as a central cultural product that offers rich narrative and visual content that reflects both universal and culturally specific themes. One key concept explored in this study is yakuwarigo, or “role language”, a linguistic phenomenon where specific speech patterns convey a character’s social role, age, gender, or personality. Yakuwarigo serves as a tool for character development, allowing readers to infer traits through language. The research includes a pragma-linguistic analysis of yakuwarigo in manga, focusing on the speech of military leaders. Using Erwin Smith’s communication acts from Shingeki no Kyojin (‘Atacul titanilor’) as a case study, the analysis examines how his speech patterns shift between formal, honorific language when addressing superiors and direct, motivational language with subordinates. This duality highlights the adaptability and strategic clarity of his role as a leader. The study also evaluates the Romanian translations of his addresses, assessing how effectively they retain the original pragmatic and linguistic nuances, thus contributing to the understanding of cultural and linguistic transfer in manga translations.

Insights into Paper Souvenir Purchase Intention of Tourists in Nepal

Background: Tourism plays a vital role in Nepal’s economy, and handmade paper souvenirs represent a unique cultural product often purchased by tourists. This study explores the factors influencing the purchase intention of Nepali handmade paper souvenirs, focusing on three key constructs: appearance, referrals, and product features. Methods: A quantitative approach using descriptive and causal research design was adopted to test hypotheses derived from a comprehensive literature review. Measurement and structural models were tested using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) in Smart PLS 2.0 Results: The findings reveal that appearance (β=0.241, t=3.752) and referrals (β=0.322, t=4.995) significantly and positively influence tourists' purchase intention. However, product features (β=0.093, t=1.474) do not have a significant impact. The composite reliability (CR > 0.7) and average variance extracted (AVE > 0.5) confirmed the measurement model's validity. Discriminant validity was supported through cross-loadings and Fornell-Larcker criteria. Conclusion: This study concludes that appearance and referrals play crucial roles in driving tourists’ purchase intention for Nepali handmade paper souvenirs. In contrast, product features appear to be less influential. Marketers and souvenir producers should emphasize product aesthetics and leverage word-of-mouth recommendations to boost sales. Novelty: This research uniquely integrates cultural aesthetics and social influence to understand the dynamics of souvenir purchasing in Nepal. By identifying key factors influencing buying decisions, the study provides actionable insights for enhancing marketing strategies for handmade cultural products.

Efficiency Assessment Method for Evoking Cultural Empathy in Symbolic Cultural and Creative Products Based on Fuzzy-FMEA

To address the issue of user empathy throughout the emotional experience process, this study presents a method to evaluate the efficacy of cultural empathy evoked based on fuzzy-FMEA. The method focuses on symbolic culture and creative products, constructing an evaluation index system and decision-making framework in terms of cultural empathic evoking. It utilizes thematic analysis to discover and categorize the factors that influence cultural empathy, as well as an evaluation index system to improve the Failure Mode and Effects Analysis framework. It effectively solves the limitations of traditional FMEA, such as single weighting and uncertainty. According to the assessment report, cognitive association failure and scenario restoration failure are significant risk factors for cultural empathy-evoking failure. This study’s findings provide designers with realistic proposals for thematic symbolic imagery and serialized design forms, as well as scientific assessment tools and decision-making resources for cultural industries and policymakers.

Research on Empowering the Development of Traditional ‎Chinese Medicine with New Quality Productivity

The Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) industry, deeply rooted in cultural heritage and complex production processes, has been advancing through technological innovations such as intelligent production systems, digital management, blockchain traceability, and personalized health services. Despite its historical and cultural significance, the integration of these modern technologies offers significant potential to enhance the industry’s modernization and internationalization. Empirical research and case studies indicate that adopting intelligent production systems, blockchain-enabled traceability, and data-driven resource management strategies can address industry challenges while promoting sustainable development. This paper examines the current state of new quality productivity in TCM, evaluates the challenges and opportunities of its application, and proposes strategic recommendations for the industry’s sustainable growth. The findings suggest that new quality productivity can improve production efficiency, ensure consistent product quality, and boost consumer confidence, particularly in global markets. These insights offer a theoretical foundation and practical strategies for applying advanced productivity models in TCM, with potential implications for other traditional healthcare industries.

MASS CULTURE AND THE GLOBAL MEDIA SPACE

The article examines the role of mass culture in shaping the global media community, which is a complex network of users and media platforms united by information exchange processes. The key criteria of mass culture influence are analyzed: content standardization, which contributes to the creation of a universal media product; the dissemination of cultural symbols that influence the formation of public sentiment; the impact on national identities, expressed both in strengthening and weakening them; as well as commercialization, which transforms the media environment into a global market of cultural products. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the evolution of the Yandex.News platform, which reflects changes in mass culture in the context of digital globalization in 2016, 2020 and 2024. The work is based on research by Russian and foreign scientists and offers a new look at the relationship between mass culture and media platforms in the digital era.

Research on the Design of Cultural Creative Products Based on the Traditional Craft of Shouzhuo Ceramics

With the rapid development of the cultural and creative industries, the innovative design of traditional crafts has become an important avenue for promoting their sustainable development. As one of the most significant representatives of Chinese traditional ceramic culture, Shouzhuo Ceramics boasts a long history and unique craft characteristics. This paper discusses the application of Shouzhou traditional ceramics in modern culture and creative product design.. First, the paper briefly reviews the historical development and craftsmanship features of Shouzhuo Ceramics, analyzing their uniqueness in terms of glaze colors, patterns, and shapes. Second, it proposes methods for integrating traditional craftsmanship with modern design concepts, in line with the development trends of the cultural and creative industries. Through specific design cases, this paper examines how the traditional elements of Shouzhuo Ceramics can be transformed into creative and marketable products. Finally, the article summarizes the challenges faced in the creative product design process, especially in balancing commercialization with cultural inheritance, and provides outlooks for future research directions.

The application of artificial intelligence-assisted technology in cultural and creative product design

This study proposes a novel artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted design model that combines Variational Autoencoders (VAE) with reinforcement learning (RL) to enhance innovation and efficiency in cultural and creative product design. By introducing AI-driven decision support, the model streamlines the design workflow and significantly improves design quality. The study establishes a comprehensive framework and applies the model to four distinct design tasks, with extensive experiments validating its performance. Key factors, including creativity, cultural adaptability, and practical application, are evaluated through structured surveys and expert feedback. The results reveal that the VAE + RL model surpasses alternative approaches across multiple criteria. Highlights include a user satisfaction rate of 95%, a Structural Similarity Index (SSIM) score of 0.92, model accuracy of 93%, and a loss reduction to 0.07. These findings confirm the model’s superiority in generating high-quality designs and achieving high user satisfaction. Additionally, the model exhibits strong generalization capabilities and operational efficiency, offering valuable insights and data support for future advancements in cultural product design technology.

Artificial Intelligence and Gender: Examining Identities in The Alara X Sample

This study is about gender-based changes that may occur with artificial intelligence technology. The connection between social change and technology is not a recent phenomenon. Comte illustrates this change through the evolution of knowledge and shifts in human thought. Anne Balsamo (1995) opposes the claim that the material body has lost its validity in our scientific culture in her study examining how the body is gendered in its interaction with new corporal technologies. Balsamo, who provides abundant evidence that the techno-body has always been gendered and racially marked, prepares the ground for a renewed relationship of feminists with contemporary technological narratives. In this context, how the physical world continues while recreating women with virtual characters based on gender approaches will be examined. In this study, first, body theories will be addressed within the scope of the posthuman. Second, how virtual characters occur in social media environments will be evaluated. Finally, Turkish influencer and talk show host Alara X will be examined in terms of her internal and external aspects within the entirety of both human and non-human elements In this study, which claims to connect the cultural formation of women's identities in virtual environments with dominant cultural production forms while making sense of it, it has been concluded that the female body is instrumentalized in power relations through consumption, communication, control mechanisms, and information technologies.

Children as agents of cultural adaptation.

The human capacity for culture is a key determinant of our success as a species. While much work has examined adults' abilities to create and transmit cultural knowledge, relatively less work has focused on the role of children (approx. 3-17 years) in this important process. In the cases where children are acknowledged, they are largely portrayed as acquirers of cultural knowledge from adults, rather than cultural producers in their own right. In this paper, we bring attention to the important role that children play in cultural adaptation by highlighting the structure, function, and ubiquity of the large body of knowledge produced and transmitted by children, known as peer culture. Supported by evidence from diverse disciplines, we argue that children are independent producers and maintainers of these autonomous cultures, which exist with regularity across diverse societies, and persist despite compounding threats. Critically, we argue peer cultures are a source of community knowledge diversity, encompassing both material and immaterial knowledge related to geography, ecology, subsistence, norms, and language. Through a number of case studies, we further argue that peer culture products and associated practices - including exploration, learning, and the retention of abandoned adult cultural traits - may help populations adapt to changing ecological and social conditions, contribute to community resilience, and even produce new cultural communities. We end by highlighting the pressing need for research to more carefully investigate children's roles as active agents in cultural adaptation.

Research on Derivative Business Modes in Modern Publishing and Distribution Based on Aesthetics of Daily Life

Traditional publishing and distribution channels have been challenged by digital reading and e-commerce platforms, prompting transformation through cultural derivatives and cross-sectoral business avenues. "Composite operations" have become a common model for innovative publishing and distribution in China. Bookstores are shifting from "book retailers" to "cultural consumer service spaces," incorporating cultural concepts and creative products into their business scope. This paper conducts field research on the characteristic hybrid bookstores in Shanghai, examining the current state of the industry from perspectives such as types of cultural and creative products, cultural and tourism spaces, and cultural experience services. It explores how aesthetics of daily life can be integrated into publishing and distribution, providing new developmental insights for the traditional publishing industry.

Practical Case Exploration of Cultural Tourism Integration in Public Libraries

The role of public library has changed in this era. Public library and tourism are bonding together nowadays. Consumer and readers’ have changed over the time, they are expecting brand new experiences in tourism and library. As the traditional cultural and information resources collection and service institutions, it’s role in the integrated development of cultural tourism has become more and more prominent. Libraries have rich historical and cultural resources and professional service capabilities which can provide rich materials and intellectual support for the innovation of cultural tourism products.

How Digital Creativity Promotes Sustainable Development of Rural Economy

A "digital creativity + product" model based on rural culture activates cultural elements with digital creativity, enriches the supply of rural cultural products, and thus promotes the sustainable development of rural economy. Deqing county government combined with the local actual situation, applying digital technology to promote the integration of rural culture, realising the reproduction of digital rural space; at the same time, emphasizing on the creative development, creating a cultural and creative platform economy, thus enhancing the rural cohesion and value self-confidence, and ultimately driving the sustainable development of rural economy.

A SEMIOTIC COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF TUJIA AND MIAO WEDDING ATTIRE PATTERNS: ICONOGRAPHIC AND SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATIONS IN CULTURAL CONTEXT

This study employs the semiotic theory to examine the cultural expressions of two distinct ethnic minorities, the Tujia and Miao peoples. Utilizing a mixed-method approach, which combines case study analysis with symbolic interpretation, the research analyses the wedding apparel decorations of the Tujia in western Hunan and the Miao in south-eastern Guizhou. The investigation evaluates the symbolic importance and value of their respective cultural representations. By conducting a comparative analysis of the pattern motifs and their underlying cultural implications in Tujia and Miao wedding attire, the paper elucidates the cultural factors contributing to the divergence of symbolic expressions across different ethnic minority wedding costumes. The findings contribute to the advancement of intangible cultural heritage and the development of creative cultural products specific to ethnic minorities, thereby enhancing the protection and promotion of these communities' traditional cultures and associated etiquette.

Escaping the Tyrannies of Geopolitical Space: Cuban Artists and Curators Operating Outside the Parameters of Sanctioned Institutions

In this essay, we examine the themes of cultural transmission, transformation, and exchange within a transnational and trans-local framework. We specifically focus on Cuban cultural production on and off the island through its visual arts. Through a transtemporal and transgenerational perspective, we explore the artwork, exhibitions, and “institutions” produced by key Cuban diasporic artists Leandro Soto and Carlos Cárdenes and curator Solveig Font. They have successfully established themselves domestically and internationally outside of sanctioned cultural and state institutions by creating transnational and transcultural modes of production and exchange. We envision, therefore, the boundaries of Cuban art, artists, and curators as a network that includes the Cuban diaspora and its multiple, sometimes contradictory or antagonistic, but not less emotionally charged, relationships with the island. Cubanness thus extends beyond the limits of the nation-state and enters a state of perpetual becoming.

Linguistic Choices as Political Participation: The Political Voice of Ukrainian Refugee and Migrant Mothers

ABSTRACT While political participation today manifests in many new, creative, and individualized forms, the contextual drivers and implications of lifestyle politics remain underexplored. This paper offers a comprehensive framework for the study of lifestyle politics, and examines deeply intimate private-life decisions that acquire political meaning during times of conflict. It leverages 18 unique in-depth interviews with Ukrainian refugee and migrant mothers in Denmark to investigate the political nature of linguistic choices, particularly the shift from Russian to Ukrainian after the invasion. Findings show that choosing to speak Ukrainian over Russian and avoiding Russian-language cultural products demonstrates solidarity and protest. Mothers’ policing of language and popular culture at home illustrates how language politicization blurs the line between private and public life and facilitates intergenerational transmission of lifestyle politics. These findings reveal the pervasiveness of and overlooked barriers and sacrifices to this form of political participation, offering insights that are relevant beyond the Ukrainian context.

“My Little Cyborg”: Human, Machine, and the Philosophical Paradoxes of Difficult Humanism

In many ways, ideas about humans and humanity (often contested in modern decolonisation studies) are rooted in the Western European tradition. The humanities themselves arise from the European Renaissance. Thus, addressing the question of the importance of technology for modern humanities research leads to the question of the essence of the human and the technical. To answer this question, the authors turn to the interpretations of twentieth-century Western European thinkers, since Europe is the source of (sometimes contradictory) ideas about humanity. Every attempt at a philosophical analysis of the problem of modern technologies returns to the question about humans, their past, their future and, of course, their present. This article considers some philosophical, anthropological, and medical aspects of the process of cyborgisation of a modern human—from the implantation of microchips into human organs to the complete replacement of some organs with artificial ones, or even the creation of additional organs that do not exist in nature. The problem statement is accompanied by a philosophical analysis of texts by different European authors who have addressed the problems of technology. Technology, which inevitably accompanies humanity throughout the history of its existence, puts a person face to face with the radically Other, inhuman machine. Thus, a technical object is a product of culture and at the same time produces an ethos, a habitat. Cyborg, the technical improvement of human nature, derives from a purely human way of existence, but also produces a special world of technically advanced people—those who already possess non-human properties and qualities. What, then, is a cyborg? Is domestication possible by introducing technical, inanimate objects into living human beings? Will this process lead to the creation of a new cyborg ethics or to the destruction of humans and their replacement by the machine?

Ficțiunea distopică – divertisment sau cântec de lebădă?

Dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction stands out in the contemporary cultural landscape, both in terms of best-selling popular culture products, notably the best-selling novels or blockbuster movies aimed at an YA audience, and increasingly in the high culture sphere. The former contempt of the academia for science fiction has led to a reassessment and “repackaging” by the writers of their works as belonging to the speculative fiction genre. The inner space science fiction, sometimes rebranded as dystopian, cli-fi and post-apocalyptic fiction has gradually moved away from the outer worlds of the hard sci-fi. Several interpretation keys can be discerned from the analysis of the dystopian genre’s profitable market, including collective anguish during what may currently seem to be the End Times, guilt for the climate collapse, spiritual masochistic pleasure, gender issues etc., keeping in mind, though, the obvious peril of oversimplification. The insertion of the love theme supports the marketable and profitable segments of the entertainment dystopian or post-apocalyptic fiction. Cultural hegemony profits from the dystopian trend in fiction and, at the same time, adiaphorizes the meaningful messages which are supposed to be put forward by critical dystopias.