Mainstream Culture Research Articles

Where have all the monsters gone?

Monsters have been rehabilitated in popular culture, moved from the realm of the truly monstrous to the world of neoliberal ‘sameness’. The zombies of In the Flesh and the vampires in True Blood, as only two examples of this trend, have lost their monstrous edge and have come to represent different ways of being human. While some discussions of this reimagined monster describe the weaving of monsters into mainstream culture as a way of acting out discourses of inclusion, I argue here that contemporary narratives that focus on monsters as metaphors for difference and inclusion are, ultimately, not providing a vision of a utopian world of equality. Instead, these representations are enacting a dystopian vision of a neoliberal social order that demonstrates a fear of true or radical difference.

Implementing History Education as Strategic National Framework for Strengthening Intergroup Relations

The main objective of this study is to examine the increasing socio-political, cultural and economic problems that have militated against the progress of African continent, and demonstrate the extent to which the re invigoration of history in school curriculum can strengthen development practice in the continent. Africa generally has been plagued by several social problems ranging from insecurity, ethnic-religious conflicts, post-election violence and a number of other socially motivated crises. Thus from the western African region to the south, Central Africa; East and North, the evidence of conflicts have been reported. The conflicts arising from clash of group interests, and particularly, among contending forces and several belligerent groups have unarguably, been the bane of economic and political development. To most critics, the arguments have continued to hinge of the relegation of history subjects in schools-high schools and tertiary institutions such as universities, polytechnics, among others. The multiplier effect of this is the huge gap that has been created between the past and contemporary age where a vast majority of the people are unarguably isolated from the mainstream culture of unity and common African cultural heritage. Again, with the rising wave of globalization and Information and Communications Technology (ICT), the orientation of the average African child is more or less greatly influenced by western culture and exposure. What we now experience in most African societies (Nigeria inclusive), is a system where people are hardly conscious of the Pan-African spirit of brotherhood which finds expression in collective interest as well as love and care. The consequence of this development is fast staring the continent in the face, while the sub-region constantly gravitate with numerous challenges raging from lack of community bonds, conflicts, violence, terrorism, kidnapping(as in the case of Nigeria);child trafficking, banditry, proliferation of small arms and light weapons; drug peddling ,among others. This paper is an exploration of some of the strategies that can be employed in order to mitigate social problems that have continued to fester among groups and sections of the African society using history subject as a point of departure. The study is essentially an archival work, and hence, relies on existing works of experts for its investigation. The method of data collection is therefore secondary in nature. The paper recommends that to effectively contain the challenges confronting the continent, there is the urgent need to reinforce the teaching and learning of historical narratives having to do with African culture and principles, especially among teenage population in African schools. This way, the much sought-after nation-building, peace, stability and viable inter group relations would be realized.

The Construction of Cultural Identity of the Minority : The Domestication and the Foreignization of Chinese Image in The Woman Warrior

Chinese Americans are a group which shows the feature of cultural hybridity, and The Woman Warrior describes the life experience of a Chinese girl in a foreign land and her imagination of her distant homeland. From the perspective of post-colonialism, cultural identity is gradually constructed and changed. The Woman Warrior translates some Chinese images into English shows the construction of cultural identity which is different from the mainstream culture. The translation strategies adopted by the novel can be divided into domesticating translation and foreignizing translation. The two translation methods have different characteristics and play different roles in the construction of cultural identity. This article adopts post-colonial theory, cultural identity theory and translation strategy theory to analyze the characteristics of domesticating translation and foreignizing translation in The Woman Warrior, and explores translation strategies that are more conducive to the construction of cultural identity through comparison. Finally, it is concluded that foreignizing translation is a more effective translation strategy under the premise of constructing cultural identity.

Are replications mainstream now? A comparison of support for replications expressed in the policies of social psychology journals in 2015 and 2022

A decade ago, replications were typically not conducted and appreciated in social psychology, although replications play a central role in ensuring trust in scientific fields. Without systematic replication efforts, it is not clear whether findings are trustworthy. As journals can function as gatekeepers for publications, they can influence whether researchers conduct (and publish) replications. Yet, the scholarly culture in social psychology might have changed over the last decade because numerous highly visible studies did not replicate past findings. In light of these insights and the resulting learning opportunities for the field, we predicted an increase in the expressed support for replications in the policies of social psychology journals from 2015 (i.e., the year the replication problem became widely known) to 2022. We coded whether and how replications were mentioned in the author guidelines on the websites of social psychology journals (N = 51). As expected, replications were welcomed more often in 2022 (25%) than they were in 2015 (12%), but they were not mentioned on the websites of most journals (71% in 2022 vs. 82% in 2015). An exploratory analysis suggested that journals that expressed support for replications on their websites were also more likely to publish articles about replication. Further, exploratory analyses of the journals’ TOP factors indicated similar rates of support for replications as for other rigor and transparency promoting policies. In sum, our findings suggest that appreciation for replication has increased, but is not yet part of mainstream culture in social psychology.

Black dis/engagement: negotiating mainstream media presence and refusal

This article presents a conceptualization and exploration of ‘Black dis/engagement’, which refers to Black people’s ‘non-presence’ in mainstream media and involves a simultaneous engagement with grassroots community media that divert – to various degrees – from the norms of white respectability. Based on 20 in-depth interviews with media practitioners (journalists, writers, digital media producers, and activists) of Black African descent in Belgium, this study challenges popular media diversity discourses that equate mainstream media visibility and engagement with social progress and disengagement with quite the opposite: an alarming loss. Drawing on Black ontology and feminist epistemologies of refusal rooted in histories of marronage and Black fugitivity, the study sheds light on how Black people create, write, and engage outside the mainstream, and examines the possibilities and limitations that Black individuals can encounter along the way. The study reveals that while some Black critical voices have found platforms within mainstream media, there is increasing skepticism and questioning among Black individuals and communities toward mainstream media infrastructures and cultures. Centering Black people’s agency and decentering the demands of dominant media cultures, the article sheds light on the diverse ways in which Black people have withdrawn from mainstream media, established digital community spaces, and engaged in various forms of community activities. Recognizing the fluid and contextual nature of Black dis/engagement, the author underscores the importance of valuing and understanding the diverse strategies employed by Black individuals and communities to navigate and resist oppressive media systems.

Ego Quest from Impoverishment to Reconciliation in Velina Houston’s Japanese American Play Kokoro (True Heart): A Freudian Reading

Japanese Americans’ struggle to achieve integration into the American mainstream culture has its powerful impact on their psychological well-being. Socially reserved and family oriented, the Japanese are challenged to cope with the mainstream American individualism and independence. Signs of melancholia, based on Sigmund Freud’s theories, are investigated in Kokoro (True Heart) (2004) written by the Japanese American playwright Velina Hasu Houston. The Japanese American protagonist, Yasako Yamashita, battles with cultural nonconformity and social remoteness which have provoked an aggressive superego incorporated in her mother’s ghost to govern and manipulate her world. The study aims to interrogate how the domineering superego succeeds in exhausting Yasako’s stranded ego driving her to commit parent-child suicide “oyako-shinju.” Although the suicide attempt has highlighted the problematic cultural gaps within the American society, nevertheless it has pinpointed the importance of resolving Japanese minority cultural differences. Velina Houston’s Kokoro (True Heart) does not only offer an astounding psychological insight into Japanese Americans’ battles with a melancholic ego fragmentation and deprivation indicated in symptoms of ambivalence, anxiety, compulsive repetition, sense of guilt and sense of inferiority, but it, also, advances solutions for ego reconciliation and self-conformity.

Does telecommuting influence homeownership and housing choice? Evidence based on pre-pandemic data

Telecommuting has become widespread during the pandemic and are expected to become mainstream work culture in the post-pandemic era. By applying a three-step Instrumental Variable analysis to the 2009 and 2017 U.S. National Household Travel Surveys, this study analyzes the impact of telecommuting on homeownership and housing type choices. Results show that, households with telecommuters are more likely to be homeowners and to live in detached or duplex houses compared to their counterparts. These effects are especially prominent for middle-aged (30–55) households. Relying on robust and national representative historical data before the COVID-19 pandemic, this study provides convincing evidence on how telecommuting affects people’s housing decisions and thus has important implications for understanding the fast-evolving housing markets in the post-pandemic era when a growing number of telecommuters look for homeownership and extract spaces to accommodate home office. It will provide important guidance for revisiting existing housing policies for both urban and rural policymakers to meet the new demand and preferences.

AMERICAN SUBCULTURE: AN IDENTITY TRANSFORMATION OF HIP HOP

Hip-hop has become a global phenomenon, transcending cultural boundaries and influencing artists and communities worldwide. It came from the Black community’s idea of creativity concerning their lifestyle and how they dress—starting from their youth’s energy of creativity to represent their community identity in a larger dominant culture of the US. It transforms the identity of the Black people community into a hip-hop subculture. Through literature analysis, the process of breaking all the challenges and contradictions from the mainstream culture is explained in this paper. Moreover, Burke’s social identity theory and identity theory are utilized in this research. Identity transformation of hip hop to a subculture cannot be separated from its core elements, i.e., music with its poetic and rhyme wordings, unique fashion to emphasize their presence in society, dance as the platform of freedom activity, and language as the tool to convey their identity. These elements are the core of hip-hop in forming self-identities and collective identity, as well as providing a platform for self-expression, storytelling, and cultural exchange.

The impacts of ethnic and mainstream culture on Māori-themed films

ABSTRACT This paper analyses the impact of Hollywood crime-thrillers and that of Māori cultural conventions in Māori-themed New Zealand films. The influence of the former is detected in the figure of the gang member, whilst that of the latter in Taiaiake Alfred’s New Warrior, who uses social skills and mental rather than physical strength to fight for the wellbeing of the community. By analysing the portrayals of such characters, we detect how they negotiate the conventions of art films, or ethnically involved ‘Fourth Cinema,’ and those of popular entertainment. We come to the conclusion that although certain gang-related images in these productions are gory, romanticized or Hollywoodized, the representation of contemporary Māori warriors still displays, to a greater or lesser degree, social issues related to modern leadership and the wellbeing of Māori tribes.

Navigating Transitioning Experiences: A Review of Ethnic Minority First-generation College Students in Chinese Higher Education

Since the 1980s, educational opportunity programs aimed at reducing the disparities between ethnic minority groups and the Han have been implemented in China. In reflection of the policies, the China College Student Survey (CCSS) finds a positive trend of enrollment from first-generation college students with rural backgrounds in the past ten years. An increasing number of scholarly works have also investigated the effects of policies on ethnic minority college students and proposed recommendations for improving policies to assist individuals in adapting to college life. This paper considers the importance of resilience in transitional experiences on both academic and life outcomes and reviews both quantitative and qualitative studies on ethnic minority university students experiences in Han-dominant urban areas. Through Tummala-Narras multicultural resilience framework, this paper concludes three dimensions of resilience employed by ethnic minority individualsresilience as active capital accumulation, resilience as hope and empowerment, and resilience as social supportand finds that to ensure well-being in the Chinese context, individuals most likely find resilience from their personal abilities and interactions with mainstream culture, while downplaying the role of community and family support. In the future, cross-sectional, periodic, and longitudinal data can be introduced to the topic as waves of cultural, economic, and policy shifts engender different experiences for each cohort generation and the diverse pool of ethnic minority students. Considering the fluidity and context-dependent nature of resilience, future studies could probe into how resilience functions in multicultural workspaces post-college and how identities concerning race and ethnicity shape economic relations.

Revisiting Women's Cinema: Feminism, Socialism, and Mainstream Culture in Modern China by Lingzhen Wang (review)

Revisiting Women's Cinema: Feminism, Socialism, and Mainstream Culture in Modern China by Lingzhen Wang (review)

Painting as a post-digital formalism

The post-digital is a genre which, since the early 2000s, has gradually embedded itself within mainstream culture, saturating and influencing many faculties of knowledge, as a standardization of digital technologies: the aftermath of the Digital Revolution. The fine arts have borne witness to this cultural shift, readily accommodating post-digital thematics which have percolated into the field of painting and its continual expansion. The following article aims to define painting as a post-digital formalism by: chronologizing post-digital painting and its precursory technological and cultural developments to situate it within a wider historical canon; describing the translative capacity of contemporary painting (as an inherent feature of the post-digital painted gesture); and charting the shifting formal topography of painting resulting from the conflation of medium (the formal parameters of an artwork) and media (the networked, mass communicative status of an artwork). Finally, this enquiry synthesizes an expansion of characteristic post-digital formal traits termed herein as ‘Digital Factures’. Resultantly, an expanded Taxonomy of Digital Factures that maps technology’s role within contemporary painting is situated, providing a new insight as to the definition of painting’s expanding processes and trends in an age after new media.

Psychological influence of emerging niche clothing culture on youth with OCPD

Background Subculture is a unique cultural group formed outside the mainstream culture, and emerging niche clothing culture usually refers to some non-traditional, independent brand or style clothing culture. Compulsive personality disorder is a psychological disorder in which patients tend to overly focus on details, order, and perfectionism. For young people with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, participating in emerging niche clothing culture may have some psychological effects.Subjects and MethodsSelect 100 patients with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder and randomly divide them into two groups: the experimental group and the control group. The experimental group of patients adopted emerging niche clothing culture and conventional psychological treatment methods, while the control group adopted conventional psychological treatment methods. The experimental period is 3 months, and the treatment effects of patients after 3 months are compared and statistically analyzed using Excel and SPSS23.0.ResultsThe research results indicate that the combination of emerging niche clothing culture and conventional psychotherapy methods is more likely to obtain a different way of relaxation and decompression compared to conventional psychotherapy methods. This novel rather than traditional clothing style can become a way for them to alleviate the pressure of compulsive thinking and behavior, providing physical and mental comfort.ConclusionsThe emerging niche clothing culture can provide a unique way for young people with obsessive-compulsive personality disorders to express their individuality and uniqueness. By choosing clothing and styles that are different from mainstream clothing styles, they can express their independent thinking and aesthetic preferences.Acknowledgement2021 National Social Science Foundation Art Program (No.21BG103).

An Exploration of Tennis Consumption Experiences by a Beginner Named 'Te-rin-e': The Desire for Self-Expression, Conflict with Mainstream Culture, and Knowledge-Based Consumption

PURPOSE This study focuses on the experiences of novice tennis enthusiasts in Korea, aligning with the rising popularity of tennis as a burgeoning cultural phenomenon.METHODS Employing an ethnographic approach, we included eight participants with <5 years of tennis, in addition to three auxiliary participants.RESULTS The primary findings of this study are as follows: First, novice tennis players from the MZ generation actively employ tennis as a means of personal expression, sharing their tennis-related fashion and experiences on SNS. Second, most novice tennis players report a sense of detachment from the traditional club-centric tennis culture, gravitating toward casual court usage, spontaneous activities, and flexible membership structures. F inally, despite their modest technical proficiency, they avidly engage in knowledge-based consumption, displaying a profound grasp of tennis-related information.CONCLUSIONS These findings provide valuable insights into comprehending this burgeoning cultural phenomenon in Korean society, stemming from the escalating interest in tennis, and can serve as a valuable benchmark for establishing development strategies for tennis.

The introduction of a Community Resource Specialist into the Public Library

Social services in libraries have traditionally ranged from helping immigrants assimilate into mainstream culture to responding to user needs related to home and food insecurity, the opiate epidemic, and disaster recovery. Community needs have continued to grow and the public library is increasingly stepping in to help bridge the gap in part by adding a position, often filled by a social worker, to help library users find social services information, complete applications for SNAP and other government programs, and to connect library users with community resources. Additional duties often include training and coaching librarians to provide these services, performing outreach, and developing partnerships with community agencies. Although this is a growing trend, there are no established guidelines for these positions and relatively little research has been done to document the benefits and challenges, identify issues, and consider the impact on librarianship. This case study design follows a recently hired community resource specialist for the period of one year to understand why a community resource specialist position was needed, how this position was implemented, and with what result. Study findings will help to bridge the gap by documenting benefits and challenges and considering the impact of this position on practice and the development of professional competencies in social services information, as well as implications for teaching and learning in LIS programs.

The "Creativity Crisis" as a Mind in Crisis: A Cultural-Historical Activity Theory Position.

Creativity is considered a global ability and crucial for ordinary-daily and special (e.g., science, aesthetic) activities. In this paper, from the position of Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), we expand the debate about the creativity crisis and hypothesize that the noted crisis is only the tip of the iceberg represented by the crisis of the postmodern' incoherent mind, reflecting the crisis of self-realization as a leading activity in the individualistic epoch. By investigating creativity as an original functionality of the mind, two key titles are stressed. One is the halting of the activity system; two,it is the inconsistency between the objective meanings sphere and the subjective sense-making sphere. Both titles represent the epistemological rupture embedded in the mainstream culture and praxis rooted in the internal contradictions of individualism and post-modernism as worldview and practices, leading the mind to close its eyes on the contradictions which are the crucial source of grasping the internal content (abstraction and generalization) of the given experience, hence, a crucial source of creativity. Thus, it is considered that not only creativity is in crisis, but also the coherence of the mind as well, as an extreme result of the shattered postmodern existence.

The Moroccan “Yizkor Book”: Holocaust Memory, Intra-Jewish Marginalization, and Communal Empowerment in Israel

The writing of “Yizkor books” (Yizker bikher, רעכיב רוכזי)—memorial books for European Jewish communities that were destroyed in the Holocaust—has developed and expanded as the remnants of these lost communities scattered around the globe in the post-war era. The motives for writing comparable books among non-European Jewish communities—which experienced different circumstances of dispersal but were still influenced by Holocaust memory—and the way these books nourished the intentional creation of immigrant communities, are understudied. This article focuses on the related genre of what we define as community-oriented autobiographical memoirs penned by Moroccan Jews who migrated to Israel in the 1950s. Within these books, we trace patterns of narration and memory construction utilized by Moroccan leaders in an effort to cope with the stereotyping and exclusion of their communities from mainstream culture by the Ashkenazi-European elite in Israel. We explore how these narratives by Moroccan immigrants were, on the one hand, inspired by commonplace Israeli Holocaust memories depicting the traumatic annihilation of Jewish life in Morocco, and, on the other hand, accounts of Moroccan marginality in Israel.

Improving Immigrant Adolescent Mental Health: The Role of Cultural Identity

As immigration to the United States continues to rise, so does the population of second-generation immigrant children. They often face acculturation stressors, the psychological response of distinct ethnic groups coming into contact with the mainstream culture and the conflicts that may arise, in the face of a new culture, along with culture gaps with their parents as they struggle to find their place in American society. As these stressors proliferate even into their teenage years, youth mental health is at risk. Thus, this review aims to synthesize the best available evidence surrounding immigrant acculturation gaps, parental and peer influence, and cultural identity, along with the impact on mental health. Specifically, this paper seeks to answer the question: to what extent does preserving cultural identity benefit the mental health of second-generation immigrant adolescents in the United States? Of the literature reviewed, I find strong evidence that a stronger cultural identity has positive effects on immigrant youth mental health and can help mitigate acculturative pressures as adolescents immigrate to the U.S. I also examine differing perspectives on the negative role cultural identity plays in navigating adolescence, but overall, the research suggests a benefit of cultural identity on mental health.

Indo—Netherlands Subalternity in Post-Independence Javanese Literature Social Portrait

The independence of a nation creates a new perspective on specific communities. Those odds with the general view are wrong and mistaken. This situation often happened to Indo-Dutch groups outside politics who were not involved in the hierarchies of past political practices. Indo-Dutch society in post-independence Indonesia is in the flow of national transitional cultural interests. Novel Godhane Prawan Indo Asmara's work tells of cultural pressures that affect the psychology of an Indo-Dutch girl named Evie Tavernier. This paper examines the figure of Evie Tavernier as part of the social reality of post-independence subalternities. The analysis results concluded that the independence of the Indonesian side gave rise to a cultural and identity revolution. The cultural defeat of the West over its colonial lands gave rise to a counter-identity: the East, which has the right to itself. Rapid socio-cultural changes become a dilemma because of the reversal of power. As a minority, even though indigenous figures accept Evie Tavernier, they do not necessarily unite in the mainstream of the majority culture. He remains alone and independent of other identities, out of the vortex of culture around him. He is in the vortex of the cultural power of local figures during his condition of being marginalized by the community association. In Gayatri Spivak's view, the character of Evie Tavernier is a picture of a subaltern or other in the currents of Dutch-Indonesian culture.

Life of the death system: shifting regimes, evolving practices, and the rise of eco-funerals

Despite growing awareness of our environmental footprint in life, the ecological impact of death is rarely considered. Yet conventional funeral practices pose a risk to both human and environmental health by polluting the earth and contributing to climate change, thus calling for more sustainable methods of body disposal. Although various eco-funeral options have been gaining momentum in the United States, they have not yet been adopted into mainstream culture. Drawing on empirical data from participatory site observations and semi-structured interviews with funeral professionals, this study examines the factors that are driving or hindering widespread uptake of eco-funerals in the country. A multilevel panarchy framework is then used to situate these evolving funeral practices within the broader historical context. This article offers two important contributions: 1) it adds a novel frontier to the understanding of sustainable social practices by exploring death practices, and 2) it furthers theoretical and practical insights into the dynamic interactions between micro-level practices and macro-level developments within system transitions.