Cultural Studies and Global Dialogism †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Cultural Studies and Global Dialogism. Answer: Introduction: This article appears on THE NEW YORKER, dated 12 June, 2017 by Robin Wright. The article focuses cost of destruction to Mosul town in terms of its infrastructure. In particular, it focuses on the repository of knowledge in the second largest city in Iraq, the Mosul University library. The destruction occurred when Isis took over the city and systematically set out to destroy the library. The author gives a historic background of the significance of the library which housed over a million books and manuscripts. She bemoans the destruction not only of the physical infrastructure but the institution it represents, which form the recurring theme in this article. I concur with her position that ISIS sought to destroy the ideas within the walls that the physical infrastructure represented. A building that is empty represents nothing. It is what it houses that gives it meaning and value. In this case, the library represented ideas and knowledge that had made the city to prosper (Wright, 2017). People who espoused different religions and cultures found accomodation in the city.I t represented the cultural and religious diversity of the city. The essence of a library is that any person can come in to seek knowledge and find new ideas. It was a microcosm of the city. I can therefore make the connection being communicated between the city and the library. The library has symbolic importance in this context. The author reinforces and draws similarities to a structure that is empty. She states that it may be easy to rebuild shattered homes, but it is difficult to recreate the institution it represented. For the residents of Mosul who may come back, rebuilding the physical infrastructure of the battered and destroyed houses may be the easy part. Rebuilding the family unit is more difficult. In my opinion, the comparison of a home and the library is very fitting in this narrative. It also extends to the rebuilding of the city of Mosul. There are volumes of material which may never be replaced. Equally, it may never recover all its staff, glory and prestige despite rebuilding its infrastructure. I believe that in life, we at times never fully recover from tragedy. This article also brings to the fore the often ignored issue of collateral damage in war. What people are accustomed to in war are the pictures showing dead bodies, shallow graves, beheadings and the aftermath of suicide bombers (Rosen, 2014). It seems to me that we become limited of what war stands for apart from what is propagated as news. The damage on culture, memory and knowledge is part of the collateral damage that is mostly unreported. It does not get much attention as it may not sell as news (Luo, 2017). I feel that the media may be working in collusion with the powers that be in not meaningfully covering issues such as the destruction of the library. I feel that the author has done justice in bringing this subject to the fore. Despite the show of goodwill that foreign organizations have made to replenish the book stock of the Library, it falls short in re-establishing it as a credible resource center. In my evaluation, the library will at best become a center of disseminating knowledge that is biased towards Western values. This could fit well with the Western agenda of cultural domination in changing the values espoused in the Middle East. What ISI tried to do by force, Western countries can achieve with books and knowledge through cultural imperialism (Jin, 2017). I believe that the article should at least have highlighted this issue and point the danger of having too many Western oriented books. However, Ifeel the author may not have researched her article in depth to know if Arab and Muslim nations have promised to donate Islamic books and materials. I largely concur with the position taken by the author concerning the destruction of the library in Mosul. Physical infrastructures may be destroyed by the idea they represent may not be totally destroyed. Yet it may sound more clich and may lose substance of meaning. It is easy to rebuild the physical structures but nigh impossible to restore fully the original purpose and institution. The issue of donating books carries with it the danger of cultural imperialism that may be camouflaged as charity and largess form the West. This article also brings into focus the often ignored issue of collateral damage in war with regards to culture and repositories of knowledge. On the whole, the author has clearly and concisely articulated her position and states the facts with accuracy. References Jin, H. (2017). Existing approaches of cultural studies and global dialogism: A study beginning with the debate around cultural imperialism. Critical Arts: A South-North Journal of Cultural Media Studies, 31(1), 34-48. doi:10.1080/02560046.2017.1290666 Luo, X. (2017). Collective mass media bias, social media, and non-partisans. Economics Letters, 15678-81. doi:10.1016/j.econlet.2017.04.015 Rose?n, F. (2014). Collateral damage: A candid history of a peculiar form of death. London: Hurst company. Wright, R. (2017). Mosuls Library without Books. Retrieved from https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/mosuls-library-without-books