The Cultivation Theory

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Globalisation is the interconnectedness and interaction of people, companies and governments from all around the world. People from different cultural backgrounds are interacting with each other on a daily basis through the use of new technologies and social and mass media. (Globalisation 101. 2013) Globalisation has effects on the environment, in politics, on the economy and on all other aspects in life, but this essay is going to explore the effects that globalisation has on South Africa and whether South Africans are adopting and being influenced by the main ideologies promoted in the media and whether they are starting to abandon their own traditional cultural values and beliefs. Television is a major part of globalisation because it is an easy way to see what is happening all around the world. The Cultivation Theory that was developed by Gerbner, suggests that if a person watches enough television, the images and ideas that are portrayed on it will, over time, shape the perceptions and concepts of that persons’ reality. (Cultivation Theory. 2013) Cultural imperialism, linked to the Cultivation Theory, is the notion of promoting a more powerful and dominant culture, which would be the Western culture, over a less known or desirable culture and even over the rest of the world. This essay is going to explore this topic in more detail. (Cultural Imperialism. 2012) Cultivation Theory views television as society’s storyteller. It tells the largest number of the stories to a lot of people almost all of the time. These stories portray broad, underlying, universal assumptions about the ways of life rather than specific attitudes and opinions. Television’s stories provide a dominant set of cultural values, attitudes, and beliefs. Viewers with different social, political, and cultural qualities should have different opinions about values, beliefs, and traditions. These

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