Cultural Convergence
How has an American company, like McDonald's, dealt
with these differing cultures?
Definitions
 Cultural Convergence – increasing similarities
between cultures, which is not limited to beliefs,
consumer brands, and media.
 Taboo – when action is forbidden by religious or
cultural beliefs.
 Cultural Divergence - decreasing similarities between
cultures
 Globalization – the forming of a global culture
through increased connectivity.
Cultural Divergence
 May happen when the cultures move in different directions
compared to another part of the cultures.
 Usually because they have been exposed to new ideas.
 Physical barriers
 Mountains that are impassable cause similar cultures to follow
a new path and develop different.
Examples of Cultural Divergence
 Roman Empire
 Their empire was most of the Middle East, almost the entirety of
Europe, and small parts of Briton.
 Germanic tribes attacked the western part of the empire and they
introduced new cultural elements.
 When the empire split (somewhat before as well) the Eastern
portion took on Greek aspects, while the Western empire took on
Germanic cultural traits.
 The divergence led to clashes in political ideas, religions, and
eventually languages. Thus the empire split.
 India
 Aryan India was once a unified Hindu
nation, but when Muslim invaders arrived,
the nation was split into two volatile states.
 Aztecs and Yaquis of Mexico –
 Rumor has it that they spoke the same
language and they held the same religious
beliefs. Once they split up, they were
starkly different from each other.
How globalization works
Columbian Exchange
 Brought new ideas and customs to the Native
Americans.




Catholicism
Land holding
Spanish Language
Royal Government
 Gave new ideas and traditions to the Europeans
 Tobacco
 Eating corn, tomatoes, chocolate, and squash.
 Created a new Latin American culture.
Recent Examples
 Democracy
 Much of Southeast Asia and eastern Europe were
communist in the 1980s
 Democracy began to gain more and more power in the
world during the 1990s.
 Many of the communist countries fell to democracy
once the dictators were deposed.
 English language
 English has become the second language of the world.
 Almost a billion people speak English as their first or second
language.
 The rise of the Internet has given way to the spread of English.
 Globalization is one of the causes of English’s increasing
popularity.
 New technology
 Prior to technology, most people had no idea about the
cultures of the world.
 Most cultures use computers, cell phones, automobiles, and
music devices.
 This creates a common culture.
 Global Sports
 The Olympics and World Cup Soccer make the whole planet
come together during a time of mutual pride and competition.
 Soccer (Futbol) is the worlds most popular sport. It is even
getting more attention in America.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUD3l4cGkmk
American Companies
 McDonald’s expanded its market to India, but it is
taboo there to eat cattle. (what is their most popular
sandwich?)
 Hindus see the cow as their holy animal, so to eat one
would be to eat an object of their worship.
 Without infringing on their religious rights,
McDonald’s created a vegetarian menu, as well as
some of their classics, like McNuggets.
Native Americans and Pilgrims
 When the first settlers of America landed, they did
not know how to farm, what to farm, or what to hunt.
 The entire colony almost starved and froze to death.
 If the Native Americans had not introduced these new
types of food like corn, the colony would have died in
a matter of weeks.
 We give thanks to cultural convergence.
Economic Convergence
 Is the horizontal integration of the entertainment
industry. Companies such as Sony and (the former) AOLTimeWarner now have interests in film, TV, books,
games, the internet, music, real estate, etc.
 This is resulting in the transmedia exploitation of
branded properties including Star Wars, Pokémon and
Harry Potter (to mention just a few). All have other
forms of media associated with the original product, in
order to expand the potential audience and saturate the
market.
Global Convergence
 The cultural hybridity that develops from the international
circulation of media content.
 Cinema – the global circulation of Asian Popular Cinema profoundly
shapes Hollywood entertainment. Many well-known Asian Actors
often crossover to Western Cinema, including Chow Yun-Fat
(Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon & Pirates of the Caribbean: At
World's End see below), Zhang Ziyi (House of Flying Daggers & Rush
Hour 2 see below) and Jackie Chan (Drunken Master & also Rush
Hour 2)
 Give an example of the experience of being a citizen of the 'global
village'.
Make a rap or rock about how different
companies deal with other cultures.