3.4 Questions

In Appadurai's work, he talks about the Globalization and Americanization that has taken place. He states in the example of the Filipinos, that their present is our past, and our present is their future, yet our past is a modality of our present. This is saying that America's past is simply another countries present, if they are following the Americanization process. Yet, he also points out that the US is no longer the main driving force of globalization. The media has become a new landscape bringing the world within our grasp. So, is it true that globalization and westernization/Americanization are the same thing? Or was it once true, but now media has taken the place of westernization? With the technology that has started to drive our lives has this also put the globalization into hyper drive? The Filipinos are emulating our musical culture as Appadurai states, yet is this the westernization taking place or an effect of the media culture that is so readily available with the explosion of technology?

In Soutter's work, she discusses a family heirloom that she received, and progresses to tell about the different meanings that the material and photograph could/did mean. She discusses the mourning jewelry, and the different fashions that the necklace may have gone through. In the end of her essay, she states that it connects her to her ancestors and all of their achievements. This article is a good one to get you started on thinking about your project for this class, it got me to thinking, as she is describing the number of generations this item had passed, what about my yearbook? Don't we all have objects that we hold on to for their sentimental value? The yearbook for me connects me to the past of Salem College and the women who had gone through the same traditions I had experienced. But what do we really know about the history of our objects and heirlooms? Can we really ever understand the context that they have passed through? What about the heirlooms we will pass on, will those be understood and appreciated for what they were meant to be?