Western Cultures overbearing influence has deteriated Indian Culture

Western Cultures overbearing influence has deteriated Indian Culture Free Online Research Papers Western Cultures overbearing influence has deteriated Indian Culture Introduction Indian culture as a hold has been damaged by the increasingly overbearing and more influential Western Culture. The deteriation and damage that Indian culture has experienced can be broken up into three causes and sub groups. The first one being Pursuit of Wealth. The second one the Power of Western Media and the third and final one being Western Complex maybe the most damaging of them all. Thesis The three sub groups being Pursuit of Wealth, Power of Western Media and Western Complex. All Indians no matter if they live in India or are part of immigrant populations outside India experience at least one of these sub groups if not all. Although they all seem different they have one thing in common that being the destruction and dilution of the Indian culture. Pursuit of wealth. In the pursuit f wealth immigrant culture either survives or dies out. The actual culture of the immigrants goes through a change it either becomes radicalised or an it completely dissolved assimilated into the local culture. This process can often lead and is the culporate behind the destruction of thousands of year old culture being damaged. The actual speed at which this process happens till what extent depends on the individual and their family structure. It all depends on what sort of family background they come from. For example a man coming form a poor fishing village in comparison from low caste family will react differently to the pursuit of wealth, compared to a person from a high caste and well off family. A research carried out in the United States of America showed that a poor immigrant families when given the chance to gain prosperity changed their life styles drastically. In that they did things like change their religion and lifestyles which meant they purpously sped up the assimilation process in the pursuit of wealth. Yet at the same t ime the results show that a family coming from India who are well off and are from a high caste family have reacted differently. Because of them having reasonable prosperity and wealth the sudden drive and urge to change their lives for it was not there. Which meant that they did not undergo any drastic cultural changes for attraction of wealth. Human Development ,Jan 2001 v44 il p19 Immigrant Adaptation and Patterns of Acculturation. Margret A Gibson. Yet regardless of these statistics success and the maintenance of ones culture can be achieved regardless of which social background you come from. India and much of its population is from urban middle class background. The type of people this is includes is everyday people only concerned by one thing that being wealth and its accumulation. They range from the taxi drivers to the newspapers sellers with their mobile phones they can be found anywhere, hence being known as the wheeler and dealer. Australian Screen Education, Winter 20 03 i33 p117(3)Monsoon Wedding: raining on tradition.(Film as text) Cynthia Karena . Yet regardless of these statistics success and the maintenance of ones culture can be achieved regardless of which social background you come from. The Power of Western Media Western media has created a clash of culture in Indian Society, through Hollywood influencing Bollywood. Western Media is portrayed in India as Hollywood so realistically Western means American. Bollywood being the equivalent of Hollywood in India is a movie making, idea producing machine. It is not only a entertainment industry it is seen as a role model and the ultimate image. This is because like everyone knows Cinema is the most powerful media force. The Wilson Quarterly, Summer 1999 v23 i3 p56(1) Cinema Paradiso. Richard Schickel. . India is the same as everywhere in the world in where the young want to challenge tradition. This is the result of them watching Indian films that portray a continuous trend of western aspects. This is seen in the production of movies such as â€Å"Monsoon Wedding†. This movie represents the way Indian Culture is traveling. The influence that Hollywood has exerted on India can be seen clearly in this film. The west has made it fashionable to wear jeans and tight fitting costumes and have western ideas such as sex before marriage. In the past Indian films have not portrayed any of these ideas and concepts. Western media has portrayed that have so called essentials such as MTV and the newest issue of Vogue is essential. Indian Society have absorbed these things into their lives. Sex is another thing India is cautious about although being the home of the ultimate sex instruction booklet the Karma Sutra, India is very divided and vastly conservative on this issue. This is largely due to the way the cinema has shown sex scenes. They just haven’t shown them unlike Western Movies where they are essential part of the movie. Intact they haven’t even shown kiss scenes and have left it up to the audiences imagination as they saw it more romantic. Traditionally Indian films have been revolved love stories. Yet increasing influence from the West has resulted in that movies such as Monsoon Wedding have started showing i ncreasingly long kissing scenes. Australian Screen Education, Winter 2003 i33 p117(3)Monsoon Wedding: raining on tradition.(Film as text) Cynthia Karena . Production of these sort of movies is on the rise. The other sort of Western influence is from the Non Resident Indians these are Indians that live in the West. As they have lived in the West they have been exposed to Western ideas and morals. The Canadian Indian Deepa Metha a film producer made the film Fire in 1998. The film revolved a house wife and her affair with sister in law. Although the film received awards overseas in India it caused riots and protests as it showed lesbian sex scenes. Metro Magazine, Fall 2003 i138 p132(4) Beyond the Bollywood Blockbuster: independent Indian cinema(Regional Review) Karena. Although sex and lesbians are excepted in much of the West and in its culture, this is not the case in India.This sort of Western influence although is rejected by the vast public it is none the less slowly but steadi ly creeping into Bollywood and through Bollywood into mainstream Indian culture. This infiltration does not always blend with Indian culture and creates clashes. Complex of the West Indians in their mind consider themselves second rate, which leads their assimilation process into the West quicker. The complex that Indians have of the West is not constricted to one area and can be seen throughout their daily lives and in their Physic. A good example of this is the subject of arranged marriage. Traditionally this is the only way Indians use to get married. This system works due to the fact that the bride and groom would have faith in the decision of their parents. Yet now days some youngsters prefer to go and find love marriages even though they know the risk of break ups and divorces. Due to the complex they have picked up from Western influences they would rather run the risk of disgrace than do the traditional ways. . Australian Screen Education, Winter 2003 i33 p117(3)Monsoon Wedding: raining on tradition.(Film as text) Cynthia Karena. This complex that is developed is Indians is a direct affect on the assimilation rate. A experiment was conducted in England t hey asked children of Indian background questions and asked the parents the same questions. The experiment was to prove how assimilated the families were and what were the families attitudes were towards Western culture. This included Western morals of Sex before marriage. The results differed from each ethnic group yet there was a definite connection between assimilation and Western Complex. This showed that the family’s culture and the attitude it had toward the Western culture had an affect on the assimilation process. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, Nov 2000 v41 i4 p350 (Stress and Reproduction) Mary Stopes-Roe: Raymond Cochrane Research Papers on Western Cultures overbearing influence has deteriated Indian CulturePETSTEL analysis of IndiaWhere Wild and West MeetBringing Democracy to AfricaInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married Males19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andCanaanite Influence on the Early Israelite ReligionMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever Product

Interview with Book Designer Stewart Williams Reedsy

Interview with Book Designer Stewart Williams Reedsy â€Å"I like things a little more visceral†¦Ã¢â‚¬  - An interview with designer Stewart Williams. We are proud to feature designer Stewart Williams on Reedsy. Stewart’s arresting, beautiful and original designs have spanned a large range of titles from novels to cooking to poetry and a range of non-fiction. We got some great insights into Stewart’s creative process, his approach to different genres and authors, plus the opportunities of a rich online presence.For the unconditional lovers of the written word, I’ve transcribed most of the interview below. But for those who want to take part in the discussion, you can directly join us on the hangout! Hi Stewart, thanks for joining me on this hangout. First, can you give me a bit of background on how you became a freelance book designer?I started out in the publishing world working in magazines and newspapers, and was primarily art directing for various publications in Seattle for quite a long time. I worked for a number of newspapers, however I really wanted to work with books, because I’ve always loved reading and I’ve loved books since I was a little kid. I always thought that the publishing industry was fascinating and that what cover designers did was really the kind of thing I wanted to do as a graphic designer.Whilst I was working for newspapers I started to get jobs here and there with publishers and I didn’t turn down anything. I knew that every job that I could do was something I could add on to my portfolio, to help me get bigger and bigger clients as I moved along. After a brief period of travel, Sasquatch books hired me as a senior designer and I stayed there for a few years. I finally ended up in New York City where I couldn’t find any work at all, so I just decided to go do business for myself.I started to build a presence using all the contacts I had acquired, and I knew at that time that it was really important for me to work on my online presence, so I was always doing online portfolios. I can’t remember the last time I showed anybody a physical portfolio, nobody really uses those anymore. I was already making websites back in the early 1990s, and those have really helped because I really don’t know where people find my work, so I try to put it everywhere.I really like the fact that you put all your work out there, on different platforms. I’ve checked your blog and you’re one of the few cover designers I’ve seen at Reedsy who posts all the projects they’re doing, including information about the creative process and previous cover versions. I think too few designers do tha t.I’ve noticed that as well and I don’t know why that is. I think sometimes it has to do with this idea that when people sign up for a portfolio and are asking for a description, if you have 25 covers it can seem a little daunting to write 25 descriptions at once. For me it was always important to do it as I went along so this wouldn’t happen.Also, I think people run out of things to say, or they are trying to really let the work speak for themselves. But for my clients, people ask me specific questions, like â€Å"do you do YA?† or â€Å"how many covers do you do?†, and I think that the explanations that I give really demystify what is going on on my end so the people get a better idea of how the process works. The blog really helps me illustrate that for them rather than just do some magic trick and say: â€Å"here’s your cover!†In particular, also, I do it to show to people how many cover designs go into a cover project for somebod y like Amazon. Sometimes I do 13 different covers before they decide on the one they like.You mentioned you’ve worked in the past for big publishers, but it seems that now you’re shifting a bit towards indie authors and getting more work from them, am I right?Yes, that’s true, it’s something that I’ve seen more and more over the last 3-4 years: with the rise of the Kindle people have started to write independently and publish via KDP or similar services. It’s been really different for me in the beginning because I usually never dealt with authors, and I realised I enjoyed it quite a bit. Sometimes they have really good ideas, or they just want you to do whatever you feel like, and I like that direct line of communication with people.And by working directly with authors you get more creative freedom, right?You know, I’ve often found along the years that the less I get paid, the more creative freedom I have! When people have larger budg ets they tend to have an idea of exactly what they want you to do. With smaller budgets, they’re more inclined to relinquish control of things and let you do what you want if the price is kept down. Of course I never use that as a way to do whatever I feel like, because I think it’s really important to hear what the author is telling me the want. I want to make sure that my work is something they’ll be happy with and will help them sell their book.Do you prefer working purely with stock imagery, or illustrations, or a mixture?That’s another thing that has to do with budgets in a way. I think there is a lot of inexpensive stock photography out there, so it is hard to convince somebody to spend more money on an illustration.I’m not really an illustrator, I haven’t done it for a living. I like to illustrate, but it’s one of those things where I have to prove myself to people before I get them to hire me, so I’m doing more smaller jobs that don’t pay as much just to get the experience and have something to show.I feel like with the surge of independent publishing and the number of books available having an illustration - something that is 100% unique - really adds value.I agree, and I’d say that the stock photography is not keeping up with the demand, so you start seeing the same photographs on different people’s books and that’s embarrassing for the author.I think people are starting to realise that you cannot just take an image and put your title and name on it because there is a very good chance that someone else is going to use the same†¦You work across all genres, I think, but is there any that you prefer working on? Or any project lately that you have particularly enjoyed?I like things a little more visceral, where there is more of a graphic edge. I think crime and horror are like that. I try not to emulate what people see out there and stay away from the typical horror book cover.But I do like to work on all things, even non-fiction. I have a few client publishers who publish more historical books, and those tend to follow certain contemporary trends in the United States politics. I do like working with archival and historical images.I also love working on poetry books. There tends to be a non-linear way to think about the covers that can work with poetry books, they’re not conceptual the same way a fiction book might be. I find it more interesting and challenging to work with an abstract idea. If you’re building a cover and you know there are certain elements that have to be on it, it becomes more of a production process than a creative one. My method of working is a little weirder and less straightforward than that.That’s good to hear, because a common piece of advice if you write in a particular genre is that your cover absolutely has to respect certain guidelines that are part of the genre. I always feel like as an author you might stand a better chance if you come with a different style for the cover, even one that doesn’t fully â€Å"respect† the genre.I would agree. Other people who write in your genre all have similar looking covers. So if I’m going to look for a book in that genre online, I’m probably immediately going to pick up the one that has a cover that doesn’t look like all the others.That said, it’s hard to convince people to do something different. Even publishers will say to me: â€Å"this book has sold quite a bit and it looks like this, can you do something similar?†. But the problem is that the public is smarter than that and after a while it is going to get bored.I think there’s only a small window of time in which you can emulate an idea and still be successful. The rest of the time you’ve got to try something different. It is a risk, and although people have to take risks, they usually don’t want to be the firs t one.