AHQ/PC: Alternatives to Anglo-Saxon Cultural Domination

[VadisDeProfundis]

Okay, I think that it is pretty commonplace that the most predominant forms of popular culture come from the Anglo-Saxon parts of the world. After all, Anglophone nations have produced two historical superpowers and were historically very powerful, the English language is probably the closest thing the world has to a lingua franca, and while the world order is being challenged, it looks as if the cultural domination of the Anglo-Saxons looks set to remain.

Could history have favoured others? With a PoD of, say, the end of the Franco-Prussian War, and just before the beginning of the Belle Époque, before the Wilhelmine Era and so on, could an alternative have emerged? What would it look like? A stronger France could support and promote more of its culture, but could it dominate the way Anglo-American culture has dominated? Another possible alternative is perhaps the cultural output of a more culturally and politically unified Mitteleuropa, that manages to project power and influence across the globe.

Were there other possibilities? What would they look like? If another, les say "cultural group" achieving dominance is ASB with such a late PoD, could anything have been done to ensure that (popular) culture is more pluralistic? Say, German grows into a major language in the US as more German Americans retain it, or France manages to dominate Filmmaking much akin to Hollywood, in terms of size and power? Could Asia have managed to get in on such an occasion, overcoming the racial barrier?

What would a world where anglosaxon culture isn't hat popular or dominant look like? Would it be that much different from our own?

 

[funnyhat]

You need to have a smaller (or not anglophone) USA. An 1870 POD makes that really difficult. Now 1770, you can do a lot with that...

 

[NiGHTS]

Germany and or Russia dominate Europe, causing their language and not English to spread throughout Europe, leaving the rest of the continent to either speak German or Russian and then consume that pop culture. Even the British have to learn German or Russian to do business in Europe. The Republic of China grows in to a very large, rich, and influential nation that restores China into the hegemony of East Asia, if not in to South East Asia. Chinese becomes a popular language throughout the region, or translations are made of their work, and Chinese pop culture is popular throughout the region. Spain and Germany have a bunch of colonies in Africa, and the Philippines are never made a US colony, or at least keep Spanish as the main language, with English never spreading over it.

Really, this just involves making sure that domestic cultural industries stay strong and get stronger. And that other languages are able to stand up to English. Nations put tariffs on American movies in order to support their own movie and tv industries. And the US becomes less picky with subtitles and dubs, like other nations are, so when every year, at least 4 or 5 nation's release a movie there and at least one becomes super popular.

 

[Shahanshah of Xsassa]

Lenin's Soviet Union dominates Europe. All of the continent is united under the single banner of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, with new, socialist language (esperanto) taught in all Soviet schools. Decolonization happens sooner, with many African countries adopting state socialist system of government. In Asia, Bolsheviks won the civil war. In Japan, rice riots of 1918 overthrow Emperor and imposed socialism. Only American continent under the boot of increasingly authoritarian United States stands against Soviet menace.

 

[VadisDeProfundis]

Germany and or Russia dominate Europe, causing their language and not English to spread throughout Europe, leaving the rest of the continent to either speak German or Russian and then consume that pop culture. Even the British have to learn German or Russian to do business in Europe. The Republic of China grows in to a very large, rich, and influential nation that restores China into the hegemony of East Asia, if not in to South East Asia. Chinese becomes a popular language throughout the region, or translations are made of their work, and Chinese pop culture is popular throughout the region. Spain and Germany have a bunch of colonies in Africa, and the Philippines are never made a US colony, or at least keep Spanish as the main language, with English never spreading over it.

Really, this just involves making sure that domestic cultural industries stay strong and get stronger. And that other languages are able to stand up to English. Nations put tariffs on American movies in order to support their own movie and tv industries. And the US becomes less picky with subtitles and dubs, like other nations are, so when every year, at least 4 or 5 nation's release a movie there and at least one becomes super popular.

So what would it take to promote more of such “cultural protectionism”? Tariffs on American films, limits on the amount of English music on the radio, and so on. I think that it was quite popular at least in France, don’t know much about the rest of Europe though.

 

[Skallagrim]

So what would it take to promote more of such “cultural protectionism”? Tariffs on American films, limits on the amount of English music on the radio, and so on. I think that it was quite popular at least in France, don’t know much about the rest of Europe though.

Rather than just tarriffs, think for instance of laws that stipulate that all films must be dubbed, only translated books may be sold etc. -- and indeed, limiting or even outright banning foreign popular music on the radio is an option. It could also be outlawed for your own artists to have their music -- even their native-language stuff -- played on air if they release too much music in English as well, thus essentially preventing your musicians from releasing English-language stuff in any significant quantities.

Beyond that, it's not inconceivable that in an ATL, you could see governments passing legislation to prevent "cultural contamination". Think of present-day censorship laws in certain countries, that demand that certain bits are cut out of films before they are released there. You could see the same thing, with obvious "Americanisms" (for instance) being cut out of of films and even books. (For instance, shots of the coca-cola logo, McDonald's signs etc. could be cut out, and where other American brand names are visible, it could be made mandatory to blur them if cutting the shot entirely isn't possible.)

On the flip-side, you can handsomely subsidise your own musicians, film-makers etc. if they actively promote your own culture, your own brands and companies etc.

Then there is education. For one, just don't teach kids English anymore. For another thing: introduce civics classes that really emphasise a certain cultural chauvinism and which actively preach against "Americanisation" (or whatever the ATL equivalent is called).

And besides all this, laws severely limiting or even outright banning foreign companies from operating in your country are always possible.


...Of course, none of this is economically wise. Protectionism of any kind is always harmful in the long run. But if you care more about culture and cultural "purity" than you care about prosperity, then the above suggestions are by no means off the table. And if you can somehow get an entire continent to implement these measures, that will really limit the domination of Anglophone culture.

 

[NiGHTS]

So what would it take to promote more of such “cultural protectionism”? Tariffs on American films, limits on the amount of English music on the radio, and so on. I think that it was quite popular at least in France, don’t know much about the rest of Europe though.

As long as American stuff isn't the only option, chances are, most people will listen to stuff in their own language. In America, as the movie industry is very large, there are lots of options and you don't have to look far for decent movies that are in your taste. If other countries are given that, then American movies probably won't show up there much anyways. To be honest, I question as to how pervasive American movies, outside if the usual blockbusters, really are. If Europe is speaking German or Russian, and those nations are making their own blockbusters, then only 1 or 2 American movies may actually get popular there as only so many movies can play in theaters, and most nations, that can manage it, would rather have domestic studios making money from their citizens rather than that money going overseas. It would be really competitive to have movies make it overseas as more nations producing such content means that with such a range of options, many are going to be ignored.

Regarding music, chances are that most people would like music in their own language, though there will still be breakouts that cross borders. It depends on how ruthless companies are. If a nation lessens the control that companies have over their clients, those clients will probably make music that's less popular and more personal, and thus unlikely to cross boarders on a massive scale, with the exception of a small fan club in various foreign nations.

Japan should be looked at for examples. I'm pretty sure the music market there is the second largest, though China should be ( probably laws prevent or something) , but Japanese companies seem to really not like exporting the music like how South Korea does. South Korea does export music and makes it rather Americanized imo in order to appeal to a global audience that is probably used to the Americans exporting their stuff everywhere leading to American tastes being exported as well. If America never got the headstart it got thanks to countries losing a lot in world war 2, and others being poor for a long time, than global tastes will most likely vary on region.