Symbiotic transformations: youth, global media and indigenous culture in Malta

Abstract

The article explores the impact of global commercial media on young people’s developing perceptions of their own cultural identity. It works from the premise that local cultures are not so much getting replaced by ‘global culture’ as inflecting it by coexisting with it. The discussion draws on data collected in the course of focus group interviews with young adults living in the Mediterranean island of Malta, in order to stress the specificity with which young people from different cultural contexts consume global media. I argue that, as in other postcolonial communities, though the choices available to Maltese youth have become strongly inflected (or ‘hybridized’) by the commercial imperatives of global media, the ways in which they are appropriated and played out retain very idiosyncratic characteristics, which mark them out as uniquely Maltese.

Identity Formation of American Indian Adolescents: Local, National, and Global Considerations

“…Losses relative to the local culture and homogenization were also articulated by McCarty (2003) as the diminishment of linguistic and cultural diversity due to processes of globalization. This concern was observed by Grixti (2006), who found that higher SES youth from Malta gravitated toward foreign values (e.g., commercialism) rather than local (a trend not observed among their low SES counterparts).…”

“…Writers have begun to address the outcomes or impacts of globalization on child and adolescent development, including both risks and prospects or opportunities (e.g., Kaufman, Rizzini, Wilson, & Bush, 2002;McDade & Worthman, 2004;Thompson, 2002). Of some interest have been the entanglements of local, national, and global strands relative to child development as well as the experiences of those who are marginalized (Arnett, 2002;Grixti, 2006;Kaufman et al, 2002). Globalization is particularly germane to adolescents due to their keen interest in and accessibility to global informational sources (Arnett, 2002;Jensen, 2003;Schlegel, 2000) with significant implications for identity formation (Arnett, 2002;Dolby, 1999;Edgecombe, 2004;Fairweather, 2006).…”

“…In addition to risks posed through discrepant worldviews and adolescents' attraction to global influences that may lead to diminishment of the local culture and potentially identity homogenization, McDade and Worthman (2004) refer to a similar dynamic of cultural change due to globalization called ''socialization ambiguity'' and demonstrated its association with physiologically measured stress reactions among Samoan adolescents. Identity confusion may be somewhat comparable to socialization ambiguity and its associated stress due to conflicting cultural worldviews and values (Arnett, 2002;Edgecombe, 2004), as well the potential for adolescents to observe deficits in the cultural substance of their identity (e.g., Grixti, 2006;Prickett, 2006;Schelonka, 2006).…”

“…Identity outcomes from globalization are varied, however, due to factors such as degree of cultural distance between the cultures to which an adolescent is exposed (Jensen, 2003). Outcomes may vary even among youth of the same cultures according to race (e.g., see Dolby's 1999 discussion of race, globalization, and identity of South African youth) and SES (Grixti, 2006). Risks to identity formation may be aggravated by poverty and its imposition of barriers and obstacles to exploration.…”

“…Further, poor young people are inhibited in the selection of and acting upon the varied lifestyles that become known to them through global media outlets, as discussed by Arnett (2000) and Schlegel (1995) relative to youth from minority, low-income, and developing countries. Those from resource-limited homes and/or communities may face the profound reality that products shown in the global media are not attainable, as Grixti (2006) reported among low SES adolescents in Malta who were disheartened by such awareness. Some American Indian adolescents may likewise face discouragement due to povertyFconsider that the poverty rate (averaged over 3 years) was 25.3% for AI/ANs compared with 12.6% for the total population (U.S. Bureau, 2006).…”