The Influences And Countermeasures Of Western Mass Culture Values

By studying the history， we can make a conclusion that values are the foundation of thedevelopment of a country. A united and stable value can help to make a country strong，prosperous and it’s an important part of national cohesion. On the contrary， a divided onecan lead to continuous turmoil and disintegration of a country. Values usually spread and passon through culture. Both traditional culture and modern mass culture reflect different values.Mass culture came into being as a cultural phenomenon in the west in the1930s or1940s.From the beginning， it has been developing quickly because of its features， such as itsindustrialization， commercialization， popularization， entertainment and fashion. Besides，all of these make a deep influence on people’s social life and their thoughts. During30years’reform and opening up of China， mass culture has rapidly risen along with the economicdevelopment. And especially in the21st century， after China’s entry into the WTO， therapid development of network technology and the impact of globalization，mass culture has astronger and stronger influence， even becomes the popular culture of our society. Thewestern mass culture transmits its values and conducts cultural penetration and expansionthrough electronic media products such as film and television， micro blogging， games，network platform， commercial advertising and multinational companies， fast food，supermarket and other consumption culture of our daily life.In the process of globalization， cultural globalization is the most prominent effect ofglobalization in the cultural field. Western powers take advantage of its strong economic tospread its culture all over the world and take the western culture as the core in order tohomogenize the world culture. As a result， the implementation of the western countries’cultural hegemony policy is the biggest threat to the cultural sovereignty independence ofvarious countries. Therefore， all countries， particularly developing countries stronglyoppose to it.At present， China’s traditional values are being affected by western values during thesocial transition period. Especially in the market mechanism， people’s income gap and classdivision are becoming obvious; polarization is becoming serious day by day; conflicts ofinterest are increasing; social security， social regulation mechanism and social supervision mechanism remain to be established and improved. All these lead to inevitable conflicts invalues， expressed as the loss of the social mainstream values， the negation of traditionalvalues，the departure of people’s behavior from socialist values， varying degrees ofacceptance of Western values， and even fully accepting Western values. Therefore， how tocontrol the conflicts within a certain range and a certain extent， how to make most peopleagree the mainstream values， and how to blend different values are the important conditionand ideological foundation for social stability， orderly development， and safeguarding aharmonious society.Our country’s study of the values theory has undergone several stages： We began tostudy theory of values in the1980s. The focus of the study is concentrated in epistemology. Inthe1990s， people’s attitudes to values dramatically changed in social transition period.Scholars began to deepen the research into values theory and analyze the relationship betweenvalues and Social Change or Social Development， especially the study of the diversity andconflicts of values in the primary stage of socialism.With the development of market economy， the research of mass culture， theemergence of popular culture， the launching of mass cultural criticism and the introductionof Western mass culture theory almost synchronously began in the1990s. Scholars generallybelieve that mass culture is different from the mainstream culture and elite culture. It is a newcultural style which emerged with the reform of the economic patterns; it is a cultural industrywith such characteristics as commodity， consumer， entertainment， and so on; besides，commodity is also one of its essential properties. With the development of modern scienceand technology， the impact of economic globalization， popular culture has increasinglybecome a way of life of modern people. This way of life is gradually affecting and changingthe value orientation and values of the public. The flattened， fragmented， pipelinedcharacteristics of culture attract scholars to conduct in-depth research and analysis of popularculture with a critical spirit.This paper integrates results of previous studies of mass culture and discusses them inthree parts： three concepts—value， values and western popular culture are sorted out; thelinks among them are analyzed; the formation and propagation of Western values are deduced;and the importance of studying the Western mass culture values is raised in the first part. The second part is the main part of the paper， starting from the content and expression of thevalues of Western popular culture， to the analysis of impacts of the bearing and spreading ofWestern popular culture， especially its influences on Chinese values during its propagation.It gradually unveils its true features. The third part of this article deals with the thoughts andcountermeasures for the impact of Western popular culture values on Chinese popular culture.The paper argues that the contemporary Western mass culture， to some extent， has a deepinfluence on Chinese popular culture as well as the cultural life and consumption patterns ofthe Chinese masses. Therefore， China should enhance the defense capabilities of thepenetration of Western mass culture， create products of mass culture in accordance withChina’s national characteristics， and build a core value system in accordance with thecontemporary national conditions in China.