Mass Media And Ethnic Social-Cultural Change

Modernity,which like a greedy vampire,has been sucking everything traditional all over the world ever since the Enlightenment. Driven by the modernization, the Western World began to curve the course to modernization in the 17th and 18th century. The developmental trends of modernization, which has been sweeping the global society, present itself as the major cause of social-cultural changes to the human race. As both a nature of historical development of modernity and a standard judgment of modernity, the mass media had became an internal evidence and representative banner of the Western modernity. The mass media communicates not only modern science and technology, information, and modern education, but also arouses the villagers' political participation level and legal awareness. In the meantime, the mass media promotes the villagers personal awareness of modernity in the rural areas. The mass media brings human fresh form of culture and also great impacts and negative effects to social-culture. Mass media dispels the functions of the organization and structure of the village, and degenerates the villagers'traditional morality and value, and also promotes the traditional aesthetic sentiment, and stimulates rural consumerism tendency. The mass media also accelerates the transformation of traditional custom and caused a sharp change of national social culture.The paper takes Dong People who lives in Bihe village in Zhijiang Dong Autonomous County (ZJDAC) Western Hunan Province as a case study.Applying ethnology fieldwork and communication quantitative research methods to the relationship between the mass media and the ethnic social-cultural changes under the circumstance of the modernization. The significance is embodied in the following two aspects: Theoretically, the paper responses to trends of academics and the development of ethnology and communication, by setting a bridge between the two. In the meanwhile, the paper analyzes the role of mass media in the ethnic social-cultural changes by summarizing the regular pattern and characteristics. Practically, judging from the realistic significance, the author applies detailed fieldwork materials to the research of the development of media in ethnic regions. The paper offers reference for local governments and the relevant departments, while coping with the problems of regional economy and social development strategy decision-making. The paper suggests recommendation on how to grasp the relationship between ethnic social-culture and modern mass media, how to keep in mind the role definition and the sacred duty of mass media, which plays a vital importance in protection for ethnic minorities culture.The paper is composed of three parts. Part I introduction, which probes the cause of research, presentations and significance of this influence. Part II, which runs from first chapter to the fourth chapter. The first chapter is the introduction of the spot of fieldwork in Bihe, its historical evolution and natural ecology, nation and an overview of the population, especially introduced from the material culture, system culture and spiritual culture of Bihe, and the traditional social culture in different periods of three generations of individual cultural characteristics are described. The second chapter is the description of media life of villagers and its media development course. The third chapter discusses mainly the influence of mass media brings to the social-culture in Bihe from three levels: material culture, system culture and spiritual culture. The fourth chapter raises the height from the theory to applied decision. The author mainly discusses media influence on social culture changes framework, symbols, power, capital, ideology and mass culture. Part III is the conclusion. The article argues that, the mass media is the booster for social culture modernization development in Bihe. Under the influence of the social-cultural changes, mass media brings obvious characteristics of modernization development trend, which is the major factor of social-cultural changes in Bihe. Compared with other factors, the influence of mass media on ethnic social- cultural changes is progressive, extensive and profound. However, as an important role of social structure, mass media adjusts the social relations, and was influenced by the regulation of various kinds of social relations. The mass media plays an increasing role in the course of ethnic social- cultural changes, it serves as a "depth chare " with gorgeous appearance hides in people's daily life, when the fullness of time was come "depth charge" would detonate the power of explosion, its explosion have also been "social regulation of fuze", its impact way more concealment. This kind of "social fuze" is hidden behind the mass media which are different kinds of social relations.Mass media is the result and the symbol of modernity. Mass media has played a significant role in the development in our country.Unfortunately we have to face an awkward fact: it is because China's theoretical study of mass media is poor and weak, the mainstream of the mass media introduced the theory from the West. The traditional Marxist theories have involved into dogma and rigid, and become the awkward situation of the national public opinion and propaganda. In the development of modernization in China, the mass media should be intentionally or unintentionally abandoned its social responsibility and become the tools of modernity of the West extend. However, modernity, the Flower of Modern Civilization cultivated in the western culture soil is the traditional characteristic of typical of "local knowledge". The significance of modernity to the whole of mankind is to promote the development of human society and the progress of civilization. The modernity has diversity characteristics rather than single one. Only the universal mode for every nation and every area i.e. "local modernity", can we achieve the ethnic regional modernization. Therefore, we must accurately comprehension of the connotation of modernity, the scientific consideration of every national modernization. The author sets forth an objective evaluation of the mass media of the national social development and cultural change. Only by this way can we correctly understand social and cultural changes of all nationalities in view of quality, characteristics and regulation, can we apply better function of the mass media to the ethnic social-cultural succession and development.