What is the relationship between knowledge and culture? (Knowledge and Language)

Cultural norms impact what we know and believe, and different cultures will hold certain values and have certain shared knowledge however culture also influences the determination of what knowledge is appropriate to share. As a Chinese Australian, the languages and values that I am accustomed to are influenced by my parents and grandparents and a unique cultural trait that I am very fortunate to know is Shanghainese. However, after discussions with my parents about the dominance of standard Mandarin which is the Chinese Government’s initiative to make China, a monolingual nation for trade and political communication purposes, I researched articles about the decline in spoken dialects and found my first object, A Survey of Shanghainese Dialect: Its Current Situation and Future, a survey by Tianao Gui and Yan Zhou explores the decline of the Shanghainese Dialect.

The relationship between culture and knowledge is that culture creates social interaction and shapes the adoption of new knowledge however, this object is a good representation of how our current knowledge of Shanghainese is decreasing especially amongst the younger generations due to the values and restrictions placed by people of higher power. The spoken knowledge of Shanghainese may die out as it with its cultural heritage as it becomes more and more endangered because language is central to the survival of a culture. Therefore, people need to see the importance of communication, social interaction, and shared knowledge over personal knowledge, especially with the older generation so they can continue to share and pass down their knowledge, their culture and their language. Shanghainese must not be lost in translation, and it has recently, due to the westernisation and simplification of the language. Culture should be able to coexist in order to preserve linguistic diversity, a living part of Chinese cultural heritage. This is because culture cannot live itself, without a symbolic language such as Shanghainese, to represent the traditions and history of Shanghai.

My second object is Disney’s Mulan, specifically the 2020 real life adaption, a movie that displays cultural elements that are quite different from a Chinese audiences’ knowledge of traditional Chinese culture. The transculturation and cultural appropriation of Chinese culture in Mulan is based on a westernalised knowledge and view of Ancient China. As a Chinese person, I realised that it is only those who know the history, who know the original folk story, that are aware of what Mulan represents. It represents the history, morality and sense of ideals, unique to our culture and traditions. Without the original culture, there is no passing of traditional knowledge.

The 2020 Mulan adaption as criticised in China due to cultural appropriation and adaptions to the original folk song because now the films are more based around cultural differences than preserving Chinese culture. There are also a lot of issues with the representation of cultural traits in the films with it having non-Asian cast and staff members. It is a great example of acculturation as it questions whether it would be more culturally and ethically appropriate if the film was completely in Mandarin as this would help the transfer of cultural knowledge be less controversial and more accurate as with the film being fully in English, it is effectively erasing the film’s authenticity. This hybridisation of Mulan’s cultural identity destroys the culturally specific knowledge that was communicated in The Ballad of Mulan. There needs to be a connection to Chinese knowledge and culture if it is going to be presented to a world-wide audience, because now it seems to be “westernised” and this completely changes people’s perspective and knowledge of China altogether.

My final object is one of my mum’s literature books which she studied back in China, as a source of knowledge to learn about the ideologies and historical politics of China. The ‘Four Books and Five Classics’ are the core literature books in China, written before 300 BC and play an extremely important role in traditional Chinese culture by helping to shape China through communicating and sharing knowledge about ideologies of the world from generation to generation. It contains knowledge that has been shown and accumulated by the people of China and has shaped Chinese culture and its values.

It is the core carrier of Confucianism and a treasure in Chinese historical and cultural ancient books and details the historical facts about politics, military, diplomacy, culture and other aspects of the most active period in the history of the nation's ideological and cultural development as well as the important philosophical thoughts of Confucius and Mencius that have influenced Chinese culture and have shaped China’s ideologies for thousands of years.

The perspectives that these books bring is a cultural transmission which has affected the knowledge of generations to come. This systematic knowledge system advanced China’s culture towards the philosophy of Confucianism which has influenced the Chinese society for many years. Confucian culture is a such a core part of China’s original knowledge, and this has created restrictions on the country’s cultural changes to other religions, politics, and morals, however more importantly, this belief system is focused on personal ethics and identity rather than collective which has forced China to have completely different views and beliefs to other cultures and countries.

Abbott A. (2022). Mulan 2020 vs. Mulan 1998: The Differences & Similarities. Retrieved on: 28/08/21. Retrieved from: https://www.denofgeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/mulan-2020-live-action-1998-animated-movies-differences.png?fit=1240%2C696

Ebuy7: Four Books and Five Classics genuine full set without deletion. (n.d.). Retrieved on: 28/08/21. Retrieved from: https://www.ebuy7.com/item/522865292700

Gui, T., Zhou, Y. (2021). A survey of Shanghainese dialect: its current situation and future. Retrieved on: 28/08/21. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.47611/jsrhs.v10i2.1505