Media memory construction and cultural sustainability

The sustainable development of culture is often regarded as the core of cultural security and uniqueness. The homogenization of culture brought about by globalization poses a threat to cultural diversity and sustainability as well as to the uniqueness of national cultures to varying degrees. In this context, pan-Asian countries have taken various measures to protect their cultural identity and avoid the breaking in cultural intergenerational inheritance. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea in 1992 and the establishment of South Korea’s “Building up the Nation with Culture” strategy in 1998, Korean culture has developed Hallyu, or the “Korean wave”, in China and other countries via K-dramas, K-pop, and K-movies, establishing a significant recognition of K-culture worldwide. Although memory can be both personal and social, shared cultural memory is a core element for integrating individuals. Compared with individual memory, media memory has more advantages in continuity and stability, and is almost naturally endowed with social and cultural significance. Therefore, constructing media memory to achieve sustainable cultural development is a feasible and reasonable method. This paper reviews the influence and evolution of K-culture in China, and takes K-content media and its acceptance in China as an example to explore the logic and significance of media memory construction of culture and enhancement of cultural influence, especially on foreign audiences. In addition, from the perspective of media memory construction, the paper examines the reasons for the gradual decline of K-culture’s influence in China, and argues that media memory construction is a practical way to sustain cultural influence, so as to form common experiences that relevant parties can learn from.

文化的可持续发展通常被认为是文化安全和文化独特性的核心。全球 化带来的文化同质化在不同程度上威胁到了文化多样性和民族国家文化的可 持续性与独特性。在这样的背景下，泛亚洲国家均采取了多种措施以保护自 己的文化身份，避免文化代际传承的断裂。自1992年中韩建交以及1998年 韩国”文化立国”战略确立以来，韩国文化借助韩剧、韩国流行音乐和韩国 电影在中国乃至其他国家形成了声势浩大的韩流， 在世界范围内建立了显 著的辨识度。虽然记忆既可以是个人的，也可以是社会的，但共享的文化 记忆是对个体进行整合的核心要素。与个体记忆相比，媒介记忆在连续性、 稳定性方面更具优势，几乎自然地具有社会文化意义。因此，通过媒介记忆 构建，实现文化可持续性发展是一种切实可行、合理的方法。本论文回顾了 韩国文化在中国的影响流变，以K-content媒介及其在中国的接受为例，探 讨了文化借助媒介记忆建构增强影响力尤其是对他国受众影响力的逻辑及意 义。同时，从媒介记忆断裂的角度分析了韩国文化在中国的影响力逐渐式微 的原因，并从媒介记忆建构的角度提出了建议，以期形成相关各方可以借鉴 的共同经验。