Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Effects of individualism in society
Individualism and its effect on society
Essect of individualism on society
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Effects of individualism in society
My project is an artistic book of illustrations that I have titled Sensitive List. To better understand my project, it is important to know about the cultural background as well as about the political and historical frameworks under which this project was conceived.
Born and raised in China, I have grown up in a climate of strict political censorship and limited personal freedoms. One of the most chilling aspects of my culture is the government-generated “sensitive list”. Essentially, this list is comprised of over one thousand words - like “democracy” and “freedom” – which the Chinese government has banned its populace from using publicly. If people fail to comply and choose to write or speak any of these government- censored words in a public forum, these citizens risk grave punishment -- or worse.
Sensitive List is an artistic response to the attempt of the Chinese government to muzzle and restrict its people’s freedoms in expression, including my own. Sensitive List was greatly influenced by the work of Ai Weiwei, a Chinese contemporary artist who landed on the government’s so-called “sensitive list” because of his artistic and political daring. His art questions and challenges the policies of his restrictive government, and so does mine.
Sensitive List is comprised of carefully chosen terms and code words that are part of the government’s collection of prohibited language. The words I chose are ones that are particularly meaningful to me, including “Tiananmen Square Protests”—an event which Chinese people are not allowed to discuss or reference.
In my project, I have included the literal meaning of terms and code words, as well as their Chinese pronunciations. I have also illustrated how the code words have traditionall...
... middle of paper ...
...free individuals, and we do not need a censor to tell us what is acceptable or not. To me, all censorship is contrary to democratic principles.
Freedom of speech should be guaranteed in China, as it is essential to the preservation of both a free society and a creative culture. Sensitive List, my artistic book of illustrations, aims to educate people, visually, about the restrictive principles and philosophy of a government that attempts to control and repress its people in an undemocratic way. Through it, I want to communicate my belief that freedom of speech must be preserved, not only in art, but also in literature, theatre, music, and public discourse. For it is through free and open discussion of political and social ideas that humans – as well as the whole of society -- can grow, develop, and thrive. Sensitive List is my attempt to see this happen in China.
Jonathan Spence tells his readers of how Mao Zedong was a remarkable man to say the very least. He grew up a poor farm boy from a small rural town in Shaoshan, China. Mao was originally fated to be a farmer just as his father was. It was by chance that his young wife passed away and he was permitted to continue his education which he valued so greatly. Mao matured in a China that was undergoing a threat from foreign businesses and an unruly class of young people who wanted modernization. Throughout his school years and beyond Mao watched as the nation he lived in continued to change with the immense number of youth who began to westernize. Yet in classes he learned classical Chinese literature, poems, and history. Mao also attained a thorough knowledge of the modern and Western world. This great struggle between modern and classical Chinese is what can be attributed to most of the unrest in China during this time period. His education, determination and infectious personalit...
“I don’t want to be part of this kind of denying reality. We live in this time. We have to speak out” (Klayman). Ai Weiwei is an internationally known Chinese artist as well as activist, and his motivation and determination can be summed up by this quote. In all of his pieces, Weiwei critically examines the social and administrative issues facing China today. Many of his works exhibit multiple themes that can be interpreted in various different ways. This lends itself to the universal appeal of his art and makes it a more effective medium of conveying his messages to viewers. Ai Weiwei’s activist artwork—and activist artwork in general—is important to society because it effectively forces the viewer to engage in a self-reflective process that makes the viewer critically examine his or her own beliefs and world. Nevertheless, censorship greatly hinders the dissemination of the critical and thought provoking messages of Ai Weiwei’s art and makes his artwork less effective. In order to gain a better understanding of the relationship of Ai Weiwei’s activist art and the Communist Party’s subsequent censorship, I will examine Ai Weiwei’s influential childhood, his specific brand of activist artwork, the censorship of the Chinese government and the effects of censorship on the effectiveness of Ai Weiwei’s art.
The Sun of the Revolution by Liang Heng, is intriguing and vivid, and gives us a complex and compelling perspective on Chinese culture during a confusing time period. We get the opportunity to learn the story of a young man with a promising future, but an unpleasant childhood. Liang Heng was exposed to every aspect of the Cultural Revolution in China, and shares his experiences with us, since the book is written from Liang perspective, we do not have a biased opinion from an elite member of the Chinese society nor the poor, we get an honest opinion from the People’s Republic of China. Liang only had the fortunate opportunity of expressing these events due his relationship with his wife, an American woman whom helps him write the book. When Liang Heng and Judy Shapiro fell in love in China during 1979, they weren’t just a rarity; they were both pioneers at a time when the idea of marriages between foreigners and Chinese were still unacceptable in society.
the horror and destruction of extreme censorship and it also helps the reader become alert to this
The First Amendment states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances" (First Amendment Oct. 20, 2013). But "the First Amendment does not protect all speech from government censorship, and it does not prevent private non-government entities from censoring. Years of US Supreme Court decisions have identified exceptions to the general rule that the governments in the United States cannot censor" (Censorship Copyright © 2002). American citizen's right of freedom of speech should be held in the highest integrity and any kind of censorship of free speech should not be allowed because it take away those rights. However, censorship has been going on for centuries.
Censorship has been a big part of the world’s history and especially America’s history. One of the most quoted amendments to the United States constitution is the first amendment; “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press ...” This amendment guaranteeing free speech, press, and religion is still heavily debated and contested today. Censorship, as a challenge to free speech and press has been allowed many times and has been heavily debated itself. Many people censor for many different reasons and in many different forms. Censorship itself is not always a bad thing and has in some cases been used for protection of the general population.
In today’s society, free speech is a right guaranteed to every American in the U.S., but not all countries give their citizens that right. As computer and internet technology has grown, so too has the number of violations against free speech around the world. Some of these include censorship of the press by the government, punishment for speaking against the government, and punishment for voicing unpopular opinions. The computer and internet technology of the world is often used in these suppressions of free speech.
In his poem, “Notes from the City of the Sun”, Bei Dao utilizes obscure imagery consistent with the Misty Poets and veiled political references to illustrate the struggles in Chinese society during the Cultural Revolution. The poem is sectioned into fourteen short stanzas containing imagery that are symbolic of the cultural hegemony in China under the rule of Mao Zedong. Bei Dao, born Zhao Zhen-kai, is an anti-revolutionary poet and one of the founders of a group known as the Misty Poets. The Misty Poets wrote poems that protested the Cultural Revolution led by Mao Zedong. Therefore, a lot of Bei Dao’s poems speak out against the Cultural Revolution and the restrictions that it placed on any form of art. Bei Dao’s poetry is categorized as “misty” because of the ambiguity in its references to Mao Zedong and the Cultural Revolution. An obscure imagery that occurs twice in “Notes” is the sun imagery. Another imagery that depicts the injustice of the Cultural Revolution is the description of freedom as scraps of paper. In the poem, Bei Dao also equates faith to sheep falling into a ditch; this is a depiction blind faith during the Cultural Revolution. The purpose of this essay is to analyze how Bei Dao’s use of the Misty Poet’s ambiguous imagery and implicit political context in the poem “Notes from the City of the Sun” to illustrate the cultural hegemony in China under Mao.
The government in china is very concerned with limiting the freedom of expression for it's citizens in all possible ways. Let's examine first the reason why censorship is such an important aspect for the Chinese government. According to the book “A Short History of China” by Gordon Kerr when the renaissance took place in Europe from the 14th through the 17th century it changed people's view in many different ways because it was “a period of exploration, discovery and advancement in almost every field”(Gordon Kerr 87); it was a rebirth of the ancient traditions. Mean...
Considering communist China's recent increased aggression, and deteriorating relations between them and the United States, the dangers of this novel must be weighed carefully. It is often taught in schools, despite the fact that it promotes un-American and anti-capitalist views. With today's political tension, do we really want our youth exposed to literature that encourages them to mistrust the government and supports a communist revolution?
Censorship has been used by governments and influential groups throughout history as a tool for political and economic gain since ancient times. The Romans thought censorship was necessary to shape the morals of society to match up with government ideals. During the 1500's the Catholic Church banned certain texts that conflicted with the established religion from being read. In these times the idea of censorship was viewed differently that it is today. With powerful organizations limiting information it was often impossible for an average person to obtain literature or hear ideas that vary from state ideals, they probably didn't even know that their information was being censored. We live in a different age today, information is more readily available and censorship is often looked at as a negative practice that limits freedoms. That said, it still exists today and can be viewed as an obstacle to true democracy.
Thornton, P., (ed.) (2010), ‘Censorship and Surveillance in Chinese Cyberspace: Beyond the Great Firewall’ In Gries, P. H., and Rosen, S., (eds) Chinese Politics (London and New York: Routledge).
Tackling censorship is much more important than it appears to be at the surface; taking down censorship would help preserve the expression of thought. It would help preserve the right to listen to the unaltered forms of everything. Most importantly, it would help preserve the rapidly weakening basic right of speech. Censorship has always altered the lives of many people, whether they know it or not. People are constantly exposed to the censored version of entertainment.
Since the foundation of the United States after a harsh split from Britain, almost 200 years later, an issue that could claim the founding grounds for the country is now being challenged by educators, high-ranking officials, and other countries. Though it is being challenged, many libertarians, democrats, and free-speech thinkers hold the claim that censorship violates our so-called unalienable rights, as it has been proven throughout many court cases. Censorship in the United States is detrimental because it has drastically and negatively altered many significant events. Censorship allows governments more control of society than they already have, slowly progressing governments utilizing censorship to a dictatorship. Often times, this censorship can lead to immense rebellions.
Hence, censorship is essential in society to eliminate discrimination on basis of race and gender, protect children, maintain stability and restore what censor sees as lost moral values. Censorship occurs when expressive materials like books, magazines, movies, videos, music or works of art are restricted to particular audiences based on their age or other characteristics. http://www.ala.org/oif/intellectualfreedeomandcensorship.html) Censorship is not a recent development. It wasn’t imposed properly or there weren’t strict regulations before.