Collectivism and individualism

August 30th, 2008
elsewhere

From Collectivism and individualism determine what you see and hear in Lin Miaoke and Yang Peiyi, as well as the entire Olympics opening ceremony

Mr. Chen’s [Qigang] Chinese mind naturally combines Miaoke’s best appearance and Peiyi’s perfect voice in a coherent picture, along with the marching in of the other 56 children in minority costumes representing China’s 56 ethnic groups, carrying the Chinese flag, the context of the National Stadium and its ninety thousand strong audience.

On the other hand, Western viewers encode Lin Miaoke’s appearance and Yang Peiyi’s voice as discrete elements and mutually exclusive. They call it lipsyching and find it unacceptable.

These different perceptions arise from the difference between individualistic and collective cultures. The mind produced from Western individualistic culture is concerned with the unique contribution and responsibility of each person (Miaoke versus Peiyi), whereas the mind produced from a collectivist culture generates a gestalt with all the elements merged together.

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