engleski

From Lingua Franca to Gangnam Style

There are many forces that are working in the direction of the English language (EL) and are setting global standards for English, one of them being the popular culture and the most powerful one being the internet. Considering how readily available pop culture is across different speech communities thanks to the internet, and how routinely it is consumed by so many people on a daily basis, Lee and Moody (2013) stated that “it has become crucial to engage in systematic interpretation of everyday cultural and linguistic practices of EL so many participate in”. This paper has the main objective to review a whole new aesthetic development in which the usage of EL in a pop culture domain on the internet enforces the penetration of the Asian world into the West, as well as to draw attention to a shift of EL from a global, virtual lingua franca to an eye- catcher or simply a cash-cow. In addition, a recent example of a Korean pop- culture phenomenon Gangnam Style (PSY, 2012) is provided and examined ; According to a term “soft power” defined by Nye (2004), EL is used as such power to enforce the Asian culture via the internet and ensure its instant success which seems to be happening within a click of the mouse.

EL, the internet, pop – culture, Asia, Gangnam Style, soft power

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