Journal of Xi'an University of Architecture & Technology ISSN No : 1006-7930
GLOBALISATION,ADVERTISEMENTS ANDTHEIRIMPACTONASSAMESECULTURE: A STUDYWITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE ASSAMESE LANGUAGE
Shikha Moni Saharia 1 Ph.D. Research Scholar,Department of Assamese Gauhati University, Assam, India
ABSTRACT This paper is an analytical discussion on the impact of advertisements ,chiefly digital ,on Assamese culture ,particularly on the Assamese language . Globalisation opens up the scope of free trade and global marketing in the economic sector of India .This competitive economic scenario leads to the expansion of advertisements .The paper traces how such advertisements impact on the cultural aspects of a society ,especially upon the regional languages .The inter- mingling and code switching of languages in the advertisements often lead to serious linguistic threats before the native languages as English is found to be the most dominating language in such commercial practices. The paper is formulated in an analytical manner .Goodnumbers of contemporary digital advertisements are selected to develop the analysis. The original language of the advertisements is used for the analysis which is transcripted into English.
Key Words - Globalisation, advertisement, Assamese, language, impact, English
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INTRODUCTION Globalisation is a inclusive process by which the world is becoming increasingly interconnected as a result of massively increased trade and cultural exchange. Globalisation has completely changed the traditional concept of the globe and presents it in a changing manner .Originally ,the concept of Globalisation was related to economics. But with the passage of time, globalisation extends its impact upto every aspect of the universe. It encompasses all possible sectors within its reach and hence, defining globalisation ina sentence or short is a hazardous task. It is a multifaceted and complex phenomenon which is widely used to describe a variety of economic,cultural, social and political changes that have shaped the world over the last six to seven decades. India became a partner of the Globalisation when it consented over the concept of free trade .Since the last decades of the twentieth century; India has experienced the impact of globalisation, mostly in the economic sector. Now-a-days, India has its strong presence in this changing geo-political territory, popularly known as global village.
Economy shapes the world. This economy is now shaped by the phenomenon of globalisation. Hence, this is an inter-connected nexus which cannot be studied separately. In this fast, competitive economic scenario, existence of any commodity needs different tactics of survival. Advertisement is one of those tactics of commercial existence through which a product or a commodity is presented and projected before the targeted consumers and the market value is established. Though advertising is also used to spread public message or to create awareness, advertisement, in general refers to the methods to sell a good .Though advertisement or advertising is not a new phenomenon, its characteristics, manner and impact has drastically beenchanged in the era of globalisation. Advertising, before and after globalisation, is totally different. In a globalised socio-economic world, advertisement has a totally new,wider and influentialspace .It turns out to be a integral part of the day-to-day lives of contemporary human beings..
In general, advertisements are available in two major formats –print and visual. The visual advertisements again fall into two categories –live and digital.The digital advertisements are available both in audio and audio-visual formats. The print advertisements refer to advertisements available in printed and physical formats like newspapers,magazines, periodicals, signboards,banners,posters, mural etc.Audio-visual digital advertisements are aired through
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television, films, serials, different social Medias like Facebook, Twitter and all internets based platforms. Audio-visual materials have more persuasive, informative, appealing and entertaining capacity which increases the level of engagement between the audience /consumer and the producer /sellers. Hence they are considered to be very effective and impactful tool. Due to globalisation, the boundary of native or foreign is blurred. Anyone from any part of the world can taste any product irrespective of their origin of production country. The growth and popularity of online shopping is the perfect example of this changing phenomenon. In this process ,advertisings play a very significant role .It is the advertisements that introduce the consumers with the product he /she is looking for ,its benefits ,features ,price and even the mode of its transportation. In a world of razor-sharp mercantile competition, advertisements are created in such creative, appealing and convincing manner that they compel the consumer to sit ,watch and to buy. Advertisements thus turn out to be a very powerful cultural component in this era of globalisation.If is undoubtedly an inseparable part of the modern human society.
This interrelated dynamics of globalisation is strongly felt even in the Assamese culture. The Cambridge dictionary defines Culture as the way of life, especially the general customs and beliefs of a particular group of people. It is the pattern of learned and shared behaviour and beliefs of a particular collective entity. Cultureis transformative and it changes with the passage of time. Human life is determined by the culture he/she belongs to. Our entire personality is shaped by the culture we are part of .The drastic changes brought by globalisation undoubtedly affects the traditional infrastructure of culture .In this process advertisement also plays a crucial role.
OBJECTIVE OF THE PAPER This paper is an attempt to trace out the impact of advertisement upon the Assamese Culture, especially on the Assamese language, in the contemporary period.
METHODOLOGY This paper examines some selected contemporary digital advertisements for this study. The advertisements are evaluated from their linguistic and figurative aspects. In this Study, mainly data from primary sources are used for the research findings.
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LANGUAGE AND ADVERTISEMENT Language is the medium or the channel through which advertisements contact with the consumers or audience. The use of language is of crucial significance because without the clever, correct and sensitive use of language, advertisements would not be able to attract the audience. Language is used for a specific objective in the advertisements.Unlike films, serials or articles. Advertisements have to attract and inform the consumers within a very short period of time.Secondly the language should have the persuasive or convincing capacity.Therefore the use of language in advertisements need deeper, careful,introspective efforts.It should be informative, entertaining, correct and persuasive.It is undoubtedly a matter of serious concern.
LANGUAGE OF ASSAMESE ADVERTISEMENTS This paper is an attempt to verify whether this seriousness is maintained in the Assamese advertisements or not. The phrase Assamese Advertisement stands for two major types – advertisements designed natively for native products and translated or dubbed advertisements.The second type of advertisement refers to those advertisements which are originally available in a different language, but translated into Assamese for its regional broadcasting. The first category of advertisements is produced in Assamese language for products produced or sold within the state.
Every language has its specific morphological, phonetic linguistic or figurative characteristics. So, whenever something is translated or dubbed into a language, its grammatical and stylistic characteristics should be maintained properly. The process of code mixing or code switching is not applicable for the first category of advertisements .But the second category of advertisements offer an interesting scope of research as these two processes are widely used in such advertisements. This shifting nature of the use of language in the period of globalised mercantile socio-economic scenario offers newer possibilities of examination and evaluation.
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DISCUSSION AND FINDINGS To start the analysis, example is cited of the advertisement designed by the company Steel& Style. Steel&Style is a leading steel furniture brand of residential and office furniture which are stylish, durable and reliable. Their products include almirah,filing cabinets,lockers, tables,book shelves.The tagline of the Assamese advertisement of Steel&Style is as follows –
“Aiya Stylisticseriesrshowcase ,aiya showery seriesr dressing table ,aiya elegant seriesrbaby almirah..aiya bookish seriesr book almirah …” .
In this advertisement, aiya is the only Assamese word that stands for the word this in English.Apart from this word, not a single Assamese word is used in the tagline of this advertisement.The letter ris used after the English words to make them function like the preposition OF. The Assamese advertisement of the Ghadi detergent also belongs to the same category.The printed tagline of this advertisement reads like this –
“Effortless cleaning rbabe Ghadi machine wash, washing machine rspecialist ..”
-here too there are only two Assamese words –the letter r for the preposition OF and the word BABE that means FOR.These two advertisements reveal, how under the impact of globalisation, English has been incorporated into the day-to-day conversation of the common human being. In this era of globalisation, English is considered to the most dependable medium of communication.Therefore, English has been dominating the other languages which even lead to the concept of English as killer language as it gradually prohibits the use of the regional or native languages. The use of English in the aforementioned advertisements is a small proof how English has been tactfully replacing the native language.There are numerous advertisements of beauty products, food items,academic institutions or electronic products where English has been very frequently used.A tendency has been created as if the regional language does not have much words to express those qualities which can be expressed by English in a more convincing and expressive manner.The beauty and originality of the Assamese language is completely denied in such advertisements.The situation becomes so worse that this process of code switching is not limited only to the thirty second advertisements,but is extended even upto newsbulletins ,speech ,internet based audio-visual clips and day-to-day conversation. The younger generation, most importantly the student community,has accepted such flexible use of language in a natural way.It
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is a matter of grave concern. In most of such advertisements,Assamese words are pronounced in a wrong manner.For instance the Assamese word “Chuti” ( holiday or leisure time ) is pronounced as “choti ” in the Dettol soap advertisement .The same advertisement again uses a word “ huna ” which should actually be pronounced as “shuna” (to hear ).The difference of sound and pronunciation between ‘h” and “sh” in the Assamese language speaking process,is completely denied which causes severe damage to the language. One of the branded cosmetics company uses the pronunciation “ kala ” to talk about the colourblack (which should actually be pronounced as kola ) while advertising for a kohl product (ELLE 18 Eye Drama Kajal).But in reality both these words kola and kala have different pronunciations. One stands for DEAF while the second manner stands for BLACK. This indifference and negligence towards the proper pronunciation is a frequent phenomenon in case of translated or dubbed Assamese advertisements. Assamese words referring to intra familial relations (Baideu,Bhonti,Mahi,Kakaideu,Enai ,Pitai ) ,specific time periods (Bohag,Rongali,Bhada,Jagol,Maghbihu), traditional products ( Gamosa ,Khaloi ,Tamol,Gohali ,Pitha ,Sadar,Taantshal etc) are often pronounced in a strange ,incorrect manner in such translated or trans-created advertisements.
Moreover, English words and phrases are frequently incorporated into the Assamese sentences. Words like Immunity ,Glow ,Nutrition,Skin, Beautiful, Handsome, Capsule ,Conditioner ,Style, Cell,Growth ,Shampoo,Acidity ,Hair Fall are so frequently used in the advertisements that they seem to be day-to-day Assamese words .But it should be kept in mind that all such words have beautiful Assamese synonyms .In many advertisements instead of the Assamese pronunciation or the Assamese words, Hindi form of the respective words are used. “ Bimar ’( which should be pronounced as Bemar in Assamese), “Cheeni”( which should be pronounced as cheni in Assamese), “ Tabiyat”, “Twaja”, “Khana”, “Tammam”, “Thali ” “Halat ’’ (these words are entered through Hindi to Assamese dubbed advertisements) are some of such examples.
Advertising is a creative process.Its primary objective is to convince its targeted consumers to purchase or avail the services of the respective product. So the correct grammatical and structural use of the language is a primary requisite. But in most of the translated or dubbed advertisements, the grammatical format and regulation of the language are hardly maintained. Most of such advertisements ignore the differences between parts of speeches like adjectives,
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adverbs, verb ,words used for past tense and present tense etc. Forexample, in the advertisement of Tata Motors, “Xofolota kali ajiaru kali ” the word Kali is used to refer to both past and future tense .But in Assamese, the word used to refer to future should be Kailoi. Actually this advertisement is directly translated from its Hindi form “safaltakalaajaurkal’’ . The advertisement of Livosin reads like this – “ Nitouloukdutakoi capsule ,tenteapunioraho beautiful”. Here the word “raho ” is a Hindi word which means to remain or to maintain.Such weird use of words and violation of the basic grammatical structure poses threat In front of the Assamese language .Teacher, Mummy, Uncle,Vitamin, Dark, Volume, Games,Machi,Shine, Oil Free,Salon –such types of words are always used in their English forms.Assamese is a very rich language .It has beautiful, representative words for all such words. Butthey are never used in the advertisements. Otherwise words like Season (Rupa Winter Wear ), Glow (Fair and Lovely), Skin (Any Cosmetic), Body Oil (JacOlive), Nutrition (Junior Horlicks), Machine (Godrej Washing Machine), Solid Setting (Star Cement ) could have been used in their original Assamese forms. Such tendencies may have two reasons –the concerned agencies behind the production of such advertisements do not work enough over the linguistic aspect of any regional language.Secondly, they might consider it to be a fashion to use the English words to attract the new generation .In this context,we can again refer to the taken for granted attitude of the agencies .
Impact Of Advertisements On Assamese Food Habits The impact of advertisements is not limited only to the field of language.Advertisements have a significant impact over the food habits and traditional food items of the Assamese society. Traditional Assamese food includesrice based snacks, rice, different types of dal, vegetables, fish,meat etc.The use of spice was limited only to the direct use of onions, garlic,ginger, pepper, coriander,cardamom etc.Globalisation has eased the wayfor different types of readymade and packaged spices to be available in the market of Assam. Now a days,advertisements of different brands of spices like Every day, MDH,Everest ,Sunrise ,Catch,Sona are common in Assamese media advertisement.Such packaged spices are now essential ingredients of Assamese cuisine. In this context, mention must be made of the advertisement of the Sunrise spices where the newly married bride cooks for the entire family by adding the respective spice in her preparations and is
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duly appreciated for her culinary skills. It creates a vibe as if cooking by Sunrise Masala is a part of the Assamese culture.Consumption of the WaiWai noodle in a traditional bell metal bowl Which is called BAANBATI in Assamese) is a crucial example of the changing cultural values.BAAN BATI (Bowls of bell metal) are traditionally used for traditional Assamese food – popularly known as Jolpan in the times of festivity. But in this advertisement, WaiWai replacesthe Jolpan. Thousands of biscuits ,noodle items ,cakes , pickles , processed food products are projected as regular elements of Assamese culture .It is only because of advertisements. Assamese people are familiarised with new types of tea like –“ MasalaChah”, “Creamier Tea”, Green Tea,Tulsi tea etc.It is really ironical that the state which has the highest contribution to the sector of tea,are informed about the different types of tea making through such advertisements. Globalisation and advertisement have significant impact on the rise and popularity of new food consumption culture like noodles ,coffee , meat making , ready –to-eat food items etc.Traditional food items like Pithaguri, Handoh,Pitha ,Akhoi,Kharoli,Panitenga,Laddo,Poita Bhat ,Khar are like almost vanished products in this age.Advertisements have a strong convincing capacity .In many instances, it is found that some advertisements try to convince as if the traditional dishes are out-fashioned,unhygenic and not healthy.The ordinary people often get trapped by the glitz of such advertisements.So people now prefer to go for Branolia instead of consuming the Brahmi herb or to consume Kulerron for calcium than cooking a banana flower or banana shoot. Advertisements have a momentous role in popularising the consumption of chewable products and mouth fresheners like V imal,Shikhar,Rajnigandha ,Paras ,KamlaPasand ,Signature etc.A good number of youngsters have developed the habit of such addictive products which lead to severe health hazards. Instead of going for dried amla or Tamol , people now go for such packaged chewable.
Assam is a biodiversity hotspot with thousand species of flora and fauna .Different communities of the state have a strong sense of traditional medical knowledge as the herbs available in the state are full of different medicinal qualities.People used to take traditionally available medicinal plants like Manimuni ,Masandari ,Tengesi ,Madhuholeng ,Bhedailata,Sengmora,Shukloti for minor health issues of diarrhea ,stomach ache ,acidity ,constipation ,anemia etc.But nobody advertises such traditional products.Rather the multi-national capitalist companies advertise Livosin,Eno ,PetSafa,Kayamsurna or Kayamsurna in an attractive manner to spread their markets.The colourful advertisements and the lucrative taglines make the audience believe that
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consumption of such products is a time saver, quick effective and more reliable mechanism than looking for the herbs in the forest .
Changing Traditional Beauty-Wellness Practices And Clothing
The sector of dress and beautification has also gone through drastic changes in the globalisation period.Shampoo ,conditioners ,serum ,remover ,nail polish ,body lotion, creams ,kohl ,leggings ,diapers ,readymade undergarments ,lipstick ,make up ,spa, eyeliner, trouser, tie are now essential parts of the day-to-day lives of an Assamese person. It is not only the product, but also the English terminologies occupy the cultural space of the Assamese society. Along with such words ,related words like comfort (Rupa Undergarments ), (Silk Mark Saree),convocation (Silk Mark), shopping (Reliance Trends), dress (Reliance Trends),discount (Big Bazzar)are also used in a free, spontaneous manner in the advertisements .The rapidly growing malls ,online marketing facilities not only bring new materials ,but also ensure the space of words and phrases of other languages ,especially of the English language. Incorporation of new words cannot be a negative phenomenon as language is not a static ,but a dynamic and flexible process .But in such advertisements ,neither the grammatical regulations nor the phonetic accuracy is maintained .Translation or Code Switching hardly cares for the written and oral adequacy of the language .Thus we go through a bizarrely crafted Assamese language where majority of the words or phrases are written in a peculiar style that misrepresents an enriched language like Assamese.
CONCLUSION The above discussion proves that advertisements in this globalised economy of the twenty first century does lead to a serious socio-cultural crisis of the Assamese society, more especially of the Assamese language.Most of the advertising agencies or production companies are found to adopt bilingual format –a mixture of the native and a commercially dominant language .This issue is a crucial matter of concern as the prioritization of commercial benefits poses serious threats before the native language.Though the agencies try to justify that English is a more viable medium of communication with a larger scope of audience,its dominance over the local language cannot be accepted.This invisible linguistic imperialism threatens the existence of the native
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language. Language is the identify of a race or a community.The Assamese identity is seriously affected by such censor less, careless use of the Assamese language. Another serious challenge posed by such advertisements is that they try to create a kind of tendency that English is the superior, most efficient and the state-of-the-art language.The younger generation is often found to be captivated by this trap.There grows up a perceived sense of indifference towards the regional language and a blind, baseless craze towards the killer language. Most of the linguists consider this psychic phenomenon as a serious threat before the Assamese language.Advertisements in the era of globalisation has contributed a lot to such threats.
Globalisation is an undeniable reality and we all have been enjoying the benefits of globalisation. But it does not mean that everything in the name of globalisation can be taken for granted.The advertising agencies as well as their broadcasting partners (Television, Films,Social Media Platforms,All Print media )should be very much careful regarding the correct,accurate use of language in their ads. Advertisements are precise, entertaining, catchy creative products.So they easily attract the attention of the consumers and become popular among common mass. Captions or taglines of some Indian advertisements even ensure their place in our day-to-day conversations (Dar keaagejeethai,KuchMeetha ho jaye ,utterlybutterlydelicious,BoloZubaanKesri,Ye AAramkamamlahain,DaagAccha Hain etc.). Keeping in mind this popularity and capacity of attraction ,concerned authorities (who creates as well as who airs or broadcasts)should have priority over the utmost correct use of any language. Social responsibility towards the language and traditional, cultural norms of the society or the community should be the basic priority of such authorities. Moreover the Government should also have strong, vigilant measures to check the linguistic, cultural format of such advertisements.Government can form some committees or such vigilant bodies to verify the content and mode of presentation of any advertisement. Academicians ,the higher educational institutions the broadcasting agencies(TV channels, News Paper Publishing Houses, Internet based blogs etc),civil society agencies like student organisations (AASU,AsomSahitya Sabha,AsomiyaSahityaSanmiloni, Society for Language Technology Development of Assam etc) should play active, critical, vigilant role in this matter. Change is welcome, but only positive, proper and perfect changes are welcome.
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References-
Choudhury,Rumi : Prasanga ,Anubad Kola , Second Edition ,Chandra Prakash ,2017
Das ,Biswajit : SamajBhashavigyan , First Edition ,Books and Beyond ,2015
Gogoi ,Leela :AsomorSanskriti , Fifth Edition ,Banalata ,1994
Hazarika ,Debapratim(ed.): BhashaAnweshan (pp-163-174), First edition ,SampritiPrakashan ,2016
Nath ,Swapanjyoti (ed.): LokaSanskritiaruBiswayan , Khagarijan College ,Nagaon ,2012
Some Primary Source of Data
(Advertisements in Assamese News paper) AsomiyaPratidin , 18 th June ,Tuesday ,2019
AsomiyaPratidin , 22nd June , Saturday,2019
Asomiya Pratidin ,5 th January , Sunday ,2020
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