Ɖ Gardịn vy on C’riyn soft pǎr: hardr ɖn it lcs
(Transcription of an editorial published in the Guardian on 28 October 2022)
Popḿzic n TV śoz mt nt sǎnd lîc a sirịs biznis, bt public dploṃsi matrz – ẃtvr form it cmz in
Frîde 28 Octobr 2022
Sqidgem gript vywrz in 94 cuntriz, bcmñ ɖ most woćt Netflix śo evr. Ɖ Oxḟd Ñgliś Dix́nri add 26 C’riyn wrdz. Ɖ C-pop band BTS hz topt ćarts inṭnaśṇli n met Jo Bîdn at ɖ Ẃît Hǎs ɖs sumr. Aftr swīpñ ʈru Eźa yirz ago, haly – ɖ “C’riyn wev” v culćr – hz craśt upn wstn śorz tù, az dokmntd in a ny xbiśn at ɖ V&A in Lundn.
Ɖs z a sirịs biznis. A rīsnt bc, Śrimp t Ẃel, plez on an old seyñ portreyñ C’rīa az a tîni crīćr srǎndd bî l’vayʈnz n capćrz its trîumfnt postwar asent fṛm abject poṿti n trōma. Sǎʈ C’rīa stl rgardz itslf az a midl pǎr. Bt in īc̣nomics, tecnoḷji n ispeṣ́li culćr it z nǎ a pǎrhǎs. Wn guvnmntsors jocs ɖt soft pǎr – a cuntri’z abiḷti t gt ẃt it wonts ʈru atrax́n rɖr ɖn coŕśn or pemnt – z ɖ Sǎʈ’z ńclir wepn.
Jozif Nai, hu cônd ɖ trm soft pǎr in ɖ lêt 1980z, hz sjstd ɖt it dpndz on a neśn’z culćr, p’liticl valyz n foṛn poḷsiz. Bildñ it z nt az stretfwd az amasñ ɖ bomz n tancs rqîrd fr hard pǎr. Ćîna hz invstd heṿli in soft-pǎr iniṣ́tivz, bt hz yt t pṛdys a Blac-Pnc or Snǒpirsr. Its dtrṃneśn t mîcromanij culćṛl projects hamprz ɖ abiḷti t apil t foṛn ōdịnsz. (Pṛf Nai hz sjstd ɖt its inflụns wl rmen liṃtd fr az loñ az it “fanz ɖ flemz v naśṇlizm n holdz tît ɖ reinz v particntrol”).
In contrast, deṃcratic Sǎʈ C’rīa hz psyd an arm’z-leñʈ aproć, modld partli on YC iniṣ́tivz sć az ɖ Britiś Caunsl. Sqidgem n ɖ Oscr-winñ Paṛsît hardli śed a flaṭrñ lît on ɖ neśn ɖt pṛdyst ɖm: ɖe hv trîumft bî capćrñ ɖ monstṛs cruwltiz n iniqoḷti v modn capiṭlizm ɖr, in a we ɖt hz reẓnetd mor wîdli.
Ɖ straṭji z a recgniśn ɖt soft pǎr b’loñz t neśnz, nt guvnmnts. Ɖ oṛjinz v Sǎʈ C’rīa’z steṭs az a culćṛl bhīmoʈ r complex. Bt f ɖ stet cn tec sm credit, sivl ssayti śd tec mor. Ɖr wz ǎtrej in 2016 ẃn it imrjd ɖt ɖen-prezidnt Parc Gn-hé’z admiṇstreśn hd blaclistd ʈǎzndz v artists n enttenrz – a rvrśn t ɖ cnd v snsrśp n puniśmnt wns sìn undr oʈoṛterịn līdrz, includñ Mz Parc’z faɖr. It z ɖ ppl hu hv nrćrd, pṛmotd n dfndd mīdia n artistic indipndns.
Gloḅli, ɖs z an ira in ẃć dipḷmatic plattydz hv bn stript awe, n fors leid bér wns mor. Naśṇlist stroñmen r in ćarj arnd ɖ wrld. Mosco’z inveźn v Ycren wz ɖ ultiṃt asrśn v hard pǎr. Yt ɖ vidio adresz bî Vlodimir Zelensci, hu hz so consyṃtli inhaḅtd ɖ rǒl v worlīdr; ɖ śẹrñ v dêli lîf bî sitiznz; īvn ɖ dfaynt hymr v postijstamps hv ol hlpt t bolstr public s’port fr Ycren in uɖr cuntriz. In dwñ so, ɖe hv hlpt t mnten ɖ p’liticl wil t cīp s’playñ it wɖ hevi wepnri in ɖ fes v Ruśn menis. Soft pǎr z hard t dfîn n hardr t mastr. Bt it cǎnts.
