Musical Modernization The Cold War Analysis

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Colonialism by Another Name?
The U.S. Government’s Ideological War Against Communism Resulted in Western Propaganda and Colonialism

During the Cold War, the U.S. government’s persistent campaign of westernization, in an effort to impede the proliferation of communism, influenced the John F. Kennedy administration’s decision to deploy the Peace Corps in Ghana; in addition, mainstream cinema adopted both subtle and overt anti-communism and pro-western stances. The U.S. government posited the domino theory, the theory posing if a country becomes communistic, the surrounding countries will adopt communism, to justify colonial practices. In the context of western propaganda against communism, Christina Klein’s “Musical Modernization: The King …show more content…

According to Klein, the King of Siam is portrayed as a “‘backward’” character, due to his dictatorial regime; whereas, Anna Leonowens, a teacher from the U.S., is a defender of “a non-western community from [the] political tyranny” of the King and she “sets [Siam] in the road to progress and democracy” by utilizing “Americanized leadership.”5 Klein asserts the overarching message is what she calls “sentimental modernization,” which essentially presents colonialism positively by not “exterminating backward peoples through savage war,” and instead using education to influence the ideas of “backward” people.6 As an example of “sentimental modernization,”7 the describes the Anna’s lessons as “teach[ing] the children Western social rituals so that they may behave as Westerners.”8 Klein concludes that the musical number “Shall We Dance?” overwhelming emphasizes the pro-western stance by concluding with the “toppling [of] a head of state;” Klein sardonically adds, “her polka kills the King.”9 Following the King’s death, his son, Chulalongkorn, takes the thrown; Chulalongkorn is “an indigenous leader sympathetic to the West,” essential a puppet for western colonial interest.10 In conclusion, Klein successfully contents the message of The King and I is to “suggest power …show more content…

with an opportunity for insertion into the African continent to prevent communism.12 Hoffman’s article about the Peace Corps in Ghana lacks a clear thesis statement, and acts of propaganda for the Peace Corps. According to Hoffman, Nkrumah’s admiration for the American education system influenced his accepting support of the Peace Corps mission to partake in the westernized education of Ghanaians.13 “[O]n August 30, 1961,” the first Peace Corps volunteers arrive in Ghana, and Hoffman recounts the awkward yet sentimental moment in which the young Americans sing the national anthem of Ghana (“Yen Ara Asaara Ni”), in Twi, in a show of solidarity and camaraderie.14 Hoffman portrays Nkrumah as devolving into a dictator with paranoid suspicions about the Peace Corps being “a front for the Central Intelligence Agency;” however, Nkrumah continued to permit the Corps actions in the country, with the exception of teaching history and English, potentially methods of subverting the Ghanaian government.15 In the end, “approximately 675,000 Ghanaians had American teachers,” who emphasized American ideas, “between 1961 and 1991,” which is 5 percent” of Ghana’s population.16 Overall, Hoffman takes a favorable tone towards the efforts and successes of the Peace Corps in Ghana while ultimately

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