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codificación mental
Circuito de conocimiento
This question was closed without grading. Reason: No acceptable answer
Jun 3, 2014 18:47
9 yrs ago
1 viewer *
Spanish term

la cultura light

Spanish to English Social Sciences Social Science, Sociology, Ethics, etc.
This is perhaps the most ironic question I've ever asked on KudoZ, as it involves an English word that is not commonly used in English in the same way. The text is an essay by a Spanish academic, citing Enrique Rojas' book "El hombre light". The term of course refers to the superficiality of contemporary culture, and is derived from "Coca-Cola Light" (which as far as I know has always been Diet Coke in English-speaking countries). Suggestions welcome!
Proposed translations (English)
4 +1 depends on the context - perhaps lightweight culture or middlebrow culture
4 +1 dumbed-down culture
4 ephemeral culture

Discussion

Martin Boyd (asker) Jun 10, 2014:
More context... Thanks everyone for your suggestions. For more context, I refer everyone to the book "El hombre light" by Enrique Rojas, which the article in question quotes. According to Rojas, the "hombre light" is hedonistic and materialistic, only interested in material success and consumerism; deeper ontological questions are beyond him. I'm leaning towards "culture lite" at this point. The sentence in the article in question reads: "En la cultura actual existe una tendencia de evitar cualquier referencia al dolor o a la dificultad, por lo que algunos autores la han calificado de "cultura light"".
Muriel Vasconcellos Jun 4, 2014:
'Lite' That was my first thought when I saw the question: 'Lite' culture.
Even Coca-Cola is sometimes referred to ast 'Coke Lite' or 'Coca-Cola Lite', even though the commercial name is 'Coca-Cola Light'.
Laura Messer Jun 3, 2014:
"lite" culture I would agree with Phil on this one.
George Rabel Jun 3, 2014:
Lite Lite
Sian Cooper Jun 3, 2014:
Yes, 'lite' looks good Although 'light' is also used in this sense - but as you say, Phil, we do need the context to get a better sense for it.

Still, here are some generalised uses of 'lite'

America Lite
http://www.amazon.com/America-Lite-Imperial-Academia-Dismant...

High Art Lite
http://www.amazon.com/High-Art-Lite-Young-British/dp/1844670...

Feminism Lite
http://www.anamardoll.com/2013/05/twilight-feminism-lite-and... (a fascinating little blog post and one I had to drag myself away from...)

Religion
http://legacyumc.org/blog2/christianity-lite/

etc. So, is still fundamentally an Americanism (because there the food aspects of 'lite' are now frequently discussed as 'he Culture Lite') but I think it is growing usage and certainly could work.
philgoddard Jun 3, 2014:
Possibly "lite". But please could you let us have the Spanish context.
Wendy Streitparth Jun 3, 2014:
Maybe you could use " ": "light" culture or possibly "soft" culture

Proposed translations

+1
38 mins

depends on the context - perhaps lightweight culture or middlebrow culture

The erosion of in-depth thought in today's lightweight culture does not impinge on psychoanalysis alone. From:Logics of the Mind: A Clinical Viewwww.newhopejournal.com/july06.html
He quotes the sociologist Todd Gitlin as saying that the point of the nearly forgotten liberal arts is to counter “a high velocity, reckless and lightweight culture ...
If the cultural aspiration the author is talking about is a few rungs above Justin Beiber and Kim Kardashian, middlebrow might work better.
www.middlebrow-network.com/DefiningtheMiddleb...
"Middlebrow culture is the ambivalent mediation of high culture within the field of the mass cultural." John Guillory, 'The Ordeal of Middlebrow Culture', Review of .
Peer comment(s):
agree Chris Neill : yes: without substance, shallow, superficial
5 days
Thanks very much, Chris.
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1 hr

ephemeral culture

Another option!



Advertising In The Ephemeral Culture. - Adland.tv



adland.tv/adnews/...ephemeral-culture/1355342379



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12/12/2012 - ... not exist in a vacuum. It is influenced by pop culture, influenced by the times. Gone Before You Know It: Advertising In The Ephemeral Culture.


Ephemeral Culture in the Age of Digital Reproduction: The ...



www.academia.edu/.../Ephemeral_Culture_in_the_A...



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28/1/2013 - Searching... Ephemeral Culture in the Age of Digital Reproduction: The Need for a Legal Reconstruction of Artistic Identitymore. by Eli Boulton.

[PDF]
ORAL mSTORY, ARCHAEOLOGY, AND EPHEMERAL ...



scahome.org/.../Proceedings.09Hattersley.pdf






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ORAL mSTORY, ARCHAEOLOGY, AND EPHEMERAL CULTURE: BOCCE BALL IN THE VASCO. Karana Hattersley-Drayton. Anthropological Studies Center.
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+1
2 hrs

dumbed-down culture

an option
basically superficial, banal, simplistic, shallow or "culture" for the masses" or maybe "quick-access culture" or "quick-fix culture"

http://books.google.ie/books?id=n1kCceDxq6UC&pg=PA80&lpg=PA8...

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/podium-briti...
Peer comment(s):
agree John Cutler : A very modern take on it.
12 hrs
Many Thanks John! This is the modern reality unfortunately:-(
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