Introduction

要旨

Most obviously an extension to and effect of the potential embodied in technology, globalization in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries has promoted fresh forms of electronic imperialism which have enabled trade to be conducted without immediate recourse to the boundaries of nation-states or territorial conglomerates.1 In a recent discussion, ‘What is Globalization?’, the theatre historian Gary Jay Williams defines this phenomenon in terms of material and cultural products: Globalization is … A.T.M.s on every street corner in every wealthy city in the world. It is Japanese Toyotas manufactured in Tennessee, Nike shoes made in Southeast Asia, and computers made in China using U.S. Microsoft programmes. It is the rock musical and India’s ‘Bollywood’ films for international audiences.

主題