The slides point out the different meanings some women in Bamenda, Cameroon make from their consumption of cultural products imported from different parts of the world, but broadcast locally.

1. Making-sense from Foreign
Soaps

2. What is Media Imperialism?
 The term media imperialism has been criticised by some media theorists because of its
lack of precision. In the case of developing countries, the concept can be phrased in
two ways: the Western and Capitalist perspectives. From the Western viewpoint,
cultural imperialism could denote the manner in which Western values, ideas and
behaviours and transported into non-Western countries through symbolic forms such
as soap operas. This is mainly because many soap operas irrespective of where they are
produced resemble the ‘Western form’ in which characters and themes generated
characteristically resemble those in the West. These values and characteristics are
constantly served to audiences in developing countries who re-appropriate these
behaviours and over time, regard them as normal.
 From the capitalist lens, the cultural imperialism could be understood as a means
through which countries with the means of production similar to Marx’s ruling class,
have the potential to propagate their values and beliefs to recipient nations with little
means.

3. Media as Ideological tools
 Cultural imperialism occurs when one culture is privileged over the other, and
most often, the media is at the centre of bringing represented foreign cultures to
the locals. Audiences then use the media to make decisions as to what practices
are better than others. The result is mostly to privilege the foreign because locals
view them as advanced and modern.
 The lack of intellectual capacity/knowledges of masses within local environments
shields them from decoding foreign texts in a manner that enables them to see
foreign cultures as similar to theirs. This is mostly because of the quality of the
films and expertise of actors and actresses often in sharp contrast with what is
produced in Cameroon. The result is that some of the soaps are regarded as real.

4. How Cultural Imperialism Occurs
 Cultural imperialism through the media also occurs when television stations within
local spaces prefer to rent foreign soaps to broadcast yearly with a majority being
telenovelas which does not come without its cultural influence, but also is an
economic drive for media corporations like TV GLOBO. TV Globo is one of the
world’s largest media corporation behind some from the US like Time Warner.
 World media corporations are pushed by the need to extend markets for profit
reasons and the exploitation of a stronger nation over a weaker one relates to
cultural imperialism. The interest in the production of films which are consumed in
some African countries like Senegal (See Werner 2007) and Cameroon.

5. Dependence
 Due to both internal and external reasons developing countries like Cameroon are
influenced to depend on foreign soaps for their entertainment. The influences are
drawn from audience preference for the foreign, high cost of purchasing local
production, sponsor’s decisions and quality of the soaps.
 Local audiences tend to prefer the foreign because of quality in not just production but
of acting, accent, language articulation, and professionalism exhibited by characters.
 Despite the fact that Cameroon and Nigeria have a shared boundary, cultural
similarities and proximity, there are often very limited Nigerian soap operas broadcast
on national television and many of the prominent television stations compared to
foreign ones. The constant serving of foreign soap operas to local consumers in
Cameroon has created a range of experiences for viewers.

6. The Making of Meaning
 Local audiences make several meanings from their consumption of these foreign
soap operas.
 They abandon old ways of life particularly those health matters that they see
transform the health situation of characters. Now prefer hospitals than visit the
local traditional herbalist for medication.
 Adopting foreign behaviours beginning from names, emotional habits, and the
way people generally behave in the West.
 Emulation of house style décor as seen in soaps.
 The desire to travel to foreign countries as a result of soaps which falls under the
rubrique of symbolic distancing.

7. Hybridity
 The re-appropriation of foreign behaviours within local spaces has not come with
a blend of cultures. Languages are mixed in several ways, specifically the use of
Camfranglais.
 Mixture of cultural names with foreign names.
 Dress styles and hair patterns are a mixture of both foreign and local.

8. Conclusion
The media constitutes a formidable force in shaping the lives of people within local
spaces as they are constantly served with foreign contents.
The frequent consumption of foreign soaps within local environments have created a
prism through which audiences are exposed to a life style other than theirs. In as
much as a change in the way people think and behave in society is instigated by
foreign soaps, there are instances which audiences resist certain meanings because
they are way out of their boundary markers on what they could adopt.
The media is a huge resource for local audiences as they copy what they can, blend
others, and resist others. The outcome is a fascinating cultural richness each with its
root.