Analysis of Indian bureaucrat with black money’ stash： Bribes not taboo

李佩耘

【Abstract】This paper is an analysis of a news story called Indian bureaucrat with black money stash： Bribes not taboo under two theories——narrative device of rhetorical analysis and Hofstedes cultural dimension， trying to show people how to analyze a news story and reveal some Indias cultural phenomena that the news story exposes.

【Keywords】News story； Analyze； Narrative device； Cultural dimension； India

I. Introduction

This paper tries to analyze a news story picked from AP news called Indian bureaucrat with black money stash： Bribes not taboo under narrative device of rhetorical analysis. It aims to show people the way of analyzing a news story and try to analyze the cultural phenomena of India that the news story reveals by using Hofstedes cultural dimension.

II. Applied Theories

（I） Narrative Device of Rhetorical Analysis

The core elements of the basic narrative scheme are： Preparation： there is a certain state of relative rest， balance， equilibrium at the outset； Complication： subsequently there is a disruption of this equilibrium by some event； Transference： The recognition that there has been a disruption leads to a “task” for a protagonist to try to reinstall a new equilibrium. Struggle： There will be attempts to respond adequately to the disruption and to install a new equilibrium， often opposed by antagonist forces； Recognition： The narrative scheme is very goal-oriented. It is just like a focused causal chain and this paper would use this scheme to analyze the news story.

（II） Hofstedes Cultural Dimension

Individualism vs. collectivism refers to how people define themselves and their relationships with others， which describes cultures from loosely structured to tightly integrated. Power distance is the way the culture deals with inequalities. Masculinity vs. femininity implies cultures that place high values on masculine stress assertiveness， competition， and material success， and cultures place high values on feminine traits stress quality of life， interpersonal relationships. Uncertainty avoidance is the extent to which people in a culture feel threatened by uncertain or unknown situations. Long-term vs. short-term orientation refers to the degree to which people need to explain the plans of future.

III. Analysis of the News Story

（I） Analysis With Narrative Device

Preparation： The bribe is not a taboo in a government job in India， where politicians were in cahoots with bureaucrats to keep bribery schemes secret. Complication： The bribery in India roots more and more deep. There are numerous bribery cases in India. More and more people fight against the bribery and tax evasion. Transference： Modi announced the demonetization of Indias 500- and 1，000-rupee notes， which made up 86 percent of the countrys currency. Government said it will severely penalize those who deposit amounts that dont match their income. Struggle： All the government workers were in desperation. Recognition： The decision helped Modis government hit at the corruption to some degree. But it is still a long road for them to hit and eliminate at the root of the bribery， since the bribery roots so deeply in Indias society.

（II） Analysis With Hofstedes Cultural Dimension

From this news story we can see that India is an individualist culture. Ties between individuals are loose. Some Indians want to get more black money and laundry their money， others just want to fight against with bribery. In the power distance dimension， India is high in power distance. The engineer who was interviewed said that he would offer costly gifts to his superiors every festive season， because he expects to maintain a good relationship with his superiors. The money are often offered by someone who want their projects are admitted and completed. It shows that high status people are highly respected and people tends to send a large amount of money to the high-status for some certain purpose in India. In the masculinity-femininity dimension， India is masculine culture， which stress competition and material success. Indians pursuit wealth and power. In the uncertainty avoidance dimension， India is the culture that high in uncertainty avoidance. It shows that although they are deep in the bribery which is in high risk and cant stop themselves， they are still always in high attention and try to protect their wealth and themselves. Lastly， India is definitely long-term orientation. Although these politicians got a large amount of black money， they still like to save the money in banks or laundry the money by investing in gold or houses， which is a long-term decision.

IV. Conclusion

Form the narrative analysis of this news story we can see that although Modi government announced the demonetization， it is still a long road for Indians to eliminate the corruption. And from the analysis of cultural dimensions of India， it seems that India is a country with both western characteristics， such as individualism， and eastern characteristics， such as high in power distance. Narrative device is the most useful way to analyze a news story in which the storylines and the rhetors writing purpose can be showed obviously. And Hofstedes cultural dimensions can help to analyze the cultures in a more detailed and comprehensive way.

【References】

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[2] Hofstede， G. The Cultural Relativity of the Quality of Life Concept. Academy of Management Review. 1984 （3）： 389-398.

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