Reflection on the Construction of a Media Landscape of the Lahu Cultural Symbol: Based on the Communication of the Ballad Happy Lahu

Zhao Nan， Xu Yuanping

DOI：10.3969/j.issn.1674-9391.2021.07.009

Abstract：A media landscape is a kind of visual spectacle or grand scene produced by the mass media， and it is filled with various cultural symbols.? This paper attempts to take the communication process of the ballad ?Happy Lahu ?as an example to explore the construction and creation process of a media landscape for ethnic minority cultural symbols. The reason for this being an analysis of the problems or shortcomings of ethnic minority cultural symbols in the construction process of a media landscape. It further reflects on the use and expression of ethnic cultural symbols in the building process of a media landscape to realize a healthy dissemination of ethnic culture.

The media landscape of Happy Lahu is a typical case in China's ethnic minority areas in the context of globalization and modernization. This media landscape of Happy Lahu was originally constructed and shaped by TV， newspaper， short video， and other media technologies. Driven by science and technology as well as economy and politics， the Happy Lahu media scene has gradually become the symbol of the Lahu culture. The panoramic presentation of ethnic symbols， fixed expressions of high-frequency words， and pursuit of self-definition by short videos constitute the main contents of the media landscape of Happy Lahu.

The successful shaping of all the media features of Happy Lahu is the satisfactory result of media requirements， cultural resources， economic development， and ideology. The rational development and progress of science and technology have made life easier for people and have created conditions for the construction of a media landscape; the building of cultural industry creates a two-way interaction between culture and economy， and further consolidates the commercialization of ethnic minority cultural capital; ideological publicity conforms to the value orientation of political publicity， social governance， and cultural engineering， and is an effective mining of cultural resources， which is recognized and advocated by the state.

However， there are different degrees of deviation and alienation in the process of media information dissemination. Reflecting on this media-oriented construction， we can see that the media-oriented communication of ethnic minority cultural symbols actually covers the practical initiative of cultural subjects ， and constructs an ethnic minority cultural landscapes that seems to permeate people's daily life but in fact from the cultural imagination of others . But the formation of this cultural landscape， unfortunately， lacks any personal initiative or even any participation on the part of local ethnicities.? Ethnic minority cultural and historical writings actually should return to the? cultural? subject or the common ethnic folk， follow an “internal logic of sustainable development” in the domain of national grassroots culture， reach out to common people， interconnect with social structures， and interact with daily life. Only such communication constitutes effective cultural communication， as well as the important premise and basic guarantee for realizing ethnic identity， cultural identity， and national identity.

Key Words： media landscape; ethnic minority cultural symbols; construction; Happy Lahu; cultural reflection