Abstract

It is one of today's cliches to say that the world is becoming small and interconnected; that, in effect, it has become one place. One of the terms which points to the heightened consciousness of this process, globalization, has gradually become rooted in popular discourses over the last decade. Now what comes to the fore is increasing identity(rather than difference): the rapid assimilation of hitherto autonomous national markets and productive zones into a single sphere. Here what begins to infuse our thinking of globalization is a picture of standardization on an unparalleled new scale. Now, mostly a transnational standard form of American material life is being systematically transmitted to other cultures. Therefore the problem lies on the point of fundamental dissymmetry between the western, and other cultures. However our history has had a hundred years of experience dealing with western cultures. For example, music was not an exception. For hundred years, we tried hard enough to develop our society and modernize our culture. But the result was the crisis of modernity itself and the mediocre westernized value which led us to nowhere. Thus the choice of our music becomes clear. It is a matter of centrality in value. Modernity is not a phenomenon of Europe as an independent system, but of Europe as center. This simple hypothesis absolutely changes the concept of modernity, its origin, development, and our contemporary crisis. We have to think that all kinds of centrality, and self-referential systems are a part of a world system. So the question remains fundamental. The choice of our music should be something that follows our pace and value, that is, the reflexive consciousness of our lives whatsoever, not toward Europe, or United States or any other countries.