On the morning of June 17, the thirdsessionof internationalonlineseminar on “Culture and Literature”hosted by the School of Foreign Languageswasholdas scheduled. Thekeynotespeaker, Professor Roddey Reid,madea wonderful lecturearound the theme of“Cigarettes as an Icon of Modernity” tothe audience. Professor Jiao Xiaoting from the School of Foreign Languagespresided over theseminar. Andover 260 persons were present.
Professor Reid’s lecturewas the essence ofhismonograph ofGlobalizing Tobacco Control: Anti-smoking Campaigns in California, France, and Japanand focuses onthechange of cigarettes’symbolismin the late 1980sfrom the perspective ofvisual culture, especially outdoor advertising, television, and film with the advent of anti-smoking campaigns.Hefirstly defined the termsof“modern” and “modernity”, then pointed out thatbackin the 15thand 16thcenturies, cigarettes, as one of the earliest mass consumer products by virtue of theirlow prices, were available to all social classes. Besides, theindustryof cigarettes brought about modern corporationsas well as the emergence of modern national identities. In addition, cigarettes bear multiple meanings in Euro-North-Americanmodernity, includingaesthetic satisfaction, political freedom, anxiety,female freedomand glamor.However, cigarettes alsoproducednegative effects. He selecteddreadfulpictures and videos to demonstrate the health risks caused by heavy smoking, the harm of second-hand smoking, as well as the alienationand lonelinessof smokers. As a consequence, a revolution in public attitudetowards cigarettes took placeduringthe 1980s and 1990s.
At the end of the lecture, Professor Gao Jihai, Associate Professor Zhang Yuhong and other audience had a heated discussion on thedevelopmentof cigarette in recent years, people’s reliance on cigarettesoralcohol,andthe relationshipbetween cigarettes and genderandrelevantsocial concepts.(Author: Ding LanJiang Shu)
