Brics issue-narrative on culture: strategic or trivial?

Abstract

BRICS, a diplomatic platform comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, aims to create a fair and more democratic multipolar world order. Following their claim to uphold multilateralism, the BRICS group encourages people-to-people interactions. The cultural diversity of the BRICS members challenges the group to convey a coherent and substantive identity-narrative. However, strategic narratives are not only developed to give shape to culture as identity; they also influence the discursive environment about cultural activities. This article adopts a strategic-narrative analysis to assess BRICS’s commitment to cultural activities. It aims to answer whether and how the BRICS issue narrative on culture is strategic or trivial with reference to the group’s commitment to multilateralism. Using a documentary analysis, the reading identified four mutually reinforcing narratives that give shape to the BRICS cultural agenda. A critical analysis of these narratives showed that BRICS issue narrative on culture is, in its current form, trivial.

Keywords:

• BRICS
• culture
• multilateralism
• soft power
• strategic narratives

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank the University of Otago for its generous Publishing Bursary.