Cultural appropriation

[eirias]

Pursuant to a conversation elsewhere, a poll!

NOTE! For the purpose of this poll, "foreigner" refers to someone who is foreign in several ways:

1. he has no familial claim to the culture (no relation by blood or marriage);
2. he does not and has not lived in the culture;
3. he has no deep knowledge or understanding of the culture, and/or does not speak the language.

Use the comments to clarify anything you like.

(Note: I submitted blank answers but that's only so I can easily see poll results without changing them; one should not infer from that that I think all the options are inappropriate.)

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[Poll #1267976]

Comments

[chilimuffin.livejournal.com]

I think that I can find places where almost all of these things are acceptable and where they're not. And for me, I suspect what may contribute strongly to that line is the sense of "will it bring us together, or will it set us further apart?" Ironically, it's a concept I've possibly appropriated from the Amish, having spent most of my life in "Amish country" (but then, is that appropriation? hmmm).

I think some things, like food, lend themselves to coming together ("I'm trying to make this interesting Moroccan dish, can I get your expertise?") while others require more work - I can't think of a particularly good way, for example, for me to wear the native clothing of most countries without making myself look posturing.

For most things, I think I'd have to decide on an individual basis, depending on how the topic is approached. It's one thing, for example, to experiment with cooking ethnic cuisines, and even to get really good at it, perhaps even become an expert. It's another to pretend expertise, or to somehow equate expertise in a particular food preparation technique with a deep understanding of the culture in which it is developed.

At what point does the acquisition of knowledge about a culture make you less of a foreigner? Is it even possible to ever get beyond "deeply educated expert, and therefore accepted outsider"? At what point does it no longer matter? I think a lot of these things hinge on humility and respect, rather than the actual quantity of knowledge.

Then again, is appropriation a bad thing in all cases? In any case? Again, to what end is the appropriation being used? Will it bring us together, and is that inherently good? I think it's all very fuzzy.

[eirias.livejournal.com]

Interesting. My only response is, who is "us"?

1. To the extent that cultural differences ensure solidarity through separation of Other, outside participation is inherently bad for that culture.

2 To the extent that what you want is elimination of cultural boundaries, I cannot see how, in the long run, outside participation can be anything but good.

3. To the extent that you're just talking about two randomly selected people from a culture, I think it'll vary a lot, probably depending on whether the people's priorities look more like 1. or 2.

[chilimuffin.livejournal.com]

isn't it interesting how so few of us think that appropriation of names is allowable? Language is probably fine, however.....

I agree with you, and I also think the entire system of cultural exchange won't happen without both types of people - those who want to preserve culture (and therefore maintain something that can be appropriated) and those who want to share culture. I can't help but think that life's a lot more fun with categories that can be shared (and thus necessitate maintenance).