Tuesday, 18 December 2018

Cultural Appropriation and Cultural Essentialism

Cultural Appropriation without Cultural Essentialism?

Enrich Hatala Matthes 

Vol 42, No 2, Special Issue: Dominating Speech (April 2016) pp. 343-366

Published by: Florida State University Department of Philosophy

Topics: Cultural Appropriation, Essentialism, Cultural Groups, Native Culture, Appropriated art, Misrepresentation, cultural identity, Injustice, Social inequality.

*Cultural Appropriation in the arts its a diverse and ubiquitous phenomenon.
* Occurrences as varied as:
*the representation of cultural practices or experiences by cultural "outsiders" (sometimes called as "voice appropriation"
*the use of artistic styles distinctive of cultural groups by non members.
*the procurement or continued possession of cultural objects by nonmembers or culturally distant institutions.

*Cultural appropriation can often seem morally problematic. When the reasons are filled in with details from actual events, we often find representation, misuse, and theft of the stories, styles, and material heritage of people who ave been historically dominated and remain socially marginalised.

*For example native Americans in Hollywood Westerns, use of Navajo Motfa in fashion and marketing, and the continued display of Australian Aboriginal artwork by the British Museum.

*The action of pop music artists such as Miley Cyrus and Iggy Azalea has also helped guide the language of cultural appropriation into the popular lexicon.

*James O. Young, philosopher- acknowledges that representations or uses of cultural stories and styles by outsiders is potentially offensive but it doubtful about its harmfulness Indeed, he writes: "I am deeply skeptical about the claim that artists will do more harm to the cultures from which they borrow."

*He is Skeptical about the extent and frequency of those harms that he does acknowledge befall cultural members.

*His aspect is largely a moral and aesthetic defence of cultural appropriation.

*Cultural appropriation can be harmful (Enrich Hatala Matthes)

*One of the key insights if that literature concerns the relationship between harmful speech and systems of oppression and marginalisation.

*Cultural Appropriation is just one way, among others, in which social marginalisation can interact with speech in order to cause harm.

*on the other hand, cultural appropriation is just one way, among others, in which social marginalisation can interact with speech in order to cause harm.

*On the other hand, cultural appropriation has some descriptively unique features but does not issue in a unique kind of harm.

*Problem that faces moral objectifications to cultural appropriation. These objectification are making distinctions between cultural "insiders" and "outsiders" or "members" and "non members"

*However, such distinctions have potential to fall prey to a harmful cultural essentialism.

Cultural Essentialism

*While essentialism is a simple way for individuals  people to categorise, it can be a serious problem for societies. Cultural essentialism is the practice of categorising groups of people within a culture, or from other cultures.

*The harms of cultural essentialism are similar to the harms of cultural appropriation.

*People who make claims objecting to cultural appropriation predicted on essentialist distinctions between insiders and outsiders risk causing harms of a similar kind to the appropriations to which they are objecting.

*There is no adequate solution towards this issue.

The Harms of Cultural Appropriation 

According to Young, "The taking of something produced by members of one culture by members of another" This definition requires that we specify the conditions under which cultural appropriation is or not morally objectionable.

*Others provide a definition  that entails that cultural appropriation is morally objectionable.
*Loretta Todd writes: "The definition of appropriation originates in its inversion, cultural autonomy. Cultural autonomy signifies a right to cultural specificity, a right to one's origins and histories as told from within the culture and not as mediated from without."

There is a general agreement that if cultural appropriation is morally objectionable, it is only objectionable when a member of a dominant cultural group appropriates from a member of a marginalised group.

Many Reasons

*It is in the nature of a dominant cultural group to dominate and impress its culture upon others.

Cultural Assimilation- is a process in which a minority group or culture comes to resemble those of a dominant group.

The term is referred to individuals and groups adapt to being dominated by another societal group.

*Morally neutral sense, using terms as "appropriate harms" to refer to the morally objectionable instances.

*Young considers a range of ways in which the representation of cultural insiders (subject appropriation) and the use of their styles, motifs, songs might be harmful.

*Young states, "Some content and subject appropriation can be a sort of assault on the members of a culture. Such appropriation is wrong. Most cultural appropriation neither sets back the interests of individuals members of cultures nor damages cultures.

*Young States, " It is true that outsiders can harm insiders by misrepresenting them in certain ways. Hollywood film makers have harmed members of Native Americans cultures by employing stereotypes. It is difficult to say with certainty how much harm has been done t members of Native American cultures by old Westerns and the like members of these cultures have been subjected tot terrible discrimination, but it is difficult to know how much of this discrimination can be attributed to Westerns and other Works of art."





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