Thank you. Folks forget we have had a world economy for 10,000+ years, exchanging music, art, culture in general, philosophy, language, laws, technology, and culinary delights. And DNA.
This is a cultural ecotone, the zone between where two distinct ecosystems meet, where the fields meet the woods. It is in that zone where adaptation and new forms evolve. It is where innovation and creativity take place resulting in something entirely new.
You are so right on the money with this piece. I completely share your point of view w.r.t. cultural appropriation. What exactly is the point of tolerating and embracing many cultures if not to learn from them - either what to do differently or what not to do. How can learning, adapting and finding a new way be a bad thing, let alone a BAD thing. Great essay. Thank you.
OMG music to my ears. Been feeling like this for so long. Well said. It's how we learn about each other, enjoy each others' cultures and enrich each other.
"Cultural Appropriation" as a concept is primarily used to keep certain ethnic groups in their place. For instance, when we hear that whites (or Hispanics or, God forbid, Asians), playing the blues is "cultural appropriation," that's a way to ensure the blues stays in its economic and cultural ghetto. The same thing was tried in the 1930s with Bix Beiderbecke and jazz - the so-called purists sniffed and said it was "inauthentic" for whites to play black music. But we see that the purveyors of this cultural redlining aren't sincere because nobody would argue that Marian Anderson, Leontyne Price or Kathleen Battle are "inauthentic" when they sing opera, nor that Wynton Marsalis had no business playing European classical music.
The truth is that once an art form is created, no matter its source, it belongs to all of humanity. To argue otherwise - to hold that jazz and blues are "folk" forms that are only "authentic" when played by musicians of the same ethnic background as those who originally developed it - is to argue that the folk forms are less than the "high art" forms such as opera and classical symphonic music.
Just as the Olympics' original "ideal" of amateurism was a thinly disguised attempt to reserve participation to rich whites, so too is the origin of "cultural appropriation" no more than an attempt to preserve European forms as "universal" while African-American, Celtic, Asian and other forms were simply "folk musics" that couldn't possibly capture the pathos of the human condition to the same level. It is a form of cultural imperialism that denies the universality that lies at the heart of jazz and blues, Cajun and zydeco, tango and bolero, the gamelan of Bali or the souk of Morocco.
None of which is to argue that Mozart and Beethoven weren't verifiable geniuses whose music elevates all who listen to it - but so is the music of Ellington, of Cole Porter, of Stevie Wonder and Muddy Waters and Johnny Cash.
Excellent piece of writing, Connie.
You are so right, Connie! Love your essay.
Thank you. Folks forget we have had a world economy for 10,000+ years, exchanging music, art, culture in general, philosophy, language, laws, technology, and culinary delights. And DNA.
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/06/13/481586649/a-map-of-where-your-food-originated-may-surprise-you
This is a cultural ecotone, the zone between where two distinct ecosystems meet, where the fields meet the woods. It is in that zone where adaptation and new forms evolve. It is where innovation and creativity take place resulting in something entirely new.
Soooo good and helpful and encouraging for me and I will share. Thank you!
love this! we do too!
A lovely synopsis of a very important topic. Thank you.
Great article! I really enjoyed it.
You are so right on the money with this piece. I completely share your point of view w.r.t. cultural appropriation. What exactly is the point of tolerating and embracing many cultures if not to learn from them - either what to do differently or what not to do. How can learning, adapting and finding a new way be a bad thing, let alone a BAD thing. Great essay. Thank you.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery 😎
OMG music to my ears. Been feeling like this for so long. Well said. It's how we learn about each other, enjoy each others' cultures and enrich each other.
Love it! I will willfully appropriate your idea to embrace cultural appropriation.
"Cultural Appropriation" as a concept is primarily used to keep certain ethnic groups in their place. For instance, when we hear that whites (or Hispanics or, God forbid, Asians), playing the blues is "cultural appropriation," that's a way to ensure the blues stays in its economic and cultural ghetto. The same thing was tried in the 1930s with Bix Beiderbecke and jazz - the so-called purists sniffed and said it was "inauthentic" for whites to play black music. But we see that the purveyors of this cultural redlining aren't sincere because nobody would argue that Marian Anderson, Leontyne Price or Kathleen Battle are "inauthentic" when they sing opera, nor that Wynton Marsalis had no business playing European classical music.
The truth is that once an art form is created, no matter its source, it belongs to all of humanity. To argue otherwise - to hold that jazz and blues are "folk" forms that are only "authentic" when played by musicians of the same ethnic background as those who originally developed it - is to argue that the folk forms are less than the "high art" forms such as opera and classical symphonic music.
Just as the Olympics' original "ideal" of amateurism was a thinly disguised attempt to reserve participation to rich whites, so too is the origin of "cultural appropriation" no more than an attempt to preserve European forms as "universal" while African-American, Celtic, Asian and other forms were simply "folk musics" that couldn't possibly capture the pathos of the human condition to the same level. It is a form of cultural imperialism that denies the universality that lies at the heart of jazz and blues, Cajun and zydeco, tango and bolero, the gamelan of Bali or the souk of Morocco.
None of which is to argue that Mozart and Beethoven weren't verifiable geniuses whose music elevates all who listen to it - but so is the music of Ellington, of Cole Porter, of Stevie Wonder and Muddy Waters and Johnny Cash.
PREEEEEEACH!
<smashes the like button repeatedly, as if it will add more hearts>
Well thank God for you is all I can say
Beautiful essay filled with wisdom - I vote for you!