Cultural appropriation

The concept of "cultural appropriation" emerged in the 80-90s of the XX century in the lexicon of post-colonial critics of Western expansionism . ^[2] American linguist John McWorter explains the emergence of the concept of cultural appropriation by “justified indignation against white pop musicians imitating the music of black people”. ^[3] . A classic example of Macaworter is Elvis Presley . ^[3]

The term “cultural appropriation”, as a rule, has negative connotations. ^[1] In most cases, it is used when a minority culture is borrowed ^{[4] [5]} , or interacting cultures are involved in a historical, ethnic, or racial conflict . ^[6]
According to proponents of this concept, cultural appropriation differs from acculturation and assimilation in that “appropriation” implies borrowing elements of a particular culture in a colonial manner: they are copied by members of a dominant culture and are used outside their own original cultural context -donora ^{[4] [6] [7] [8]} Often in the process, the original meaning of these cultural elements is distorted; their use can be viewed by members of the donor culture as a manifestation of disrespect or even as desecration of the shrine. The initial deep meaning of an element in a subordinate culture can be reduced to an “exotic” trend in the dominant culture. ^{[5] [6] [9]}

It is about cultural development that usually comes when representatives of the western, specifically white, people are assigned elements of the culture of non-white peoples — Indians, blacks, and Asians. At the same time, borrowing elements of European culture is viewed not as appropriation, but as assimilation. However, this does not mean that representatives of non-white races are not a priori capable of cultural appropriation, for example, if an Asian copies the style and behavior of an African American, or an African American puts on an Indian costume, this is also regarded as appropriation, in particular against the background of popularization of cultural appropriation, as victims accusations are becoming more frequent and non-white celebrities ^[10]

In addition, appropriation disputes exist within a certain race, for example, cultural development is considered if an African American borrows elements of a certain African tribe’s style, not being its representative ^{[11] [12]} , similarly to the Indian communities ^[13] .

Against the background of popularizing the idea of ​​inadmissibility of cultural appropriation, the alternative view that the use of white culture elements, in particular religious symbols out of context, is also considered a cultural appropriation, is becoming increasingly popular, in particular, the reason for the loud Internet scandal was dressing the costume by the singer Ryannoy dress, imitating the costume of the pope. Nevertheless, supporters of progressive values ​​deny the possibility of appropriating white culture / symbolism and rank the supporters of this idea as white nationalists and supporters of hatred ^[14] .

Proponents of the concept include, among others, the following examples of cultural appropriation:

• Sports teams using indigenous tribal names, images of these peoples as the team’s logo or mascot, traditional artwork of indigenous tribes ^[15] : Washington Redskins, a professional American football club (“Redskins”), American Cleveland baseball team Indians (her logo is Wahu Chief) ^{[16] [17]} , New Zealand national rugby team All Blacks (performing the ritual “ hack ” dance before matches). ^{[18] [19]}
• Halloween costumes, such as PokHotti (PocaHottie; from Pocahontas and hottie - beauty), “Indian Warrior”, “Vato Loco” (Spanish: “crazy man”; Latin American gangster costume). ^{[20] [21]} Sometimes they are worn by people who do not belong to the relevant culture, and they call their outfit “playful”. ^[22]
• Fashion bindi ^[23] and the headdress of an Indian soldier. ^[4] After a petition appeared on change.org against the sale of the latter to Glastonbury , the festival’s organizers banned the distribution of this headdress to the venue (the petition managed to collect 65 signatures). ^{[24] [25]} A similar petition is also addressed to the organizers of the Coachella festival. ^[26]

The study, prepared by the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of the UN Human Rights Council , refers in particular to the misappropriation and interpretation of cultural property. ^[27]

Many indigenous peoples suffer from misappropriation of their cultural heritage, which manifests itself in various forms, including its mercantilization, the use of images and symbols of indigenous peoples in the marketing process and the misappropriation of traditional songs.

Inadequate cultural interpretation is another aspect that has a negative impact on the cultural heritage of indigenous peoples.

- Promoting and protecting the rights of indigenous peoples with regard to their cultural heritage, 18 ^[27]

The HRC experts point to the existence of legal mechanisms to protect against misappropriation and inappropriate interpretation of elements of indigenous culture, above all, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. ^[27]

1. Indigenous peoples have the right to preserve, control, protect and develop their cultural heritage, traditional knowledge and traditional forms of cultural expression, as well as manifestations of their scientific knowledge, technology and culture, including human and genetic resources, seeds, medicines, knowledge of fauna properties. and flora, traditions of oral creativity, literary works, drawings, sports and traditional games, and visual and performing arts. They also have the right to preserve, control, protect and develop their intellectual property on such cultural heritage, traditional knowledge and traditional forms of cultural expression.

2. Together with the indigenous peoples, States take effective measures to recognize and protect the exercise of these rights.

- Article 31 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples ^[28]

However, the study notes that, despite the existence of the potential for indigenous people to exercise their rights, in practice they find it difficult to obtain adequate protection, including in the case of misappropriation of their intangible cultural heritage. ^[27] In 2009, the government of New Zealand recognized the copyright of Kama-mate for the Ngati Toa tribe, a traditional hack (ritual dance of the indigenous Maori people). ^[29] Ka-mate haka is widely known in New Zealand, as it is traditionally performed before the New Zealand rugby team matches All Blacks. ^{[29] [30]} In response to complaints from Ngati Toa’s representatives about the unacceptable use of dance in movies , commercials and television , the agreement placed a limit on the commercial use of ka mate. However, the restriction does not apply to All Blacks performances, and the team continues to use ka-mate in the show before matches. ^[18]

Critics of the concept of cultural appropriation challenge it for a number of reasons, starting with the rejection of specific provisions and concepts, ending with the complete negation of theory as such. Their position is often based on the opposite vision of cultural borrowing as a generally positive phenomenon, contributing to the mutual enrichment of cultures. In their opinion, borrowing is due to sincere admiration of a particular culture and without any malicious intent. ^{[3] [31]} Critics also argue that the term “appropriation” is incorrectly applied to a culture that is far from being perceived by all as a limited resource: unlike appropriation of a material object, imitation of elements of a foreign culture does not necessarily imply depriving members of this culture of such elements. So, at the beginning of the 20th century, Harlem was a “ melting pot ”, where white musicians adopted the style of singing and playing musical instruments from African Americans, creating a special sound, which later played a significant role in shaping the American music scene. ^[3] Proponents of the same concept state that such an approach does not take into account the problems of group identity , the commercialization of cultural elements, their withdrawal from context, and the difference between appropriation and interchange. ^{[29] [32]} In their opinion, mutual exchange is based on equal conditions, while cultural appropriation takes place with disrespect for the oppressed culture, lack of understanding of its elements and their improper use out of context. ^{[6] [23] [33]}

Farah Shah from ExtraNewsFeed noted that the main problem of the term is its vagueness and, for this reason, it can be interpreted by everyone in different ways and to their liking. For example, some users consider the cultural appropriation of the production of dishes of a foreign culture, the use of “black jargon”, the study of foreign languages ​​or, for example, yoga. As a result, “cultural appropriation” is often used in an attempt to limit creative freedom and in general freedom of action of certain groups of the population under the pretext of combating racism. As a result, the term lost its original meaning of the fight against class racism and turned into an insult and meaningless quarrel “what belongs to whose ancestors and who has a monopoly on certain traditions” ^[34] .

Katharina Davis, although she supports the idea of ​​the inadmissibility of cultural appropriation in terms of parodying other cultures and using them as “holiday costumes”, but also noted that due to the subjectivity of the concept itself, it has, especially in recent years, become counterproductive and sabotage, noting that, for example, it is not permissible to put blackface on one level (parodying black with white actors) and white people who, with the help of sunburn, try to get a copper skin tone or try to enlarge lips. Katarina noted that the accuser, often does not think about the fact that the “stolen cultural element” does not belong only to one community, but can also occur in others, including whites. Katharina does not see anything criminal in that people in everyday life accept elements of a foreign culture, especially in multinational American society and vice versa, that radical supporters of the inadmissibility of cultural appropriation advocate isolation of cultures and therefore, without realizing it, think like conservatives and racists ^{[ 35]} . A similar opinion is shared by the editors of The Washington Post , noting that the really serious topic of fetishization and distortion of foreign culture, discussed in a circle of scientists and sociologists, has turned into a farce, as a matter of 2015, of accusing people and artists of sinfulness. The way of thinking of zealous opponents of cultural appropriation is a reflection of ultraconservative ideas about racial and cultural purity ^[36] .

The editors of Spiked believe that the notion of “cultural appropriation” strikes at the social interaction between different nationalities and promotes a particularly conservative view of the world, not allowing the mixing of cultures, reviving the old-fashioned look at cultural and racial problems. The editors at the same time noticed a strikingly different attitude of the supporters of political correctness to such concepts as gender / gender and race / culture. If the first is perceived as something subjective and flowing, the second is static and unchanging in their eyes. “Attitude towards a man who wants to be a woman will be strikingly different from a person who wants to adopt a“ foreign ”culture” ^[37] .