Thinking about cultural appropriation
Nov. 28th, 2011 10:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Do you ever have a gut-twisting thought that just doesn't seem right, but won't go away, either?
I've been thinking about cultural appropriation in relation to my interest in Balkan dancing and singing. Is my interest, at some level, appropriative?
If so, what interests would be clean for me? Israeli dancing, since my heritage is Jewish? Square dancing, because I was born in the US? German folk dancing, because my grandparents came from Germany? I was invited to join a local German dance group, and politely but firmly declined. Their flashy turning dances and oom-pa music don't interest me at all.
The last three generations of my family were born on three different continents. (Just before WWII my grandparents fled to Chile, because that's where they could get in, and that's why I exist at all.) I moved another 3000 miles across the US, and then again north to Portland. I feel displaced and rootless as it is, without trying to align my interests with some kind of blood-right.
Does anyone know of resources that address these questions? There must be a line somewhere between obvious cultural appropriation and multicultural interests, but I don't know where it is. I've read a little bit about third-culture kids, which seems related.
ETA: One of the reasons this question feels gut-twisting is that the international folk music I grew up with feels more like home to me than any location or tradition or person.
I've been thinking about cultural appropriation in relation to my interest in Balkan dancing and singing. Is my interest, at some level, appropriative?
If so, what interests would be clean for me? Israeli dancing, since my heritage is Jewish? Square dancing, because I was born in the US? German folk dancing, because my grandparents came from Germany? I was invited to join a local German dance group, and politely but firmly declined. Their flashy turning dances and oom-pa music don't interest me at all.
The last three generations of my family were born on three different continents. (Just before WWII my grandparents fled to Chile, because that's where they could get in, and that's why I exist at all.) I moved another 3000 miles across the US, and then again north to Portland. I feel displaced and rootless as it is, without trying to align my interests with some kind of blood-right.
Does anyone know of resources that address these questions? There must be a line somewhere between obvious cultural appropriation and multicultural interests, but I don't know where it is. I've read a little bit about third-culture kids, which seems related.
ETA: One of the reasons this question feels gut-twisting is that the international folk music I grew up with feels more like home to me than any location or tradition or person.
no subject
Date: 2011-11-29 06:38 am (UTC)particularly if you're learning it from actual folks from the Balkansis contributing to the devaluation of an oppressed culture.no subject
Date: 2011-11-29 06:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-29 11:35 am (UTC)- marginalizes the original practitioners of a culture not one's own;
- alters a cultural practice to suit dominant culture values; or
- presumes to speak for a culture not one's own (I don't exempt sociology scholars here; I've seen sloppy and thoughtless mischaracterizations and overgeneralizations galore).
So learning Balkan folk dance is OK; setting up as an expert therein is not.no subject
Date: 2011-11-29 06:38 pm (UTC)Here's another piece of the puzzle. The way dances spread is that a few of us go to workshops and learn them, and then teach them to the rest of our local groups (so we have someone to do the dances with). Does that qualify as setting up as an expert?
When I'm teaching, I always say, "So-and-so taught this, and my styling is only approximate." Plus I don't charge for teaching. But some Americans do, making a career out of it.
no subject
Date: 2011-12-03 12:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-04 02:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-29 03:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-29 06:41 pm (UTC)Also I worry that having it feel like home is somehow similar to white people going to sweat lodges. At least we're not elbowing people aside in their own countries, though!
no subject
Date: 2011-12-03 03:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-04 02:51 am (UTC)Do you want to say more about your concerns?