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Cultural Appropriation

Copyright © 2018-2019 by David E. Ross

In recent months, the issue of cultural appropriation has become more common in the news media. Given the criticism directed against those accused of this, perhaps the term cultural misappropriation might be more appropriate. I do not think so.

A few examples of how this issue recently arose are necessary before I deal with how I feel about it.

• Keziah Daum found a red cheongsam (also known as a qipao) in a used clothing store in Salt Lake City, Utah. She loved the simple, high-neck style and bought it to wear at her high school prom. After the prom, she posted a photo of her wearing the dress on Twitter. This created a firestorm of protests against Miss Daum's cultural appropriation since she is not Asian, but the design of the dress is Chinese.
• SLĀV was supposed to be one of the main acts at the 2018 Montréal International Jazz Festival. Producer-creator Robert Lepage had developed a revue based on songs of black slaves, but his cast contained "only" two black singers and four white singers. Denounced as a racist appropriation of black culture, the performance was cancelled.
• Scarlett Johansson was cast as the lead in the movie Rub & Tug, playing a transgendered man. Because she is not transgendered, she was forced to withdraw before filming started.

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  The condemnation of Kaleidoscope was based on a video less than one minute long, showing only a brief part of the First Nations portion of the suite and omitting the portions based on other cultures. The video was posted on Facebook by the person who denounced it as "tokenistic", having recorded Koroliuk's intellectual property without his permission.

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  Choreographer Serhij Koroliuk created a suite of dances called Kaleidoscope for the Pavylchenko Folklorique Ensemble, a Ukrainian dance group in Canada. Kaleidoscope was performed in 2017 at Folk Fest in Saskatoon, Canada. The suite included dances based on French, Scottish, Native American (called "First Nations" in Canada), and other ethnic sources. The performance was soundly condemned by a First Nations woman as "tokenistic" and others as cultural appropriation. Koroliuk and the ensemble decided not to perform Kaleidoscope again to avoid public backlash and protect the safety of dancers who had been threatened after the performance.

I believe these attacks against supposed cultural appropriation are wrong.

After all, Eddie Redmayne played a transgendered woman to great acclaim in The Danish Girl and was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his role. Why then was Johansson not appropriate to play a similar role?

I was told that it is wrong when an ethnic group has its identifying culture used by those not part of that group. However, Jewish Leonard Bernstein composed a Christian Misa Brevis, which has had some actual use in church liturgy. Protestant Max Bruch arranged a version of the prayer Kol Nidrei for cello and orchestra that has been adopted — definitely not condemned — by many Jewish synagogues for Yom Kippur (the holiest day in the Jewish calendar). Why then was SLĀV suppressed?

Was it wrong for Giuseppe Verdi to include "Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves" in his opera Nabucco, which is sung in Italian and not Hebrew? Was it wrong for Verdi to appropriate the Jewish Book of Jeremiah for the plot of Nabucco? Is it wrong when the role of Cio-Cio-san in Verdi's Madama Butterfly is sung by a soprano who is not Japanese?

The opera Porgy and Bess is about the lives of African-Americans in the slums of Charleston, South Carolina. It was composed by George Gershwin (a white Jewish-American from New York) with libretto and lyrics by DuBose Heyward (also white, from South Carolina) and Ira Gershwin (George Gershwin's brother). Initially condemned as both racist and a cultural misappropriation, it was later seen as a vehicle that launched the careers of several African-American opera singers. Even some of those African-Americans who initially condemned the opera, reversed their positions and praised it.

My wife, grand-daughter, and I ate in a Japanese teppanyaki restaurant. Was it wrong that the chef at our table-grill was Vietnamese and not Japanese?

If it was so wrong for Miss Daum to wear her cheongsam at her prom — or anywhere else in public — why was she allowed to buy it? Why was it in a used-clothing store frequented by non-Chinese? Fortunately, Miss Daum received not only criticism but also praise for showing the world a beautiful example of Chinese culture, praise from individuals who identified themselves as Chinese.

Koroliuk said his Kaleidoscope dance suite was intended to be a tribute to multiculturalism in Canada and the nation's history. When someone suggested he should have consulted with First Nations leaders, he replied that he would then have been required to consult with Scottish, French, and other cultural leaders.

• Did Czech composer Antonín Dvořák consult with Native American or African-American leaders when he composed his Symphony No. 9 "From the New World", inspired by both Native American music and African-American spirituals?
• Did Aaron Copland consult with the then existing remnant of the Shakers when he incorporated their hymn "Simple Gifts" into his ballet score Appalachian Spring?
• Did German Max Bruch consult with Scottish authorities when he composed his Scottish Fantasy?
• Did the Russians Pyotr Tchaikovsky consult with Italian authorities when he composed his Capriccio Italien or Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov consult with Spanish authorities when he composed his Capriccio Espagnol?

The plays of William Shakespeare are among the most important works of English culture.

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Shakespeare derived a number of his plots from Parallel Lives by Plutarch (Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus), the ancient Greek biographer and essayist, and thus appropriated non-English work. I believe Shakespeare and those who used his plays — repeated cultural appropriation — all enriched humanity.

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• The theme of Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet was used by Russian Sergei Prokofiev in a ballet and inspired a fantasy-overture by Russian Pyotr Tchaikovsky. French composer Hector Berlioz composed a "symphonie dramatique" based on the play, and French composer Charles-François Gounod composed an opera based on the play. Westside Story is Romeo and Juliet updated to the middle of the 20th century by Americans Stephen Sondheim (lyrics) and Leonard Bernstein (music).
• Italians Gioachino Rossini and Giuseppe Verdi each wrote operas based on Shakespeare's Othello. Verdi also made an opera of The Tragedy of Macbeth.
• Shakespeare's A Comedy of Errors became the musical The Boys from Syracuse by Americans Richard Rogers (music) and Lorenz Hart (lyrics).
• Another Shakespeare comedy — The Taming of the Shrew — became Kiss Me Kate by American Cole Porter. This play was also turned into operas by an Italian, a German, a Dutchman, and others.

Above, I give noteworthy examples of cultural appropriation that seem to have escaped condemnation. Why is it that these are often hailed as excellent works of musical and theatrical art despite the fact that their creators most likely failed to consult with authorities of the cultures that were appropriated? Why then was Koroliuk condemned for not consulting with First Nations authorities, and why was he given a "pass" regarding consultation with French, Scottish, and other non-indigenous authorities?

Just think of all the fusion restaurants that combine the cuisines of two or more cultures. Must the chefs be from both of those cultures? My own garden reflects the concept of an English perennial garden, carefully planned to look unplanned but with a subtle theme. Neither the landscaper who designed it nor I are English. Have we abused English culture?

My only conclusion is that cultural appropriation is not misappropriation to be condemned. Instead, it should be celebrated for exposing us to the art, music, dance, food, literature, and dress — the cultures — of others. In that way, we can learn to appreciate those who are different from us. By thus enriching the lives of persons of all cultures, we can conquer bigotry.

21 August 2018
Updated 7 December 2019

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