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Andrew Smith's avatar

Another way to say this is that there's nothing whatever wrong with using an idea that originates somewhere else, but it does help to preserve the history from which the idea came. We can have both if we are careful!

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Tim Shaw's avatar

I totally agree. I think sometimes people just don't bother, whether that is through laziness or ignorance I don't know - 'cornrows' thing might be a combination of both. But, my thinking is that the Native Americans probably have as big a case.

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paul teare's avatar

Sorry eating fish 🤮🤢

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Mark Kennedy's avatar

Well put. I agree that the term "cultural appropriation" carries a lot of extraneous baggage and, as a result, can overshadow the benefits of cross-fertilization and how such interaction can lead to something unique that is an amalgamation of elements from two or more cultures.

To continue your analogy with food, consider the kind of nouvelle cuisine that fuses fine French cuisine with kaiseki ryori (see https://savorjapan.com/contents/more-to-savor/the-elegant-food-of-french-japanese-fusion-cuisine/). The result tastes and looks great. As Aristotle said, "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts."

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Tim Shaw's avatar

There's also the fact that the culinary tradition in France is in decline, as French youngsters really can't be bothered with it, 'sooner have a McDonalds'. Truly shocking.

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Mark Kennedy's avatar

Coming from Chicago, home of McDonald's, what can I say? Just kidding. Yes, I understand that France is now one of McDonald's biggest foreign markets, which seems strange.

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Tim Shaw's avatar

The word 'fusion' is something I could have included in the piece, but I'd forgotten about it (thank you for that). There's that whole Japanese thing about looking at the world outside and saying, 'we can do better'.

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Mark Kennedy's avatar

Agree. I can imagine that a Chinese person, for example, might consider many elements of Japanese culture to be appropriated from their own.

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Tim Shaw's avatar

Ha, it's all down to personal taste.

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