Page 12 - Final_Media Coverage Book, nonclassical Songbooks Vol. 1

One problem is that, in the eyes of many, the topic isn’t even open for debate. Only
the people whose culture has been borrowed have the right to judge; if they are
offended, then that makes it an example of “bad” cultural appropriation and the issue
is closed. (In the case of Mason’s Songbooks, they’re not; the Ligeti Quartet has
actually performed alongside the Sardinian singers.)

Another problem is that the term itself is so elastic it can be stretched to cover any
example of one culture borrowing from another. That’s a particular problem in areas
of popular culture like food, music and fashion, where this sort of borrowing has
been the norm for decades or even centuries, but has only now become a problem.

Jamie Oliver was recently castigated for offering a recipe for West Indian “jollof” rice,
which clearly wasn’t very authentic. When the Disney film Moana was released in
2016, parents who allowed their children to dress up as the character were accused of
“racist cultural appropriation” of Polynesian culture.

Back in 2012 there was a brief ruckus when hipsters started to decorate their
foreheads with the red dot or “bindi” of the Hindu faith.

Some of these cases are clear-cut. We can all agree that sporting a bindi in an attempt
to look fashionable is crass and stupid.

But most cases are not. One has to come to a judgment. If the borrowing is done in a
thoughtless way, with no knowledge or even interest in the culture being borrowed
from, then we should be suspicious.