Africa Speaks Reasoning Forum

What's the difference between cultural exchange and cultural appropriation?

From my understanding and observation, aspects of culture will often go back and forth between cultures which are in contact whether directly or indirectly. The is irrespective of whether the groups are meeting on more or less equal terms or a case where one is dominating another in terms of power(economic, politically or otherwise). This happens because groups would need to communicate, would be interacting within the same space and would be making use of various things in common whether material or otherwise. For example groups living near each other and interacting will naturally share words and language, as well as other aspects of culture between them. I would refer to all this generally as cultural exchange.

Cultural Appropriation comes in to play to me within a situation of privilege. One group may be able, based on their relative privilege to make use of aspects of the culture of another group who are not privileged within that society or system and use it on their(i.e the former group) own terms. This is done without regard for or attention to the wider context of privilege or the origins and context in which the culture was developed and exists. This privilege allows them to use these cultural forms, expressions etc in ways that deflect from, dilute, distort the use it may have served within that other group and generally reinforcing whatever false privilege they enjoy within that system, society etc. In this case it is easy for members of the privileged group, even without consciously desiring to do so, to have that particular effect when they randomly jump into other people's cultural forms. The reality is they largely do not come from the experience which produced that culture and uses it to represent themselves and therefore really cannot be good representatives of that culture. Yet because of privilege they easily become the means by which people (mis)understand the culture. In the West there are many examples with African cultural forms from Jazz, to Rap to Rastafari where Whites come to participate in them and become the most visible often heavily influencing the way these forms are interpreted and (mis)understood by ones outside of the culture.

It's confusing me.  Throughout history cultural appropriation has occured in one form or another.  Isn't this how societies evolve?  For example, in Trinidad it is said that the present day Carnival was a "spin off" from the earlier French aristocracy's practice...wasn't this also a sort of cultural appropriation?  If so, does this invalidate the present day festival as a form of cultural identity for the locals?

How do you understand the expression "cultural appropriation"? Do you understand it differently from "cultural exchange"?

My interpretation of cultural appropriation is where a demographic may claim or take over an aspect of another culture and this is done usually (though not always) from a position of privilege, be it by political power or brute force.  Cultural exchange is where there is a mutual sharing, a give and take which does not strip either party of any trapping of its identity via conversion.

This idea of cultural appropriation is also confusing for me at the moment because I witness many instances of cultural fusions which in turn generate a new expression of identity separate from the original inspiration.  Cuisine, fashion, even language.  Isn't this also a form of cultural appropriation?

I am not sure what you mean by "take over" here. After a group comes to be dominated by another group brute force or direct state power(not sure if that was what you meant by political power) whether through laws or otherwise, need not be necessary for cultural appropriation to take place. Individuals from within a privileged culture have a power that those not privileged do not i.e they have the ability to affect how that culture is perceived and interpreted(as they are more likely get more attention), whose interest it can be directed to serve(as a group) etc. The need not be conscious of what they are doing. They are simply adopting and using these expressions of the group without being aware of their privilege and the implications of that privilege in their use of the cultural forms/expressions. They need not themselves claim that culture as theirs but their privilege makes it all the easier for it to be attributed to them or for them to become the most visible representatives of that culture. A good example is Eminem the self proclaimed "Rap God"....the dominance in both international Reggae and Hiphop charts of mainly white artists. The same took place with Jazz.



I would point to cultural appropriation as the terms on which a cultural expression is used at a particular point in time or over a period of time[I explained the terms above]. It need not and usually does not have absolute or permanent effect. What I mean by this is, first, the fact that a privileged group has appropriated a cultural expression of the other group does not mean that that other group may not continue to use that expression and continue developing it on their terms(though often less visible) or that segments or members of these groups cannot engage in mutual sharing. There are good examples with many African musical expressions like Jazz, Rock and Roll and Hiphop. However many people know of these forms from the perspective and expression of whites.

Down the line these groups may come into development of expression that may more resemble(or reflect) a mutual sharing or more equitable terms of interacting, so cultural appropriation is not something that necessarily has effects of a perpetual nature.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az3NAoVInQQ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az3NAoVInQQ)