Celebrating classic and modern Polynesian Pop - General Tiki

T Thomas Member Lake Mojave Joined: Mar 15, 2005 Posts: 372	T Thomas Posted posted on Wed, Aug 16, 2006 3:35 PM I agree with this initiative because it emphasizes the positive. I think some of us need to be reminded that language and words evolve and no one owns them. Sometimes usages develop which offend us or make us uncomfortable; I dislike the usage analyzed in this article (note: non-tiki related; can be ignored): http://www.slate.com/id/2146866/ but what can I do about it, besides personally avoid using it? I've got a newsflash: the word "tiki" is not immune to this process. The hard fact is that the word is increasingly used to connote a bamboo-ey, thatchy setting, usually associated with drinking, beaches, spring break, wet T-shirt contests, etc. ad nauseum. Many otherwise reasonably well-informed (in the conventional sense at least) people aren't even aware of a connection with Polynesian culture nor a mid-century pop culture movement, perhaps simply assuming that such superficial decor is just sort of naturally associated with beaches and vacations, end of story. I share everyone else here's displeasure with this erosion of meaning, but I can also see a bit of irony in the posture of denouncing it and lecturing the offenders. I mean, in the end, mightn't the joke end up being on me? Again, language is a mass-democratic thing. It might give a sense of noble satisfaction to fight a lost cause (a'la autumn lightning) as well as a chance to align oneself with higher gradations of meaning, but there is the matter of numbers. Rather than scolding those who use it in ways we don't like ("Wrong! Not tiki!"), I think the creation of new phrases ("Tiki Classic"? (It worked for Coca Cola!)) is the way to go. This is not a moral argument but a practical one. Scolding: not fun, and won't work. Creativity: more fun, and more likely to work. I think we're a bit like serious jazz lovers encountering increasing numbers of people who express enthusiasm for "jazz," yet apparently think that word, so beloved to us, refers pretty much exclusively to the sort of commercial, contemporary jazz heard on urban radio stations across the land. There's been a good deal of tug of war over this but it seems to me the matter has been resolved via the use of qualifiers. Look at the satellite radio stations: Sirius has "Smooth Jazz";"Contemporary Jazz"; and "Classic Jazz." The pie isn't grudgingly divided up, with smaller pieces for all; via the creative use of language, it is simply expanded! In sum, I think Hanford's "Celebrating Classic and Modern Polynesian Pop" suggests the sorts of "qualifiers" that might clarify the sense in which we wish to use the word here in our virtual community. Were I to add two cents' improvement, I might suggest something along these lines: We recognize that the word "tiki" is often used nowadays to describe "generically tropical" decor and the sorts of locations (such as bars) that use it and the word "tiki" to market themselves without any real connection to the rich history of Polynesian Pop culture. If an enthusiasm for "tiki" in this simplified, commercialized sense is what drew you to Tikicentral, we warmly welcome you! Please, though, ... Just trying to emphasize the postive here. Good things often have inauspicious, even goofy beginnings. There's a jazz virtuoso out there who got started on it by mimicking Kenny G. There's a scholar of Oriental Philosophy out there who got started on it by watching "Kung Fu" on TV as a kid. I'll bet the next great contributor to Poly Pop may well now be a college kid who just discovered "tiki" while getting drunk on spring break in Florida in some crass, ahem, "tiki bar." Let's not scare him or her away when he/she comes here for a visit. [ Edited by: Thomas 2006-08-16 15:38 ]

I agree with this initiative because it emphasizes the positive. I think some of us need to be reminded that language and words evolve and no one owns them. Sometimes usages develop which offend us or make us uncomfortable; I dislike the usage analyzed in this article (note: non-tiki related; can be ignored):
http://www.slate.com/id/2146866/
but what can I do about it, besides personally avoid using it?

I've got a newsflash: the word "tiki" is not immune to this process. The hard fact is that the word is increasingly used to connote a bamboo-ey, thatchy setting, usually associated with drinking, beaches, spring break, wet T-shirt contests, etc. ad nauseum. Many otherwise reasonably well-informed (in the conventional sense at least) people aren't even aware of a connection with Polynesian culture nor a mid-century pop culture movement, perhaps simply assuming that such superficial decor is just sort of naturally associated with beaches and vacations, end of story.

I share everyone else here's displeasure with this erosion of meaning, but I can also see a bit of irony in the posture of denouncing it and lecturing the offenders. I mean, in the end, mightn't the joke end up being on me? Again, language is a mass-democratic thing. It might give a sense of noble satisfaction to fight a lost cause (a'la autumn lightning) as well as a chance to align oneself with higher gradations of meaning, but there is the matter of numbers. Rather than scolding those who use it in ways we don't like ("Wrong! Not tiki!"), I think the creation of new phrases ("Tiki Classic"? (It worked for Coca Cola!)) is the way to go. This is not a moral argument but a practical one. Scolding: not fun, and won't work. Creativity: more fun, and more likely to work.

I think we're a bit like serious jazz lovers encountering increasing numbers of people who express enthusiasm for "jazz," yet apparently think that word, so beloved to us, refers pretty much exclusively to the sort of commercial, contemporary jazz heard on urban radio stations across the land. There's been a good deal of tug of war over this but it seems to me the matter has been resolved via the use of qualifiers. Look at the satellite radio stations: Sirius has "Smooth Jazz";"Contemporary Jazz"; and "Classic Jazz." The pie isn't grudgingly divided up, with smaller pieces for all; via the creative use of language, it is simply expanded!

In sum, I think Hanford's "Celebrating Classic and Modern Polynesian Pop" suggests the sorts of "qualifiers" that might clarify the sense in which we wish to use the word here in our virtual community. Were I to add two cents' improvement, I might suggest something along these lines:
**
We recognize that the word "tiki" is often used nowadays to describe "generically tropical" decor and the sorts of locations (such as bars) that use it and the word "tiki" to market themselves without any real connection to the rich history of Polynesian Pop culture. If an enthusiasm for "tiki" in this simplified, commercialized sense is what drew you to Tikicentral, we warmly welcome you! Please, though, ...
**

Just trying to emphasize the postive here. Good things often have inauspicious, even goofy beginnings. There's a jazz virtuoso out there who got started on it by mimicking Kenny G. There's a scholar of Oriental Philosophy out there who got started on it by watching "Kung Fu" on TV as a kid. I'll bet the next great contributor to Poly Pop may well now be a college kid who just discovered "tiki" while getting drunk on spring break in Florida in some crass, ahem, "tiki bar." Let's not scare him or her away when he/she comes here for a visit.

[ Edited by: Thomas 2006-08-16 15:38 ]

Post #249325 by Thomas on Wed, Aug 16, 2006 3:35 PM