Wanganui: The Tiki Tour - Tiki Travel

B bigbrotiki Tiki Socialite Tiki Island, above the Silverlake Joined: Mar 25, 2002 Posts: 11621	B bigbrotiki Posted posted on Fri, Dec 17, 2010 8:49 AM On 2010-12-16 21:09, Club Nouméa wrote: ...and I have been wondering why we don't have tiki bars and restaurants here (and never have had, as far as I can tell). Part of it is to do with geographical proximity: Polynesia is not an "exotic" place when you live in a country that forms part of it. Another related aspect is cultural sensitivity.... Proximity and cultural sensitivity are exactly two of the reasons that I always mention why Tiki style did not take off in the Hawaiian islands on the same level than in the States. When far away, it's a case of "the grass is always greener on the other side": But when you are AT the exotic place, what is there left to desire? And there is much less room for your imaginations to run wild...(and doing that without stepping on anyone's toes). The New Zealand situation is very specific, but also has general parallels to Caucasian attitudes towards indigenous people. Ever since Bougainville and Melville's Queequeg there was a fascination and admiration for the "noble savage" in the Western mind. This however was an idealization not touched by racial reality. If your daughter would have wanted to wed such a noble native, things would have looked decidedly different. It was cool as long as it was viewed with a distance. The social and economic gap between European New Zealanders and Maori was (and to some degree still is?)too large. I am very fascinated by another country that for all intent and purposes SHOULD have had a thriving Polynesian pop culture: France. Just like America "owned" Hawaii, they always had THE idealized South Seas paradise, TAHITI! They have the distance, and they have an established pre-poly pop history of idealization with Gauguin and Pierre Loti. So WHY do they have no Polynesian pop worth mentioning in France? Clearly a case of the above mentioned "cultural sensitivity", the bane of the century-old keepers of high culture in Europe, the disdain for plebeian popular, i.e. "bad", taste. Americans in turn had a carefree, boyish sense of wonderment for Polynesia and freely lived it. [ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2010-12-17 14:54 ]

On 2010-12-16 21:09, Club Nouméa wrote:
...and I have been wondering why we don't have tiki bars and restaurants here (and never have had, as far as I can tell). Part of it is to do with geographical proximity: Polynesia is not an "exotic" place when you live in a country that forms part of it. Another related aspect is cultural sensitivity....

Proximity and cultural sensitivity are exactly two of the reasons that I always mention why Tiki style did not take off in the Hawaiian islands on the same level than in the States. When far away, it's a case of "the grass is always greener on the other side": But when you are AT the exotic place, what is there left to desire? And there is much less room for your imaginations to run wild...(and doing that without stepping on anyone's toes).

The New Zealand situation is very specific, but also has general parallels to Caucasian attitudes towards indigenous people. Ever since Bougainville and Melville's Queequeg there was a fascination and admiration for the "noble savage" in the Western mind. This however was an idealization not touched by racial reality. If your daughter would have wanted to wed such a noble native, things would have looked decidedly different. It was cool as long as it was viewed with a distance. The social and economic gap between European New Zealanders and Maori was (and to some degree still is?)too large.

I am very fascinated by another country that for all intent and purposes SHOULD have had a thriving Polynesian pop culture: France. Just like America "owned" Hawaii, they always had THE idealized South Seas paradise, TAHITI! They have the distance, and they have an established pre-poly pop history of idealization with Gauguin and Pierre Loti. So WHY do they have no Polynesian pop worth mentioning in France? Clearly a case of the above mentioned "cultural sensitivity", the bane of the century-old keepers of high culture in Europe, the disdain for plebeian popular, i.e. "bad", taste. Americans in turn had a carefree, boyish sense of wonderment for Polynesia and freely lived it.

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2010-12-17 14:54 ]

Post #569096 by bigbrotiki on Fri, Dec 17, 2010 8:49 AM