We need to talk about your kitsch problem... - General Tiki

H HotelCharlieEcho Member Joined: Jan 22, 2013 Posts: 49	H HotelCharlieEcho Posted posted on Fri, May 26, 2017 3:30 PM On the one hand it seems worth noting that the discussion of cultural appropriation isn't unique to Tiki culture. At it's root it seems to be a discussion about to what extent, if at all, things that are sacred to some people can be borrowed by others for use in non-sacred ways. To state the matter in the reverse, when should free people have their freedom to make and enjoy imitative art, fashion, food, drink, music, architecture, etc., circumscribed by others on the basis that certain elements of such free expression are off limits to some people? When is it appropriate to appropriate (pronounce them differently or this sentence makes no sense)? This seems to me a question many might find serious and interesting, and one that people have had very serious debates about for a very long time (see, e.g., the debate over images of the Prophet Mohammed). On the other hand, I wonder how anyone can seriously argue that a "culture" built around a fantasy, an imagined tropical wonderland that never was, somehow inappropriately appropriates from other real cultures? How can the flotsam and jetsam of an imaginary landscape of the mind be a misappropriation of anything? Isn't Tiki too nebulous (another argument about what is and isn't "Tiki", anyone?) or imaginary to actually misappropriate anything? Maybe it's just not that serious. Or maybe it's the reverse - maybe Tiki culture created this imaginary tropical wonderland precisely by intentionally appropriating elements of various non-Western cultures? Maybe it only exists because it purposefully mashes together a variety of Polynesian elements (not to mention Micronesian, Caribbean, Melanesian, Cantonese, Indonesian, African, South Asian, wherever the hell fezzes come from, etc.) - elements sacred, profane and neither - into some new thing that wasn't there before. And if the entire foundation of Tiki is built on appropriation, but the appropriation is in the name of fun, relaxation, escape, and a sprinkling of ... dare I say reverence? ... for "good" Tiki art and for the past, then maybe the appropriate (there's that word again) response is simply, "Of course Tiki is appropriative - that's the whole point. Sorry if that bothers you - let me buy you a Mai Tai." Just some observations from a filthy casual. [ Edited by: HotelCharlieEcho 2017-05-26 21:35 ]

On the one hand it seems worth noting that the discussion of cultural appropriation isn't unique to Tiki culture. At it's root it seems to be a discussion about to what extent, if at all, things that are sacred to some people can be borrowed by others for use in non-sacred ways. To state the matter in the reverse, when should free people have their freedom to make and enjoy imitative art, fashion, food, drink, music, architecture, etc., circumscribed by others on the basis that certain elements of such free expression are off limits to some people? When is it appropriate to appropriate (pronounce them differently or this sentence makes no sense)? This seems to me a question many might find serious and interesting, and one that people have had very serious debates about for a very long time (see, e.g., the debate over images of the Prophet Mohammed).

On the other hand, I wonder how anyone can seriously argue that a "culture" built around a fantasy, an imagined tropical wonderland that never was, somehow inappropriately appropriates from other real cultures? How can the flotsam and jetsam of an imaginary landscape of the mind be a misappropriation of anything? Isn't Tiki too nebulous (another argument about what is and isn't "Tiki", anyone?) or imaginary to actually misappropriate anything? Maybe it's just not that serious.

Or maybe it's the reverse - maybe Tiki culture created this imaginary tropical wonderland precisely by intentionally appropriating elements of various non-Western cultures? Maybe it only exists because it purposefully mashes together a variety of Polynesian elements (not to mention Micronesian, Caribbean, Melanesian, Cantonese, Indonesian, African, South Asian, wherever the hell fezzes come from, etc.) - elements sacred, profane and neither - into some new thing that wasn't there before. And if the entire foundation of Tiki is built on appropriation, but the appropriation is in the name of fun, relaxation, escape, and a sprinkling of ... dare I say reverence? ... for "good" Tiki art and for the past, then maybe the appropriate (there's that word again) response is simply, "Of course Tiki is appropriative - that's the whole point. Sorry if that bothers you - let me buy you a Mai Tai."

Just some observations from a filthy casual.

[ Edited by: HotelCharlieEcho 2017-05-26 21:35 ]

Post #776335 by HotelCharlieEcho on Fri, May 26, 2017 3:30 PM