In my last post I described the effect of Japanese aesthetics on my own understanding of beauty. Some of the responses (thank you to my thoughtful commenters) sparked a lot of rumination on the politically fraught issues of cultural appropriation and political correctness and this is my response.
When I first encountered the House Beautiful article Download House Beautiful article (written in the '60s but seen by me in the '90s) describing the Japanese aesthetic concepts of shibusa and wabi sabi I felt an immediate thrill of recognition. It was as though my innermost inchoate feelings about beauty were captured, consolidated and displayed....for me. I clearly saw the "Japaneseness" of the ideas and knew from reading and observation that they arose from a long history of which I had only superficial appreciation, but their underlying power struck me very personally. I never thought that they could only be true for Japanese people and my adoption of those ideas was heartfelt and sincere. I have used them ever since as a guide and touchstone for my own work, which is not Japanese.
Now we are in a time of bewildering change and cultural shift in which many previously marginalized groups are proudly claiming their own histories and expressing dismay at the denigrating use of their cultural symbols, ceremonies and motifs by the dominant, Eurocentric, Christian mainstream culture which reduces them to cliches and jokes. The newly vociferous minority groups complain that they have been undermined and demeaned by the superficial and patronizing way they have been portrayed and demand the right to control their own symbols. Anything else is deemed "cultural appropriation", that is, theft, by people who have been insulated to the point of unconsciousness and have no idea of the meaning and the sometimes extremely painful experiences behind the motifs they use for their own amusement and commercial exploitation.
Meanwhile, the ubiquity of dominant white culture has made that exploitation of minority cultures, whether ethnic, religious, sexual or gender-related, invisible to most people. It is simply the way in which they have always lived and so they respond to these new criticisms with astonishment and defensiveness. What is the big fuss about blackface when minstrel shows have been an entertainment genre forever? Why can't sports teams use the Native American mascots by which they have always been known? Why must they suddenly be so careful about how they refer to other ethnicities or sexual identities or any of a seemingly endless list of people ready to take offense at what previously passed without comment? "Political correctness" is the derisive and frightened cry of people who feel like their understanding of and place in the world is under attack.
I think we are at a critical crossroad in our evolution. The old order is breaking down and everyone who identified with it is bereft and afraid, while those whom that order excluded feel newly and angrily self-aware. The divisions between people are magnified, sharp and dangerous. We have proved many times in our history how cruel and violent we can be when we are attacked, as every side feels it is. What must we do to navigate this perilous transition?
A pause here, while I evaluate my ability to pronounce sensibly on these weighty and terrifying matters. As someone immersed in my time and culture, I have no confidence in the clarity of my own perceptions, but I do think it boils down to who we can accept as "us". Will we be trapped in our old divisions or will we be able to expand our sense of self to include all humanity, and eventually, all creation? Will we jealously guard our own entitlements, or alternatively, our embattled identities against the entitlement of others? What if all of our contributions are sacred expressions of life and spirit? Can we release enough fear and resentment to allow the cross-pollination of ideas that has always been the key to human advancement and cultural enrichment? I feel sure that our greatest chance for our own continuation and flowering resides in the combined efforts and mutual appreciation of every human being, and our willlingness to imagine what another life might be like. We all have things to teach and learn; we don't have to disown our heritage to accept other ways of being, nor insist defensively that we alone know best and that knowledge can't be shared. We are many, but we are also one, and that is where I place my hope.
P.S. This illustration comes from a 2014 show at Seattle's Frye Art Museum displaying the work that American sculptor Isamu Noguchi produced after a six-month apprenticeship with Chinese painting master Qi Baishe in 1930. Qi Baishe did not try to indoctrinate Noguchi in the classic Chinese motifs, but allowed him to do Western style figure studies using Chinese brush work.