The topic of our essay is on the nature of Cultural Appropriation which will be an ongoing mini-series throughout 2022.
According to Wikipedia:
Cultural appropriation is the inappropriate or unacknowledged adoption of an element or elements of one culture or identity by members of another culture or identity. This can be controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate from minority cultures.[1]
To unpack what is needed therefore for any Cappro to take place, we need:
- A culture/Identity
- Element of the culture/Identity
- Dominant Culture
- Minority Culture
I tend to follow the OED's definition becuase soz, but Noah Webster can go die in the footnotes of history as the guy who didn't want abolition becuase it might upset Statesian slave-owning classes, and misspelt English, the 'unofficial' language of the United States.[3] And Wikipedia has a habit, unintentionally I imagine, of whitewashing quite a lot of unsavoury things. Plus OED is actually factchecked coughthisisadigatstatesiandictionariesandacademialookupHenriettaLacksandJohnHopkins cough. Oh dear dreadful case of the history bug I seem to have caught there.
According to the OED
Cultural Appropriation: n[oun]. the unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption of the practices, customs, or aesthetics of one social or ethnic group by members of another (typically dominant) community or society.[2]
To unpack what is needed therefore for any Cappro to take place, we need:
- A culture
- Element of the culture (aesthetics/practice/custom)
- Dominant Group
- Minority Group
A Giant Rant about Kimono Wednesdays, Wilsonianism, US global foreign policy, The American Subaltern and the 'Color' spelling issue
These four differ from Cultural assimilation, which is where from my understanding of neocolonialist theory, is the formation of the Subaltern (or the colonised mindset of the people subjugated by the dominant group). Whereas, Cultural Appropriation is simply one act or motion which does not give appropriate credit or credence between the dominant and minority culture or groups. I personally do not realise that people nowadays realise that there are many kinds of cultural-isms as seen by Kimono Wednesdays which proved how much this -ism is truly grasped and how applicable it is to the modern idea of Kimono (yes I actually do write about Kimono here sometimes). As such, I shall offer you a similar comparison to prove how ridiculous the arguments made on that fateful Mittvoch were.
We shall need
- A culture
- Element of the culture (aesthetics/practice/custom)
- Dominant Group
- Minority Group
Using the 'ou' American English variant let us examine a type of Cultural Appropriation. Noah Webster, a 'right-wing, angry, white man'[4] was educated at Yale, an Educational Institution connected to a deeply entrenched history of slave owners and later white progressives (think Woodrow Wilson). Websters' narrative relies heavily on basing his estimation that only true 'Americans' were the slave-owning red blooded Conneticut patriots like his contemporary the 7th Statesian president John Caldwell Calhoun, a kretyn who owned 80 slaves and whose usage of the 'ou' we therefore judge as part of the dominant culture.
Using our Cappro recipe we have: A culture (Anglo-Saxon culture), Element of the culture (the practice of spelling colour as 'color'), Dominant Group (British at first, then American WASPs) and the Minority Group (WASPs at first, then British). As someone whose identity or cultural element has been subverted by an arguably (by the standards of Kimono Wednesday protestors) racist proponent of language given that Americans now are the 'Dominant' group and thus 'color' (the incorrect variant) is considered standard, that quite frankly as a minority, I would like my language (seeing as we invented it) back thankyou and to see and end to this derisive cultural appropriation of the use of this element of my culture.
I say this, because when Kimono Wednesday protestors protested, the culture (Japanese culture), Element of the culture (Kimono), Dominant Group (Japanese and American) and the Minority Group (Japanese Americans and Japanese culture) claimed to be being culturally appropriated. The argument was that the minority group here had Kimono usurped from them, as they could not wear it in public, or at least had a fear to do so in American society it seems. This narrative however forgets that Japanese culture is part of Global Culture, alongside American culture which together form Global Culture, not one more so than the other. It is saying that Japanese culture is a precious thing which must be preserved and only seen in museums, that the Japanese may bring their culture to America, and people may stare at it in paintings and on walls and behind glass, but that for other groups to interact with it in any way, including apparently when you have the permission of the 'minority culture' (mainland Japanese) is somehow wrong.
By this very logic, I may reclaim and vindicate all usage of the spelling 'color' as it I (the all important nobody) say 'color' has evil racist connotations and should therefore be revoked from my language, ignoring the fact that the vast majority who spell it as 'color' do not engage nor intend to use it this way. As for the 'well I cant possibly be racist' argument, unfortunately colourism still exists so take it up with CRT, a construct only valid in the small confines of
the regional politics of the United States, a rather rude notion also is to ignore all the history of other groups involved in these things (94% of the Transatlantic trade
went to South America, but hey thats just history right? Please please look this stuff up its important to understand other peoples POV). Rant over hopefully. I would argue that my interpretation of 'color' as needing a recall, is just as valid as the Kimono Wednesday is C.appro. argument, on the grounds that KimonoMittvoch is not Cultural Appropriation, it is dumbing down the situation to suit the needs of the white progressive agenda and a proponent of Wilsonianism. Quite a typeful that one.
What Kimono Wednesday was, having given it some more thought over these five years since I last laid eyes on the whole debacle is that whilst I sympathise with the POC outrage it created in America; KWP's have also effectively fallen in a trap laid for them. I am not trying to catch people out here by saying this, but Kimono Wednesdays protests are the same as me trying to recall 'color', it is a missguided analysis of the actual facts and state of things. The KWP and the 'color' debacle are something which Satan Wilson came up with in the 1910s-1940s. That is the framing of America as the sole arbitrators of power/prestige in a situation, thus requiring 'America' to bring 'democracy' to To Russia. To Korea. To Vietnam. To Iraq. To Afghanistan. the 'developing nations' to save the day.
By saying that the Kimono, brought by Japanese mainlanders, could not be interacted with in American society, you have confirmed not the renewal and acceptance of the Kimono, or the cultural appreciation of the Kimono in American society, you have rather displayed the mindset which Wilsonianism as a foriegn policy of the modern Statesian policy is bedrocked on, creating a global Subaltern. I mean by this that by acknowledging 'color' as the only correct way to use English, I give up my voice in this argument to use 'colour' as an English term in global culture. By acknowledging the 'Kimono' as only being correctly used in Japan, protestors gave up the right in the eyes of the 2015 'progressive' WASPs, to use Kimono as a Element of global culture.
That is KWP's rescinded the 'moral' right for Japanese citizens, to engage with their own cultural element in another culture, by imposing the view that becuase of the fear from the enviroment Wilsonianism creates, that the minority culture in this argument may not do with their own cultural element as they wish in trying to reinvigorate a 'dying industry' or 'Kimono can only be a Traditional Garment' Argument, also another narrative pushed under another Wilsonian policy defender Douglas MacArthur.[5] In other words, saying that it is culturally appropriating to wear Kimono, is in the wacky world of Statesian politics, in fact a form of cultural appropriation as you are positing that only Americans have the right to decide what a minority culture (here Japan) can decide to do with their own Cultural Element.
END OF RANT.
What does this have to with Cultural Appropriation you may ask? I shall elaborate. Cultural Appropriation as thus defined above, does not adequately define what Kimono is in the modern global culture. It is infact describing notions of the Kimonope (the penultimate thing KWP's were in fact protesting), that is the Geisha costumes Japanese Americans are often subjected to, the whitewashing of Japanese American contributions to American history, etc. Kimono Wednesdays let us know how far along the crossroads of understanding of modern cultural theory, tolerance and Identity politics stood as recent as 2015 in that free and freedom loving hellscape land.
Cultural Appropriation is the act of taking. What protestors seemingly forgot to factor in was that Japanese culture had engaged in the act as a form of Cultural Appreciation, another kind of Culturalism that was not considered, as it was clearly not arguably understood well enough to take into consideration when Japanese Americans boycotted NHK, the national broadcaster of Japan. KW showed the lack of though which went into allowing the Kimono to be a part of global culture, something it has always been, from its introduction as a garment from Chinese culture[6], incorporation of techniques from the diverse number of countries which made up the Silk Road (a trade route which went spanned Africa and Asia)[7], to European Nise-Kurenai,[6][8] Indonesian inspired Batik[9] or promotion of Indian Sarasa[8] right into the 20th century with the adaptive nature of new and traditional fabrics from North America such as Denim and Ryukyu fabrics such as Bashofu.[10] It might be added it could certainly be considered culturally insensitive to say Bashofu was solely Japanese as well it might added, even though it is.
It is this nuance and lack of tolerance for fluidity which inspired me to try to at least contextualise Kimono as a global textile, which is it is, and to understand KTC through the global perspective as something which does engage all of the Culturalisms, such as Cultural Appropriation, Cultural Appreciation, Cultural Assimilation, Pizza Effect etc which are all present in KTC, and to say otherwise, is not allow for the furthering of interest in and study of Kimono. By typecasting the Kimono as a 'subaltern garment' using the 'Traditional Garment Argument', one shuts down and stifles interest, which in Plain English means that you are declaring Kimono as an archaic garment and something unworthy of continued interest, relegating it to the shelves of bygone history. Which is rather *O*l*d* *J*a*p*a*n* or Wilsonianism at its finest, that is saying Japanese culture is subservient to WASP culture and letting Japanese culture catch dust in the locked cabinet of bygone times.
Cultural Appropriation (defined above)
EX: Kimono derives silk weaving from Korean weavers of the Hata Clan, a fact usually left out of most Kimono factoids
Cultural Appreciation: the acknowledged or appropriate adoption of the practices, customs, or aesthetics of one social or ethnic group by members of another community or society
EX: Kimono . Just Kimono.
Cultural Assimilation: the process in which a minority group or culture comes to resemble a dominant group or assume the values, behaviors, and beliefs of another group
EX: Kimono takes on the form of the Tang Chinese court dress
Pizza Effect: the phenomenon of elements of a nation's or people's culture being transformed or at least more fully embraced elsewhere, then re-imported to their culture of origin, or the way in which a community's self-understanding is influenced by foreign sources.
EX: Kimono is created by the import and export of new textiles in Empress Suikos time between the diplomatic envoys of China-Okinawa-Honshu trade in textiles, ie the Kimono is transformed when when Japan trades through Okinawa, adopting and adapting to T-shaped garments to differentiate between the Yamato, Naha, Gaya, Han etc ethnic groups for diplomatically fostering an early Wamono spirit
Transculturation: the phenomenon of merging and converging cultures
EX: In the prescribed time period, this was the converging of Tang silhouettes and proto-Korean and South East Asian textiles into Japanese culture and proto-KTC
Cultural Heterogeneity: the differences in cultural identity related to class, ethnicity, language, traditions, religion, sense of place etc, that can make it more or less difficult for people to communicate, trust and co-operate with each-other
EX: In this time period, this would be in Japanese society between Korean (wealthy immigrant families) and Japanese (the so called 'Yamato') groups whose identities at this time were flipped as a very good amount of proto-KTC techniques, materials and technologies were brought in by Korean families escaping what I call the Korean collapse of the Three Kingdoms, which gradually shifted to the present day situation by around the Muromachi or Sengoku period (1336-1615) which saw the 1598 invasion by Hideyoshi.
Cross-cultural competence: a persons ability to understand people from different cultures and engage with them effectively
EX: Kimono as cross-cultural competence at this time would be a bygone conclusion for the workers for example between Korean and Japanese workers to further the local textiles industries using skills and aesthetics that Korean and Chinese silk-weavers brought with them from the mainland
Cultural Diffusion: the spread of cultural items—such as ideas, styles, religions, technologies, languages—between individuals, whether within a single culture or from one culture to another e.g- the spread of Western business suits in the 20th century
EX: How the Chinese court heavily influenced the fashions of the Japanese court
Cultural pluralism: the practice of various ethnic groups collaborating and entering into a dialogue with one another without having to sacrifice their particular identities
EX: The adoption of Buddhism by the Japanese from Paekche (now Korea) and China by adapting existing Japanese polytheistic gods from the exisiting early Shinto pantheon, and taking on their forms of dress, as worn by the Prince Shotoku, exemplified by the later Lakshmi turned Shinto deities Portrait of the Goddess Kisshouten ( 麻布著色吉祥天像 | 794 CE) helped to consolidate imperial power.
Polyculturalism: the ideological approach to the consequences of intercultural engagements within a geographical area which emphasises similarities between, and the enduring interconnectedness of, groups which self-identify as distinct, thus blurring the boundaries which may be perceived by members of those groups. Multiculturalism instead thought to emphasise difference and separateness, being divisive and harmful to social cohesion.
EX: Red dyes were popular throughout Korea and China around the time of the Asuka period, a practice which is reflected in Japanese paintings and extant textiles from the period as seen in the Takamatsuzuka Tomb (高松塚古墳) Asuka Bijin to the quick adoption of Benibana a century later as a colour worn by royalty and beauties
Multiculturalism: the coexistence of people with many cultural identities in a common state, society, or community, also though in the prescriptive sense to refer to the political theory framework that individual cultures, groups or ethnic peoples be given their own space in the wider society which has led some to criticise policymakers use of multiculturalism as divisive (should only be considered post 1996 world due to the times tightening of immigration, the enforcing of borders and encouragement of national identity rather than encouraging individuals to think of themselves as global citizens)
EX: Kimono can be considered as both Japanese and part of wider Western trends as a fashionable item with long sleeves
Cultural diversity: the quality of diverse or different cultures, as opposed to monoculture, the global monoculture, or a homogenization of cultures, akin to cultural evolution. The term cultural diversity can also refer to having different cultures respect each other's differences.
EX: This can refer in KTC to the adoption of new techniques, textiles and aesthetic practices brought by 'immigrant' families from the Asian Mainland and down the Silk Road at this time.
Monolithic culture: a societal construct or organisation like religion which often has negative connotations in our society. For example, the percived rigidity and homogeneity of a monolithic culture that is not open to new ideas, these is their truest form are the few hunter-gatherer societies or uncontacted societies like those few found in the Amazon rainforest. Japan gained this marker during its time as the Empire of Japan under Sakoku, becuase of the percieved close borders the shogunate enforced.
EX: Using only Yamato people culture (doesn't really work does it?, there'd be no silks, no Buddhism, no Tang etc etc)
Considering and Refuting the Kimono Wednesday Cultural Appropriation Issues
I am of course speaking on the side of the debate which says that Kimono is a type of clothing which can be worn by anyone, an idea which the broadcaster NHK clearly thought so as well. Japanese Americans, whilst rightfully having the historical claim to the Kimono garment most clearly in the context of Statesian politicking, perhaps did not foresee the global issues that claiming the Kimono as a 'Traditional Garment' may bring to the forefront.
This Argument being unfortunately a spearhead of the 'culture wars' inspired by Wilsonianism which declares that non-White powers may not be considered or constituted in the worlds of academic, politics and popular culture, as being worthy of being considered global popular culture. Instead that as Wilson himself desired, that 'developing' countries instead be left to 'develop' away from the wealth of the United States, as seen by his 1924 Japanese immigration ban, a sort of FU to the fact that Japan had entered the world stage as a great power, and thus denial of all things Japanese as bad. The heroic United States must instead swoop in, save the country from communism (sound familiar?) and make sure everything went back to its natural order (in Wilson's mind at least).
Kimono as a visible cultural marker, were by this point definitively recognised by the Japonisme movement at the very least, as global popular culture, and thus the birth of the Traditional Argument (ie that Kimono is simply just a Japanese garment only to prevent pan-Asian interests taking root) and breaking down of US-Japanese relations began (see Fred Korematsu v United States, 1944-2018). In consideration of these things, I can see why Asian Americans felt this was a dirty move by the Boston Musuem of Arts, but it also unwittingly falls into the same trap CTR falls into, that is the very trap Wilsonianism lays for 'developing' nations. It isolates the object in question (here Kimono), rips it asunder from its history, values and context, and flings it to the sorting bins of history where nobody will find it. Kimono Wednesday protests meant well, but in the end, they have sent the wrong messages to the wrong people, and helped to isolate, relegate and simplify Kimono into a relic of the Yamato.
That is to say deny how the Kimono played a role in and from Asian Empires, to ignore the Kimono as a global presence in Western and other Art Histories, and to penultimately again, isolate, relegate and simplify the Kimono into an exotic national costume, worn by the Japanese. A label I do not wish to ever have to repeat here or anywhere else. By this, I mean they have done Wilsons work for him in promoting the idea of the Kimono as an exotic 'ethnic garment' only to be worn by Japanese people and their descendants, and which denies the wider history of Kimono as a cultural touchstone.
It is essentially saying that Japanese fashion is less important than American fashion, by relegating Kimono to being a product only worn in the past (highly hypocritical considering the environmental damage the United States causes from textile consumption and waste), isolating Kimono as something exotic or 'Japanese' (a fraught argument supporting homogeneity and ethnocentrism) and simplifying the complex worlds which KTC operates in as somehow unworthy of note to anyone who isnt Japanese. As such, I refute that Kimono making is a dying industry on the grounds that is a blatant lie, it is in fact adapting to the age it is in, as it has always done as a social construct, and that to think that one thing can belong to only one group as rather part of the 20th century Wilsonian anti-Asian dogma.
Conclusion
From this Miniseries, I am hoping to introduce a more nuanced understanding of cultural exchange from the ashes of #KimonoWednesday that under the argument proposed by the protestors, Kimono are a product found only in Japan.
Until we see how this garment was created under Chinese and Korean influence during the Asuka and Kofun periods, and as part of globalisation, not simply as 'a national costume appropriated by Westerners', but rather as with the rest of KTC, and other garments, simply a social construct. This is seen in the paintings, Mandalas, Embroideries and texts extant from the period when corrobarated with wider Mainland Asia garment history. I relate this to Kimono Mittvoch because it may allow for a wider dialogue on cultural exchange in the hope not everything 'foreign' is labelled exotic, turned into a problem, lost to history or simplified as just being a 'costume' or 'cultural appropriation'.
Kimono therefore does not belong to one group of people specifically, nor to any single institution or organistion. Given that this is a small sample of the history of cultural exchange required to make Kimono a possibility, we can see that contextually speaking, we how messy, blurred, and unpredictable KTC, simply a societal construct surrounding textile production and use by humans, is in reality.
I hope it is clear that I am approaching the CA argument from a polyculturalism lense, rather than the 'Multicultural' lense which is applicable to Wilsonianism in particular in a sort of Divide and Conquer (cultural edition) way. That is I hope to encourage the 'revival' in the study, interest and buying of new and old KTC to help modern artisans and to see the new fun fashions people make up without problematizing it before it gets out of the gate.
Bibliography
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_appropriation
[2] See Glossary, or the Oxford English Dictionary (2018) at
[3] https://www.readex.com/blog/connecticut-webster-slavery-joshua-kendall
[4] https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/03/30/noah-websters-american-english/
[5] See Essay #3 (cant believe I held off that long to rant about Kimono Wednesdays honestly)
[6] See Fabrics #10
[7] See Fabrics #3
[8] See The Genroku Osaka Bijin (1680 - 1700) in Bjin #3
[9] See Fabrics #5
[10] See Fabrics #1
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