This is a strong statement which comes from an awareness of the long history of racial injustice and slaverly of African Americans and Afro-American cultures. Warren goes on to encourage the the "appreciation" of these genres of music rather than the "appropriation" of them. In a similar way to colonialism, the history of segregation of Afro-American cultures means that there is a heightened sensitivity when these cultural elements are used by individuals who are, themselves, not connected to these cultures5. But does that then mean that genres like jazz and rock and roll are exclusively the property of Afro-American cultures? In the same way, would the philosophy of Ma be the exclusive property of Japanese culture; or the character of Sun Wukong that of Chinese culture? This is what cultural appreciation seems to implicitly suggest. By avoiding the "taking" of cultural elements from a culture, we assign an ownership of art to a culture which can be admired and appreciated but should not be used unless it is by members of the culture itself. This concept of cultural appreciation originates from the laudable intentions of respecting culture in an educated and well-informed manner but the ownership of cultural elements, particularly music, can create divisions between cultures such that individuals from one culture will be hesitant to seek inspiration from another for fear of harmful appropriation (This is a point of discussion in Chapter II, Part III).
Before investigating the term "cultural appreciation" and the way it could affect the creation of music that has Eastern cultural influences, I would like to add more clarity to the specific forms of cultural appropriation that can cause ethical issues. As mentioned in the previous chapter, Cultural Dominance and Cultural Exploitation must be dealt with caution and awareness since there exists a colonial history associated with the cultures. However, Cultural Exchange and Transculturation are also susceptable to negative forms of cultural appropriation if the cultures are inauthentically represented. Inauthentic representations of cultures can occur through all the four forms of cultural appropriation stated in Roger's typology (Exchange, Dominance, Exploitation and Transculturation). If this representation presents a poor image of the culture then such appropriation may be described as "harmful cultural appropriation". Professor of Philosophy at the University of Victoria, James O. Young, terms this idea as the cultural harm thesis whereby:
This is what Jaffrey and Khan hint at when discussing the use of the word "curry". This oversimplification of Indian cuisine could be said to harm Indian culture as the perception of Indian food by those aware of the cuisine only through the concept of curry may think that there is not as much variety within the types of dishes that exist in traditional Indian food. This harmful cultural appropriation becomes quite subjective, however, as it is difficult to locate the root of cultural harm and it is also difficult to state with certainty what forms of cultural appropriation lead to cultural harm.There are extreme instances of clear harmful cultural appropriation but these are done with the intent to harm culture through racist and/or xenophobic attitudes2. When looking to incorporate cultural elements in music, we are, of course, not intending to cause cultural harm but rather the opposite: promoting culture through music. Despite the best of intentions, "clumsy" appropriation of culture has the potential to do cultural harm and a possible response to this could be "cultural appreciation".
The term "cultural appreciation" does not have a definitive definition (with fewer dictionary entries than cultural appropriation) but having read through a number of different definitions from various articles, a general overview of the term could be: the effort to "earnestly seek to learn about or explore a different culture"3. This is said to be opposed to the "taking" of cultural elements which (when done "clumsily") can lead to cultural harm and insensitivity. Since appropriation has become so strongly associated with the cultural harm thesis, "appreciation" attempts to provide a way of describing the positive forms of cultural inspiration by showing that the cultural elements are not exploited or used with undermining intent but rather valued and respected in relation to their original cultural context. The debate between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation is a prevalent point of discussion in the ethics surrounding African-American music and culture. Cultural movements often follow social movements and in the case of Afro-American music, the "Black Lives Matter" movement has lead to discussions surrounding the harmful appropriation of traditionally Afro-American genres of music such as jazz or rock and roll. In a short documentary discussing cultural appreciation, former cultural reporter for the Wall Street Journal, Jamin Warren, states:
There is also the question of semantics. Throughout this research, there has been a strong emphasis on the definitions and the meanings of certain keywords. The words we use to describe how we may be inspired by cultures, itself, affects the way in which cultures are able to inspire us. Such is the case with the words "appropriation" and "appreciation". As explained, "appreciation" is a response to "appropriation" that discourages the taking of cultural elements and encourages the acknowledgement and respect of culture in its most authentic form. However, the word "appreciation" implies a lack of involvement and a sense of spectation - appreciating from a distance. If I appreciate a folk melody, I would be listening to the melody and valuing it on its own merits. To create my own composition that is inspired by the melody would go beyond the scope of the meaning of the word "appreciation". At this point, I would, technically, be appropriating the melody as I am taking inspiration - which involves the inception of ideas through certain aspects of the melody. For example, if a particular phrase in the melody inspires me to write a voice within my own composition in a similar way, then I am taking an element from the folk melody and using it as a source of inspiration for my own work. So, why am I describing this analogy? I would like to show that appropriation is a natural way of approaching other cultural elements. To experience other cultures, we all take certain cultural elements and use them for our own intentions. Such is the case when one cooks an Italian dish, performs Austrian music, learns Mandarin or wears a Hawaiian Aloha shirt; the list is endless. It then becomes a question of intention. The arguement for "appreciation" is that the intention is to "honour the culture and its people" and avoid personal gain6. This is an equally valid arguement as well that strives to place emphasis on the culture itself. But despite these respectable intentions, the essence of cultural inspiration is some degree of appropriation. This previous sentence may be controversial but the reason that I have come to this understanding is through the semantics of the word "appropriation". Cultural appreciation is a noble and exemplary way of approaching culture but in terms of cultural inspiration, appropriation provides a more accurate description of the process involved in creating music and artworks with cultural influences. It is important, therefore, to establish a distinction between harmful cultural appropriation and other forms of cultural appropriation which are, in fact, necessary for cultural inspiration.
Through these last three chapters, we have uncovered some important considerations and questions regarding the ethics of cultural inspiration. Despite many questions remaining unanswered, and I believe they shall continue to remain unanswered, the guiding factor within this section was awareness. I feel there should always be an aim to understand perspectives on all sides when approaching cultures as sources of inspiration. This is because cultures are so interconnected and the perceptions of cultural elements can vary greatly from one culture to another. In Part III, I shall discuss how these findings informed my own arrangements as well as the collaboration with Dr. Ramelli on the commisioned work. The first chapter of this next part will be the arrangement of songs attributed to Rabindranath Tagore and in this chapter we shall revisit the connection between Indian and British cultures and how they can be represented musically.
"...the clumsy use of a style (that) can give a misleading and harmful impression of a culture"1
More likely than not, if you go to see jazz or rock and roll or a barbershop quartet ... you're more likely going to see white people in the audience, white people on stage, which is unfortunate because those are musical styles that have a long history stemming from African American roots."4