James O. Young: Cultural appropriation and the arts

Abstract

Cultural Appropriation and the Arts, by James O. Young, provides an analytical, comprehensive overview of ethical and aesthetic issues concerning cultural appropriation. In his monograph, Young addresses important culture-related questions such as cultural membership, ownership and responsibilities. Thinking in aesthetic and moral categories, Young aims to identify wrong and acceptable (objectionable vs. non-objectionable) types of cultural appropriation in the sphere of art. He concludes that 'cultural appropriation is aesthetically successful more often than we are led to believe' and that 'cultural appropriation is wrongfully harmful or offensive less often than some people suggest' (p. 152). To begin with, a distinction of the different actors involved facilitates a definition of cultural appropriation, which is defined as the usage of items pertaining to a certain culture (insiders) by non-members of that culture (outsiders). Young understands the concept of culture in a very broad sense, as a collection of people with a sufficient number of common cultural traits. His focus is limited to cases of appropriation of culture as a whole, not when only one insider is affected. In a world with overlapping cultures, the challenge lies in identifying who belongs to a specific culture as well as what type of cultural items can be owned commonly and how. Although Young recognises that cultural ownership mostly depends on the legal regime of the particular culture, he examines this question from a philosophical view. Young discusses whether a culture can own items such as style, patterns, design, plots and motifs and whether these items can be freely appropriated. This discussion is, however, not appropriate in the sense that the ownership of property or intellectual property is lawfully restricted to individuals or a group of people, not to a particular culture; a culture cannot own anything.