Cultural Appropriation and the Arts

James O. Young is Professor and Head of the Department of Philosophy, University of Victoria. He has published extensively on philosophy of language and philosophy of art. His previous books include Global Anti-realism (1995) and Art and Knowledge (2001), and he is editor (with Conrad Brunk) of The Ethics of Cultural Appropriation (Wiley-Blackwell, 2009).

“Cultural Appropriation and the Arts, by James O. Young, provides an analytical, comprehensive overview of ethical and aesthetic issues concerning cultural appropriation.”  (Journal of Cult Economy, 25 March 2011)

• Preface ix1 What Is Cultural Appropriation? 1Art, Culture, and Appropriation 1Types of Cultural Appropriation 5What is a Culture? 9Objections to Cultural Appropriation 18In Praise of Cultural Appropriation 272 The Aesthetics of Cultural Appropriation 32The Aesthetic Handicap Thesis 32The Cultural Experience Argument 34Aesthetic Properties and Cultural Context 41Authenticity and Appropriation 44Authentic Appropriation 46Cultural Experience and Subject Appropriation 55Appropriation and the Authentic Expression of a Culture 603 Cultural Appropriation as Theft 63Harm by Theft 63Possible Owners of Artworks 64Cultures and Inheritance 68Lost and Abandoned Property 70Cultural Property and Traditional Law 74Collective Knowledge and Collective Property 78Ownership of Land and Ownership of Art 85Property and Value to a Culture 88Cultures and Intellectual Property 93Some Conclusions About Ownership and Appropriation 97The Rescue Argument 1024 Cultural Appropriation as Assault 106Other Forms of Harm 106Cultural Appropriation and Harmful Misrepresentation 107Harm and Accurate Representation 113Cultural Appropriation and Economic Opportunity 114Cultural Appropriation and Assimilation 118Art, Insignia, and Cultural Identity 120Cultural Appropriation and Privacy 1255 Profound Offence and Cultural Appropriation 129Harm, Offence, and Profound Offence 129Examples of Offensive Cultural Appropriation 131The Problem and the Key to its Solution 134Social Value and Offensive Art 136Freedom of Expression 137The Sacred and the Offensive 141Time and Place Restrictions 143Toleration of Offensive Art 145Reasonable and Unreasonable Offence 147Conclusion: Responding to Cultural Appropriation 152Summing Up 152Supporting Minority Artists 154Envoy 157Bibliography of Works Cited and Consulted 159Index 166