Lawrence Hall, HSG
mhall46184@aol.com
Taking a Stab at
Cultural Appropriation
On the morning of 28
October I happened to see Crystal Greenberg reporting the news via MSNBC. I
noticed on a shelf behind her what appeared to be a Roman gladius, a short
military sword. The handle seemed in appropriate condition for its age
but the blade may have been a wooden or plastic replacement to demonstrate the
appearance of the original. I infer that Miss Greenberg has a fondness for
studying history and was given or legally purchased this ancient Roman
artifact. This speaks well of her varied interests.
However, given the
political / cultural disagreements of the past few years the question must now
be asked: is this an occasion of cultural appropriation? Can Miss Green
document her Roman ancestry in order to possess this artifact legally or at
least ethically? Is this gladius a looted artifact that should be returned to
the descendants of the long-ago people who manufactured it?
Yes, I'm being
snarky. Miss Green appears to be professional and ethical in her reporting, and
I very much appreciate her obviously good care of an ancient artifact. Indeed,
I am somewhat envious; I would like very much to have a gladius in any
condition.
But as St. Thomas
More says to the Duke of Norfolk in A Man For All Seasons, "I
show you the times." Our country's museums were quite wrong in collecting
the remains of First Nations peoples, and although perhaps originally well-intentioned in
their displays of clothing, domestic appliances, horse trappings, blankets,
and tools it is quite right that now all these things should be return to their
proper custodians.
But everything that is
manufactured is the product of a culture or series of cultures, a time, and a
place. Many pocketknives have been excavated among other debris at the Little
Bighorn, evidence of Custer’s soldiers desperately using them to extract the
jammed soft-copper shells from their overheating rifles. The presence of these
knives in an American museum is just right, but what of a pre-historic bone
knife found in a dig in, say, Syria. Whose is it? Who decides? What about a rusty
British army pocketknife plowed up in a field in Belgium? What is the cutoff
date for determining rightful possession, and what are the geographical borders
and boundaries?
Should Turkey return
Constantinople (which they are pleased to call Istanbul) to the Greeks?
Indignant accusations
of cultural appropriation has become a self-destructive fashion reflecting
jealousy and insecurity, and the illogic of the very concept eludes many
people. Eyeglasses, for instance, can be argued as having been invented in
China or one of the Italian states (Italy didn’t exist until the 19th
century) around 1300, and possibly by our busy Romans 2,000 years ago. It does
not thus follow that no one but Chinese or Italians should be permitted to wear
eyeglasses.
Cultures blend; the dialectic of thesis / antithesis / synthesis is what
make civilization dynamic. Without the interplay of music, art, science,
literature, engineering, medicine, and all the other practices of cultures
enriching each other we would decline into a series of isolated museums of
unimaginative peoples clinging to a closed loop of non-progress.
I am happy that Miss Greenberg owns an ancient Roman gladius (the length of
whose blade might be illegal where she lives). It is because she is not a Roman
that she is more empowered to share another culture around the metaphorical
table at which we all may feast.
-30-
