Cultural Appropriation and the Arts

James O. Young

John Wiley & Sons, 2010 - Philosophy - 168 pages

Now, for the first time, a philosopher undertakes a systematicinvestigation of the moral and aesthetic issues to which culturalappropriation gives rise.

• Cultural appropriation is a pervasive feature of thecontemporary world (the Parthenon Marbles remain in London; whitemusicians from Bix Beiderbeck to Eric Clapton have appropriatedmusical styles from African-American culture)
  
• Young offers the first systematic philosophical investigationof the moral and aesthetic issues to which cultural appropriationgives rise
  
• Tackles head on the thorny issues arising from the clash andintegration of cultures and their artifacts
  
• Questions considered include: “Can cultural appropriationresult in the production of aesthetically successful works ofart?” and “Is cultural appropriation in the artsmorally objectionable?”
  
• Part of the highly regarded New Directions in Aestheticsseries

Contents

• What Is Cultural Appropriation?: 1
• The Aesthetics of Cultural Appropriation: 32
• Cultural Appropriation as Theft: 63
• Cultural Appropriation as Assault: 106
• Profound Offence and Cultural Appropriation: 129
• Responding to Cultural Appropriation: 152
• Bibliography of Works Cited and Consulted: 159
• Index: 166

About the author

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).

Bibliographic information

• Title: Cultural Appropriation and the Arts; New Directions in Aesthetics
• Author: James O. Young
• Edition: reprint
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 2010
• ISBN: 1444332716, 9781444332711
• Length: 168 pages
• Subjects: Philosophy / Aesthetics; Philosophy / General