Culture tied up in knots
QUESTION Who came up with the concept of cultural appropriation?
Cultural appropriation is when a person from one culture adopts the fashion, iconography, trends or styles from another.
the most controversial examples are when the culture being appropriated is one of a historically oppressed group.
the term is used to describe everything from make-up and hairstyles to tattoos, language, Halloween costumes and even yoga.
the term was adopted in the 1970s and 1980s by academics in sociology, anthropology and cultural studies in order to critique colonialism.
In recent years, it has entered the mainstream, with the likes of Kim Kardashian being accused of cultural appropriation for wearing dreadlocks, Gordon ramsay for opening an asian-themed restaurant and singer Selena Gomez for sporting a bindi (a coloured dot on the forehead worn by women in South asia).
Others who have been criticised include Katy Perry for dressing as a geisha, american football team the Washington redskins for adopting Native american Indian symbolism (now discarded), adele for styling her hair in bantu knots, a traditional african hairstyle — and just about everyone who has ever played cowboys and Indians.
the counter argument is that they were showing cultural appreciation.
the term cultural diffusion was coined by the British anthropologist Edward tylor in the late 19th century to describe the process of transferring elements between societies.
the negative connotations of the practice were scrutinised in the 1920s when Harlem renaissance writers in the u.S. expressed concern over minstrel shows based on caricatures of black voices and folk traditions.
the precise term has been traced to a 1945 essay by historian Professor arthur E. Christy, who wrote about ‘European cultural appropriation from the Orient’.
It wasn’t until 1964 that this term was used again. In his article rebellion Or revolution in the socialist magazine liberator, black cultural critic Harold Cruse wrote: ‘But in terms of the creative and artistic use of [black] cultural ingredients and the economic benefits derived therefrom, it was the whites who reaped, by the simple practice of cultural appropriation of aesthetic ideas not native to their own tradition.’
In 1976, historian Kenneth CouttsSmith cemented the idea in Some General Observations On the Concept of Cultural Colonialism.
He described cultural colonialism and class appropriation in which a dominant class appropriates and defines what can be classified as high culture.
Naomi Maddox, Norwich, Norfolk.
QUESTION Does the UK have more politicians per capita than any other country?
THE UK has the second largest legislature in the world after China, but it does not have a particularly high number of politicians per capita. Vatican City and the island of Nauru have a much higher rate.
China’s National People’s Congress is the world’s largest legislative body with 2,980 members. Westminster is in second place with 1,447 parliamentary members: 650 MPs in the House of Commons and 797 peers in the House of lords.
With the 129 MSPs of the Scottish Parliament, 90 members of the Northern Ireland assembly and 60 members of the Welsh Senedd, the uK total is 1,726.
China has 455,000 people per member of the National People’s Congress compared with 46,060 people per politician in the uK (38,615 if you add the Scottish, Northern Ireland and Welsh parliaments).
Vatican City, the world’s smallest country, has a legislature of seven Cardinals appointed by the Pope administering a population of 825 — one politician to every 118 people.
the world’s smallest island state, Nauru, has a legislature of 19 administering a population of 12,700 — one politician for every 668 people.
Some European countries also have high ratios of politicians per person. the Icelandic parliament has 63 members administering a population of 364,150 — one politician for every 5,780 people.
Sweden has 349 politicians administering a population of 10.23 million — one politician for every 29,312 people.
at the other end of the spectrum, India has 790 politicians administering 1.353 billion people — one politician for every 1.712 million people.
the next largest is the u.S., which has 435 members of the House of representatives and 100 senators administering a population of 328.2 million — one politician for every 613,458 people.
Brian Keller, Worcester.
QUESTION Why are Saloo and Neena Choudhury guaranteed to be in the Guinness Book Of World Records every year?
IN 1989, Saloo Choudhury and his wife and navigator Neena circumnavigated the globe in 69 days in an Indian-made Contessa, securing a place in the Guinness Book Of World records for being the first and fastest to achieve this feat in a car.
a year later, they were informed by the Guinness authorities that the British army had circumnavigated the globe in a car in 40 days. the Choudhurys felt it was unfair that the army was allowed to compete with a civilian.
the intrepid couple regained their title in 1991 in a Nissan Sunny, completing the feat three hours and 45 minutes faster than the army.
In 1993, the Choudhurys sued Guinness for £3 million, alleging they did not get proper recognition in the Guinness Book Of World records. the certificate they had been given described them as ‘the first and fastest circumnavigators of the globe’, but the Guinness Book Of World records omitted the word ‘first’.
Calcutta High Court ruled Guinness must record the Choudhurys as the first and fastest man and woman to have circumnavigated the Earth by car covering six continents under the applicable rules in 1989 and 1991 in all future editions. Costs were not awarded.
Edward Rees, Yeovil, Somerset.