Um, I beg to differ. You’re right AZN, the proliferation of fast food chains like Popeye’s and Mickey D’s in our home countries across Asia is disturbing and unhealthy, rather like an outbreak of pimples across a troubled face. And yes, in terms of chain stores, name brands, and Hollywood tabloid culture ~ the influence of the West (read U.S.) on young Asian minds is staggering. Beyoncé visiting South Korea a few months ago made front page news for a week – even my parents had a dinnertime discussion about it!
But this is inevitable, and not surprising, right? It’s no secret that Western colonization is still in full effect today, dictating what is fashionable, what is beautiful, what is “cool”, what is “in”. And yes, financially and culturally, we are stuffing a lot of our own processed food & images down third world throats on a daily basis. Our influence is huge, and somewhat disturbing. Aigu. That’s the truth, and the truth sometimes hurts.
But let’s not underestimate the effects of the East on us, especially in terms of philosophy, culture, and health. Let’ be real ~ can you not name at least 2 folks in your circle of friends who hasn’t tried yoga, martial arts, or spent a drunken night in a karaoke room? These are all practices of our distant (or not so distant) ancestors, my friends. And with the rise in health awareness and consciousness about natural living in the west, this trend is seriously going to continue ~ and nowhere is the East’s influence on the West more evident than in your new age store, or the growing section on Spirituality in your local Barnes & Nobles. This is not a bad thing. I think it’s fabulous, actually. Vietnamese monk Thich Naht Hahn’s books on peace, love, and engaged Buddhism are huge sellers in the States, and the Dalai Lama’s visits cause thousands of Americans to line up in hopes of receiving some message of hope or wisdom.
In my own life, both are teachers whose books I read regularly to try to learn more about simpler living, creating peace, and love. In my circle of friends, I have 4 who are certified yoga teachers, and one who is opening a chain of health food stores across the country, financed b a South Asian guru/multi-millionaire (no, not Deepak Chopra, another guy!).
And hip-hop culture historically has “borrowed” or “admired” many aspects of Eastern culture to fit its own swagger, from Wu-Tang’s adaptation of Shaolin mythology to Russell’s wholehearted embrace of yoga. We all influence each other, in good & bad ways. It’s inevitable, and sometimes beautiful. To use another, less positive term, we all appropriate, to some degree; how can we not? We’re human. Let’s jump off our self-righteous high horses for a second (myself included, haha) and to paraphrase the famous words of Mary J, let’s appreciate, not haterate. We all influence each other. Let’s admit it, and get on with living. Peace.
1 comment:
Ishle, yes, you're right in pointing out the 'reverse flow' of cultural influences on "Western" audiences from the "East." Asia is a site where much economic and cultural flourishings are occuring. And your examples from yoga, Russell, and Thich Nhat Hanh are to be admired. But is that it? There's so much more than just middle-class consumption of Asian ideas and spirituality. I won't even go there in this post; that's for another discussion. But (1) this elevation of East/West reproduces Western categories of the "East"---a homogenous, spiritual, lumped, and fantasized land that has little difference or humanization. I ask a question: where has all this middle-class consumption of "Eastern" philosophy and spirituality changed in terms of on the ground, on the streets, perspectives of "Eastern" people. Little. We need to challenge tha basic framework of East/West. We need to unearth all the knowledges, mixings, people, and cultures that have always flowed in both directions, in mutiple, uneven, contradictory, fragmented, multivalent flows. Here, I am thinking of a spiral, when we pour cream in coffee, eventually the swirls flow everywhere. I think this is a better model than a two-lane highway. Lastly (2), Western colonization is not what is taking place today. Yes, remanants that effect today, but what about neocolonialism, U.S. militarism in over 150 nations, global capital that dehumanizes much of the "East," where middle-class folks in Thailand, NY, DefJam, DMZ, Beijing, Shanghai---are taking yoga (which I am not opposed to), Starbucks, and living the comforts of modern life---while poor people in the "East" and "West" do not dialogue because the Other is Other to each one. I believe you are commited to such people, but your language and frameworks, unintentionally, reproduces these divisions, and ultimately sustains the status quo.
I think we should be rigorous in our thinking, not lazy, and the project of decolonizing the mind, begins with us---all of us.
Post a Comment