Daný
asked
David Ebsworth:
I recently read The Kraals of Ulundi and while I enjoyed the detailed depiction of this very different time period and culture, I also wondered: seeing as you speak from two such different viewpoints in the novel, what is your view on cultural appropriation?
David Ebsworth
Hello Dany. First, thanks for giving Kraals a four-star rating and I'm glad you enjoyed the book. So far as cultural appropriation is concerned, I think you have look at the overall outcome. I remember the furore when Paul Simon produced the Graceland album and was accused of (a) flirting with apartheid; (b) exploiting the African musicians involved; and (c) making a small fortune in the process. All true, I suppose, to some extent but, overall, the album helped to put Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Hugh Masakela and Miriam Makeba, etc, onto the world stage and they, in turn, were then able to use that prominence in the cause of anti-apartheid and the system's eventual downfall. But there are less honourable forms of cultural appropriation - like the repeated "borrowing" in the 40s and 50s by white US musicians of African-American music, making enormous profit from doing so and, usually, without either crediting the original artists or, indeed, making any contribution to the Civil Rights Movement. And, as a Briton, of course, I often have to hang my head in shame at the way my country has "acquired" cultural artefacts from the countries we colonised and made great profits from those too. Overall, I think the bottom line is, first, to what extent has "permission" been sought for cultural appropriation and, second, in what way has the benefit from any such acquisition been divided. I suppose that makes me particularly sensitive to the conundrum whenever I'm writing my own stuff (even though I make little or no profit from them). So, with Kraals, for example, I was particularly careful to work closely with the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Arts and Culture; to have Zulu colleagues in the Umlazi township of Durban preview the content and confirm that the Zulu viewpoints were as authentic as possible; to visit the book's locations and contribute to the local economy; and to actively support a couple of the projects I came across there - the David Rattray Foundation projects and the Rorke's Drift Community Project. The general response has been very positive since those I've spoken with in KZN are pleased that Zulu culture, and the Zulu's side of the Anglo-Zulu War, has been told and taken to a much wider audience. Does any of that make sense??
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May 27, 2015 12:43PM · flag
May 27, 2015 01:27PM · flag