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Gilad Atzmon: Cultural Essentialist

David T at Harry's Place hung out with the Hebraiophobic Hornblower this weekend and draws the kind of conclusion that Harry's Place readers don't read everyday:

Is Gilad Atzmon a racist? Not in the narrow sense of being preoccupied by genetic differences between people, certainly. He is rather, I think, a 'cultural essentialist': if such a term exists. He and I talked about the distinction he draws between those cultures which are grounded in the "soil", and which are "authentic", with those which are not. Hence, muslim, arab and Palestinian cultures pass the authenticity test, while "jewishness" is not, and is accordingly pernicious. There is something of "blood and soil" theorising about Atzmon's worldview: minus the "blood", that is. Redemption, for Atzmon, is possible for jews who abandon "jewishness".

We discussed the distinction between "authentic" and "inauthentic" cultures. I talked about the late 19th century English folk song movement, which sought to preserve and resuscitate the vanishing musical culture of the common people: untainted by popular culture. The genesis of the movement was, in part, an answer to those who claimed that England was a land without its own music, and who feared that national culture was being swept away by fancy German and Italian imports. Its irony was that, when folk song collectors cornered 70 year old blokes and asked them to sing the "traditional" songs of their youth, they tended to offer up popular ballads about fighting Napoleon, that they'd remembered from the theatres and music halls of their youth. There may be an authentic culture in societies which are static, and where social and geographical movement is rare. But the truth is that most cultures reinvent themselves every few generations. This was the lesson of the English folksong revival. This is evidently true of "jewishness", and it is equally true of muslim and arab identities: and for similar reasons.

The first step in admitting you've warmed to a "cultural essentialist" is spelling Arab and Jew and Muslim in the lower case.

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  • Amazing! This blog looks just like my old one! It’s on a totally different topic but it has pretty much the same layout and design. Great choice of colors!

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