Assignment 2:4 Eurocentrism in Performance
- We began this unit by discussing assumptions and differences that we carry into our class. In “First Contact as Spiritual Performance,” Lutz makes an assumption about his readers (Lutz, “First Contact” 32). He asks us to begin with the assumption that comprehending the performances of the Indigenous participants is “one of the most obvious difficulties.” He explains that this is so because “one must of necessity enter a world that is distant in time and alien in culture, attempting to perceive indigenous performance through their eyes as well as those of the Europeans.” Here, Lutz is assuming either that his readers belong to the European tradition, or he is assuming that it is more difficult for a European to understand Indigenous performances – than the other way around. What do you make of this reading? Am I being fair when I point to this assumption? If so, is Lutz being fair when he makes this assumption?
There has been a long withstanding idea of Eurocentrism within European nations – the notion that there is a bias towards a Western civilized worldview. Thus, it is unsurprising that Lutz makes the assumption that his audience is European, or may find it difficult to understand Indigenous performance. However, this assumption is rather fair, as there are several stark differences between European and Indigenous culture. Personally, I take Lutz’s assumption as an indicator that there was a strong belief that Indigenous cultures would willingly adapt well to European ways of life, as implied in the sense that he believes it is harder for it to be the other way around.
Additionally, there are several other differences that would cause for the Europeans to be confused, or even non receptive when encountering Indigenous culture. Firstly, religion is a big factor. Conventionally, Catholicism or Christianity are large markers of European tradition. In other words, their religions were focused on monotheism, whereas Indigenous culture didn’t have one specific religious figure. Instead, native people lived in a world where there was “no firm divide between the natural and the spirit world” (Lutz 35). This would’ve caused some dissonance between the two cultures, making it difficult for the Europeans to understand the nuances behind Indigenous art forms and performance. Furthermore, throughout this course, we have been discussing the importance of storytelling. Both European and Indigenous cultures have a didactic theme within their tales, however, the emphasis on moral storytelling would have been lost on European audiences, who did not understand the way the lessons were being told. I found this interesting blog post that further describes the differences between European and Indigenous views, which you can find here.
Furthermore, there is a West-centric argument that oral tradition is not a sustainable way of keeping records, as Europeans were used to having everything in writing. Thus, Indigenous performance may have been lost on them in the sense that they viewed it as nothing more than a performance, without the layers of education and moral lessons that lay within, like this blog post highlights. Indigenous communities would have been more receptive of European performances than vice versa, because Indigenous audiences would have understood that there were nuances or lessons to be found within the European stories. To them, they would be able to know that they had to look out for these elements while consuming the performance, whereas to European audiences watching Indigenous performances, they would not understand this and dismiss the art as being solely for visual pleasure.
In regards as to whether pointing out Lutz’s assumption was fair, I think that it was fair. Many observations were, and still are, subtly or overtly written with a European worldview. Thus, it is important that we acknowledge this and then adapt our worldview in order to consume non-European material in the way that it was intended to be seen. By knowing that many Indigenous art forms are rich with underlying messages, we can be on the lookout for such things, and gain a deeper understanding of the culture and worldview.
Works Cited:
Augustine, Stephen J. “Oral Traditions.” Indigenousfoundations, 2009, indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/oral_traditions/.
Joseph, Bob. “Blog.” Indian Act and Women’s Status Discrimination via Bill C31 and Bill C3, 2016, www.ictinc.ca/blog/indigenous-peoples-worldviews-vs-western-worldviews.
Lutz, John. “First Contact as a Spiritual Performance: Aboriginal — Non-Aboriginal Encounters on the North American West Coast.” Myth and Memory: Rethinking Stories of Indigenous-European Contact. Ed. Lutz. Vancouver: U of British Columbia P, 2007. 30-45. Print.