This week in class we discussed what cross-cultural pollination is. To me, cross-cultural pollination is when a group of people have an influence on another group of people. I think that this can be with art, music, traditions, or anything. In Daniel Consentino’s article “Radiance of the King” he discusses cross-cultural pollination between America and West Africa. We also talked about Barack Obama becoming president and the impact that has had in both America and Africa. African artists often depict Obama as a super hero because he is the first black president. They show this through their paintings, textiles, and other forms of art.
This week we also discussed the coffins made in Ghana. I think that it is interesting that the coffins are in the shape of whatever it was they were best known for. We looked at many examples of coffins like one that was in the shape of a boat because the person who died was a fisherman or the coffin that was in the shape of a lion because that person was a great hunter. I also was able to connect our funerary practices with those in Africa. We both have some sort of service to respect the dead and we both wear certain colors or outfits to these services. I think that this could also be another example of cross-cultural pollination in that Christianity has had an influence on West Africa and their practices.
In class we also learned about the Baule people. We talked about their use of spirit spouses. Whenever they are going through a hard time in their life they go visit a trance diviner. The trance diviner then talks to the spirits and then tells you how to make a figure that will help solve your problems. The Baule people have this figure (spirit spouse) that they are told to spend at least one night a week with. When we discussed this in class I thought about the similarities between the Baule people and the Dogon people we discussed in the first week of class. The Dogon people have figures called Ancestor Couple this shows two figures together (male and female) and we discussed how it represents that without each other they are incomplete. With the Baule people they have these spirit spouses and in order to be complete they need to have a spirit spouse; again, without it they are incomplete.
Okay, good summary. What about the exchange ("cross") part of the relationship between the movie poster/Obama painters and US audience?
ReplyDeleteI think it's interesting that both of our summaries headed almost exactly to the same point, especially on the definition of what cross-cultural pollination. Although you didn't spend much time talking about the movie posters/other media that's being influenced between peoples, I liked reading about the possible 'cross-cultural pollination' between the Ancestor Couples of the dogon people and the Spirit Shrines of the Baule people. I think that's a great comparison. Good job!
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