Oxymoronism

Hi guys,

I've just gotten an email back from the Pecha Kucha guys saying they would like to have me present at the next night (probably in September), and below is the application email I sent them.

"Transculturalism" is an idea that I came up with myself while at university, but never really got the chance to develop properly. It's been sitting on the shelves for a while now. I'm taking this opportunity to extend and flesh it out some more.
I can see a few holes in the idea, but I thought I would put it out there for you all to pick through and rip bits out of or sew bits into.

I have noticed that there is already an idea called "Transculturation" out there, and I wonder if I should change the term I use. Comments on this would be especially welcomed.

STOP.
Collaborate and
LISTEN...

Any and all comments will be appreciated.

See Also:
Multiculturalism
Biculturalism
William Kymlicka
Brian Barry
These last two blokes and their literary exchanges were heavily influential on my thinking while I was at uni.

- Jmm

----- Forwarded Message ----

From: James M Maddock <albatross_j@yahoo.com>
To: curators@pechakucha.co.nz
Sent: Wednesday, 8 July, 2009 8:45:48 PM
Subject: Application - Wellington

James M Maddock

Practice Manager, Bennion Law // "Transculturalism"

Transculturalism is the theory that proposes that in a place where more than one culture interact (eg New Zealand-Aotearoa), over time they will begin to adopt concepts, words and cultural elements, creating a new, hybridised, cross-over culture. This, of course, has yeilded differing experiences in different countries; however in New Zealand-Aotearoa, it has been largely and increasingly positive, especially with regards to Māori-Pākehā interlacing. Pākehā now use words like "mana" and "kia ora" in everyday usage, and concepts like family/whānau have taken on new meanings. Indeed, sometimes we use words from the other language in preference to their translations because we feel that the connotations in the otehr language more accurately express what we want to convey.

What is interesting in the NZ experience is that the dominant culture (Pākehā) has willingly taken on numerous elements of the minority culture (Māori).

My presentation would take the position that the hybridisation of two (or more) cultures produces a more highly-evolved and stronger culture than what existed before. This proposition is predicated on the simple arithmetical fact that 1 + 1 = 2 (i.e. a higher value); that, in fact, the cultural strengths of one culture actually cancel outy the weaknesses in the other culture, and that many comparitive strengths actually amplify each other; that the hybrid culture becomes twice as strong, and half as weak.

I might even draft in a methemetician to help me do some groovy graphs to demonstrate this aspect more visually.

Basically, transculturalist theory is a response to theories of biculturalism, multiculturalism, intercultural, and monoculturalism, and posits that all of these are flawed or lacking when describing an experience such as that in New Zealand-Aotearoa. This is because they all suggest that there are defined boundaries in between each culture, separating and isolating them. The transculturalist reality is that there is free exchange and cross-over of ideas, concepts and language, such that: while each culture is still distinguishable in most respects, there is this "grey-area" of cultural crossover (the 'transcultural zone') where other theories draw their boundaries and paint their black and white sides.

I would really need to put up a few visual aids to demonstrate these ideas well.

I would also be putting up slides of e.g. 1800s Māori wearing European clothes; Pākehā drawing temporary moko designs on their faces (and perhaps the tattoos of Robbie Williams, Ben Harper and Mike Tyson to illustrate cultural co-option); the All Blacks performing the haka; a musket; the NZ coat of arms, which shows a Pākehā woman and a Māori rangatira; Tame Iti wearing a kilt and shooting the NZ flag, and then saying it was done according to tikanga Tūhoe (tribal custom); and I might wear a tee shirt that says "kia ora bro" on it. Of course, these are just ideas and I might be able to find some better illustrative images.

About Me:

I have been working for three years at a law firm (Bennion Law) which has about of half of its workload in the Waitangi Tribunal. We publish a monthly 8-page publication called the Māori Law Review, for which I am the associate editor, under Tom Bennion. My mainly Pākehā lineage links into the Te Āti Awa iwi six generations back (which makes me 1/64 Māori --- but who's counting?) but is mainly from Eire, England, Deutschland and Cymru.

I've also spent six years abroad, including a year-long student exchange in Java, Indonesia; a year living in Denmark and Norway; six months in Angola working as a humanitarian volunteer; and the rest of the time in the UK, Eire, USA and Australia. I have B.A.s in political science and Māori studies from Canterbury University.

Depending on when y'all are planning the next night (I've been to the last two in Wellington), I'd really like a couple of months in order to really nail down this presentation. Yes, I'm afraid I am indeed a perfectionist...

Kia ora mai,

Nā

James M Maddock

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albatross_j

Oxymoronism

I'm oxymoronic, even when I'm not.