Reappropriation
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Reappropriation is the cultural process by which a group reclaims—re-appropriates—terms or artifacts that were previously used in a way disparaging of that group. For example, since the early 1970s, much terminology referring to homosexuality—such as gay and (to a lesser extent) queer and poof—has been reappropriated. Another example of reappropriation would be an African American collecting lawn jockeys or other artifacts of darky iconography. The term reappropriation can also extend to counter-hegemonic re-purposing, such as citizens with no formal authority seizing unused public or private land for community use.
The term reappropriation is an extension of the term appropriation or cultural appropriation used in anthropology, sociology and cultural studies to describe the hegemonic action of reabsorbing subcultural styles and forms, or those from other cultures, into mass culture through a process of commodification: the mass-marketing of alternate lifestyles, practices, and artifacts.
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Linguistic reappropriation or reclaiming
A reclaimed or reappropriated word, is a word that was at one time a pejorative but has been brought back into acceptable usage—usually starting within the communities that experienced oppression under that word, but sometimes also among the general populace as well. (The term 'reclaimed word' more often implies usage by a member of the group erred to.)
This can have wider implications in the fields of discourse, and has been described in terms of personal or sociopolitical empowerment.
Reclaiming or reappropriating a word involves re-evaluating a term that in the dominant culture is, or at one time was, used by a majority to oppress various minorities of that same culture.
In some cases, this reappropriation is so successful as to turn a previously disparaging word into the preferred term: for example, gay, previously an insult, is now strongly preferred to 'homosexual', both as an adjective and a noun.
One of the older examples of successful reclaiming is the term 'Jesuit' to refer to members of the Society of Jesus. This was originally a derogatory term referring to people who too readily invoked the name of Jesus in their politics, but which members of the Society adopted over time for themselves, so that the word came to refer exclusively to them, and only in a positive or neutral sense.
Reclaimed words differ from general reclamation outside of language because of their deliberately provocative nature. In addition to neutral or acceptable connotations, reclaimed words often acquire positive meaning within the circles of the informed. Outside the community, such transitions are rare. As such, the use of these terms by outside parties is usually viewed as strongly derogatory. For some terms, even "reclaimed" usage by members of the community concerned is a subject of controversy—for example, there is considerable debate within the transgender community over attempts to reclaim the term 'tranny', usually applied offensively to trans women.
Michel Foucault discusses the idea of reclaimed words as a 'reverse discourse' in his History of Sexuality: Volume I. The New York performance artist Penny Arcade sold what turned out to be her most popular show on the basis of the title, Bitch! Dyke! Faghag! Whore!, words she was reclaiming.
Words that could be considered reclaimed
There are many recent English-language examples of some linguistic reappropriation in the areas of human sexuality, gender roles, sexual orientation, etc. Among these are:
Sex and sexuality
- 'Dyke' (and variants such as 'bulldyke', 'diesel dyke', 'baby dyke', 'femme dyke', etc.), 'butch',
- 'poof', 'queer', 'homo',
Politics
However, the phenomenon is much older, especially in politics and religion. Cavalier is example of a derogatory nickname reappropriated as self-identification, while Roundhead, a Royalists derisory term for the supporters of the Parliamentary cause, is not (it was a punishable offence in the New Model Army to call a fellow soldier a roundhead). Tory (orig. from Middle Irish word for 'pursued man' Tóraidhe ), Whig (from 'whiggamore' (See the Whiggamore Raid)) and 'Suffragette' are other British examples. Yankee was originally used as an insult to America, but was reclaimed in the song "Yankee Doodle".Template:Citation needed
The Dutch and German languages actually have a separate word for such a term, "geuzennaam" (Dutch, commonly used) and "Geusenwort" (German, used among linguists). These words derive from the geuzen, i.e., Dutch opponents to Spanish rule in the 16th century, who eventually created the Netherlands under William of Orange. Being derisively called 'beggars' ('gueux' in French of the era) by their opponents, they appropriated a Dutchified form of the word as their own "battle name". In French during the French Revolution the word "Sans-culottes" (literally "without knee-breeches") gained a similar meaning.
More recent political examples include:
- 'Tree hugger' by environmentalists
- Liberal Conspiracy, a term sometimes used by right-wingers to describe purported liberal domination of modern life, adopted as the moniker of Sunny Hundal's political blog.
- 'Vast Right Wing Conspiracy' originally used as a pejorative term by Hillary Clinton, but now routinely used as a positive self-identity by Rush Limbaugh and other conservatives
- 'Redneck' by political movements from the American South, especially conservative movements.
Religion
'Jesuit' as a term for members of the Society of Jesus was mentioned above; other examples among religious (or non-religious) groups include:
- 'Christian' by Early Christianity, Acts 11:26 implies that the word 'Christian' was first used in Antioch, possibly by its opponents.
- 'Jesus freak' by Christians, and especially Christian teens
- 'Methodist, originally a slur directed at John Wesley, who founded that denomination
- 'Moonie' by members of the Unification Church, especially the Unification Church second generation
- 'Mormon', by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church)
- 'Mormon fundamentalist', by those who broke away from the LDS Church to continue practicing polygamy
- 'Papist' by Roman Catholics
- 'Quaker' by the Religious Society of Friends
- 'Kike' or 'Yid,' by people of Jewish descent and/or faith
- 'Witch,' 'pagan,' and 'heathen,' by the wiccan and neopagan communities
- 'Godless,' and 'heathen' (with a different meaning than in the neopagan sense), by irreligious people. See also the etymology of the word 'atheist'.
Race and ethnicity
To a lesser extent, and more controversially among the groups referred to, many racial, ethnic, and class terms have been reappropriated:
- 'Flip' by Filipino American youth
- 'Nigga' by the Black movement
- 'Mutt' by people of mixed race
- 'Guido' by Italian Americans,Also: "guidette" for women.
- 'Wog' by Australians of Southern European descent
- 'Gaijin' by westerners living in Japan
- 'Farang' by westerners living in Thailand
- 'Bule' by westerners living in Indonesia
- 'Mic' by Irish Americans
- 'Paddy' by Irish Americans
- 'Tim' by Glaswegians of Irish Descent
- 'Paki' by Pakistani-American youth
- 'Heeb' by Jews (in a cultural rather than primarily religious sense)
- 'Chink' as a term used by Chinese Americans and other Asian Americans
- 'Fenian,' used in Scotland and Northern Ireland for a Catholic or an Irish republican; or, especially in Scotland, someone of Irish descent
- artist Kara Walker has attempted to reappropriate the word 'negress'
- 'Redneck' -- besides its usage for political conservatives, this term is alternately embraced and shunned by Southerners with rural backgrounds stereotypically considered to be unsophisticated. Example: the country music song "Redneck Woman".
- 'White Trash' by lower-class caucasians; traits of this group often overlap with 'Redneck'.
- 'Tar Heel' by natives of the state of North Carolina, USA.
- 'Yid' by supporters of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club after being called this by racists, in an attempt to dilute the effect.
Other
More generally, any kind of community can reappropriate words referring to them:
- 'Nerd' and geek by intellectuals, hobbyists, and people with a deep interest in science fiction, video games, and other obscure hobbies and interests
- Otaku has a similar meaning, but often suggest that the person is a Japanophile (e.g. anime).
- 'Pirate' by the peer-to-peer filesharing community and warez scene
- 'Bastard', by adopted people
- 'Brat' (as in 'military brat') by children of U.S. military personnel
- 'Crip', 'cripple' or 'gimp' by people with disabilities, particularly in the inclusion movement
- 'Fat' by the size-acceptance movement
- Noob by people who are new to a subject
- Dork by quirky people
- 'Pimp', used as an adjective or verb to describe something that is decorated or gussied up, or in a similar context as badass (e.g. a pimped-out car)
- Springboks by non-white South African rugby players and fans.
- Decadent by a late generation of Romantics, such as Théophile Gautier and Charles Baudelaire, who used the word proudly, to represent their rejection of what they considered banal "progress"
Recontextualization of material objects
A closely related phenomenon is the recontextualization of material objects, as for example when the Jim Crow Museum at Ferris State University displays such Jim Crow Era artifacts as golliwog marbles or Sambo masks.
Other such examples are the display of an anti-Semitic poster in a Holocaust museum, or the removal of the Coat Of Arms, featuring animals sacred to Australian Aborigines, from the Australian Federal Parliament building by Aboriginal elder Kevin Buzzacott.
Reappropriation of land, etc.
While the previous examples are largely symbolic, another type of reappropriation is far more material, while still also involving an important symbolic dimension. The many battles over People's Park in Berkeley, California have centered on community activists' intent to reappropriate as public space a piece of land that the University of California, Berkeley originally wanted to turn into a parking lot. The space has been a site of contention since 1969.
See also
- Dysphemism treadmill, the process by which offensive terms can become acceptable without deliberate intervention
