My (indigenous) girlfriend said something recently that I just have no clue how to grasp.

Disclaimer: I've always been really bad at explaining opinions/making arguments to people.

We are amerikkkan (sorry)

We we're talking about china and it's modern government. This had always been a sensitive topic for us: I usually state something to the effect of "there are some very real problems with china but the country is an overal good for not only the people but the whole world." Whilst they take strong problem with destruction of historical artifacts/art during the revolution (they are an art historian) and find it irredemable. The thing that really confused me recently was them equating the "nepalese cultural genocide" (I have no real knowledge of what they are talking about) to the genocide of their people. For added detail, they and their tribe are currently fighting for the preservation of what remains of the tribe's historical artifacts.

I don't want to add many personal details but it should suffice to say their tribe was almost completely wiped out.)

Am I just off base for not understanding what they are talking about here? This comparison seems completely wild to me and I don't know if I'm just being insensitive or something.

  • Mardoniush [she/her]
    ·
    edit-2
    2 years ago

    Firstly, I have no idea what they mean by Nepalese Cultural genocide. There was one in Bhutan but not in China. Maybe she is thinking of Tibet, in which case the counter arguments are easy?

    Secondly, as an art historian, she will be aware that the purpose of most art is the reinforcement of cultural hegemony, the dictatorship of a social class and structure.

    Ask her what should be done with art that has oppressive or otherwise negative cultural meaning? Should the Chinese have tolerated the existence of their equivalent of a Jefferson Davis statue? Should the French have kept up the statues of Louis XVI because some guy 300 years later might want to look at them, when Habsburg armies were breathing down their neck?

    Perhaps closer to home, point out how she might feel about important western works that, despite having real artistic value are deeply racist to Native Americans (the opera Les Indes Galantes is one I can think of off the top of my head.) Should that still be performed as a historic artifact? Now imagine how Han Chinese and other Chinese peoples might feel about the Manchu dynasty, which was, after all, an occupying force over most of its territory, and then collaborated with the Fascists. Or about the many later warlords, most of whom were not native to the areas they controlled. Or, in the case of Tibet, the artistry and culture used to justify a bloody, horrifying theocracy that whatever mistakes China may have made afterwards, desperately needed to go.

    • gaycomputeruser [she/her]
      hexagon
      ·
      2 years ago

      I really appreciate some of those examples, those would make a lot more sense to them, I think.