Lady Gaga’s new video clip “911,” Victoria Secret model Stella Maxwell’s photos in daraz for Vogue Russia from 2015 and Kanye West’s Yeezy brand runners named “Ararat” have all recently sparked polarizing opinions on social media. Misappropriation! Appreciation! I’m not sure! represent the general tenor of Armenians’ reactions to seeing their culture in non-Armenian media. If the medium is the message, then who is the primary audience for the message? The cacophony in responses to these appearances of “Armenianness” is symptomatic of the complexity the phenomenon of “culture” embodies in its perpetual relation to the jumble of history, ideas, experiences, power matrices and globalization. But the fact that something seems rotten in the state of certain “representations” ought to make us question any given referentiality.
The historically-attuned mind, aware of Armenia’s centuries-old struggle with colonialism, should participate in the discourse of otherness, especially when the intersections are between the culture of a world power and Armenian culture, which unfortunately still dwells in the periphery. Members of marginalized cultures, due to their lack of representation in the supposed “center” of the world stage, are more likely to undermine or even question problematic instances of cultural appropriation. As an underrepresented culture, despite our cultural wealth, we Armenians quickly revel in fleeting appearances of our flag, sacred mountain, national dress and other forms of display in the international arena, and often feel content with a few crumbs in cameo. It is necessary to think about questions such as, who “owns” culture, what constitutes cultural appropriation, and where one can draw the line, however blurry, between the latter and cultural appreciation, all of which boil down to ethics.
In assessing a report on cultural appropriation from Australian Aboriginal cultures, James O. Young and Conrad Brunk, philosophy professors at the University of Victoria specializing in applied ethics, assert that, “[The] concept of respect is a crucial one in assessing acts of cultural appropriation. […] an act of appropriation can be wrong precisely because it fails to indicate due respect for a culture, its beliefs, its values or its members.” Without jumping into the realm of social media harangues in considering the aforementioned examples, it is imperative to address the nature of cultural property, not limited to artifacts and intellectual property. Lady Gaga’s “911,” for instance, draws heavily from a 1969 film, The Color of Pomegranates or Նռան գոյնը by Soviet Armenian film director Sergei Parajanov (born Sargis Parajaniants). Tarsem Singh, who directed Gaga’s video clip, is no stranger to Parajanov’s mystical and surrealist art films. Parajanov’s influence is also conspicuous in Deep Forest’s 1992 video clip for “Sweet Lullaby” and the 2000 film “The Cell” both directed by Singh. In The Color of Pomegranates, Parajanov’s intent was to celebrate Armenian culture through its 18th century troubadour Sayat Nova using the pomegranate’s symbolic association with life and millennia of history and art in a whirlwind of striking images that reel after reel trigger the viewer’s sensory receptors with constantly alternating stimuli.
As a pastiche, Gaga’s clip is an homage to her own mental states and Parajanov’s enduring work. No one accuses Hovhannes Shiraz of misappropriation for alluding to Goethe in his poetry or Shakespeare for utilizing Seneca’s tragic plots in his own plays. They craft anew old rhymes and thoughts and make them distinctively their own. There is no “works cited” list, for example, in a film that alludes to other films, literature or historical events. Essentialism regarding one’s own culture creates a slew of necessary conditions for referencing it that thwart conversations about a given cultural entity and its relationality to another culture, and as such, stifle opportunities to learn from one another. It is, nonetheless, viable to question whether a given “borrowing” is harmful to the culture from which things are being borrowed. Some viewers of “cultural appropriation” might see anything identified as such as necessarily wrong, as if it were inherently misappropriation. But ethical anthropologists and philosophers suggest that there ought to be criteria for delineating malignant and benign appropriations and to examine whether any rights have been violated that would amount to theft. In her book Who Owns Culture?, Susan Scafidi, a professor at Fordham Law School and director of the Fashion Law Institute, demonstrates that the adoption of source-community culture usually occurs in a legal vacuum. On the other hand, intellectual property rights in the US are not absolute and are protected by fair-use provisions and the First Amendment.
In an attempt to acknowledge Armenian culture and Parajanov’s legacy in Armenian culture, the creators of “911” incorporated the Armenian word զգուշություն (warning/caution) appearing on yellow tape and the phrase, “Armenian Film Festival,” on the marquee that appears toward the end of the video. Lady Gaga also commissioned the floral alien costume she dons in the clip from Armenian designer Karina Akopyan. Are these enough for the clip to come off scot-free in critical debates? It is necessary to understand that when moral questions are not raised, what we are left with is either a compromise or a contest of power. The latter scenario is brutally colonialist at its core, where power determines the outcome. In this case, the disadvantaged cultural community hardly ever benefits from the outcome. Where ethics fail, then negotiation is the best option. Lady Gaga’s appropriation is one such negotiation, where the beauty of art can still be appreciated with some form of acknowledgment of the culture from which it draws its inspiration.
It is also important to note that Parajanov was not only Armenia’s son. The Soviet Empire, though a closed system, was interested in intra-imperial intercultural exchange that instilled feelings of belongingness to the whole. The main actress and muse of Parajanov’s film—Sofiko Chiaureli—was not, in fact, Armenian, but Georgian. Additionally, it would be callous not to acknowledge Georgia as an important site for Armenian intellectuals, especially at the turn of the 20th century and as related to the avant-garde. It is also important to understand that there was a healthy amount of cultural translation and transfer occurring between the two countries. Even more urgently, we must consider the fact that the relationships between the constituent Soviet republics were not based on a power dynamic, which cannot be said about the Russian SSR and its hierarchical relationship with the other 14 republics.
The 2015 photos of Stella Maxwell posing in Armenian daraz for Vogue Russia have been unearthed recently and deemed as cultural misappropriation. There is a misunderstanding among Armenians on social media platforms that the photos were for “Vogue Armenia;” however, no such magazine exists. The images perfectly capture the game of empires: a model from the US does a photoshoot for Russia in exoticized, i.e. Armenian, garb and locales, using the marginalized culture’s resources, photographer and above all, culture. Stemming from an inferiority complex, some Armenians’ positive reaction to the images of the blue-eyed, fair-skinned, and skinny Maxwell prove the unhealthy striving among Armenians to be white and for whiteness. Cui bono? Perhaps it is not the designer’s or magazine’s intent to “steal” from another culture, but these questions, as we know, are more complex than the dichotomy of “mine” and “yours.” Every culture has its own perspectives on what is right and wrong, appropriate and inappropriate, legal and illegal, and if we address the moral questions that a certain “borrowing” raises, it becomes more plausible that we would appeal to the moral views of only one culture. In other words, there will not be a consensus or a resolution. The best arbiter in this case, it seems, is the source community. Are Armenians offended by the images? Let us hypothetically infer that, no, they are not. Let me then ask these questions: Would we stop viewing a victim of domestic abuse as a victim even if the victim vigorously denies she is a victim? Would we consider someone with Stockholm syndrome “happy” and “fulfilled” with their abuser because the victim claims to be “happy” and “fulfilled”? Is Kanye’s Yeezy Mafia brand shoes, “Ararat,” (which, by the way, was an excellent marketing decision and was sold out within a few hours in an attempt to benefit a billionaire’s growing empire) cultural misappropriation? Without a doubt, it is. And I, as a broken record, ask again: Cui bono?
Culture is fluid, and perhaps some marginalized cultures save aspects of their culture through appropriation, which can act as a form of advertisement. But then again, where do we stand when we must rely on the commodification of our culture to help push it into the center from the periphery, even if for a brief moment, like Sisyphus with his rock, only to see it pushed back into the margins again? “Can the subaltern speak?” asks the renowned postcolonial and feminist critic Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak. In postcolonial discourse and within the imperial matrix, the “subaltern” is the “other” that has no access to cultural imperialism.
It just gets tiring when someone else constantly does our speaking for us.
Arpi Movsesian
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Honestly, this made me chuckle a bit. Armenia has serious name recognition problem. Most people have never heard about the country or its culture. We have to be really grateful to Gaga for doing this. Besides, the video is more like an homage to a handful of surrealist filmmakers, mostly Prajanov, not the country of Armenia. The video will end up being watched by hundreds of millions of people from all over the world. Hope we will see more of this stuff.
Sure, some attention is better than no attention. But when you’re mega rich and worth millions (like Lady Gaga) or over a billion (like Kanye), maybe you shouldn’t be the one benefitting the most from using that culture – especially when its people have been historically deprived of attention and any of its benefits.
Great article, Arpi. Armenians should be benefitting a lot more from the use or “honouring” of their culture. It’s encouraging to see more involvement and consultation these days, which is heaps better than it used to be, but it’s still problematic. Often, people with no voice or power are thrilled when they’re suddenly given a sliver of attention. Often, they’re so used to getting nothing, they’re grateful for any crumps and scraps they do get. And people outside the appropriated culture often feel they should be grateful.
Firstly, id like to say thank you for writing this article. I for one, was not impressed with lady Gaga’s video. I grew up like most other Armenian-Americans getting very excited about any minimal mainstream acknowledgement of our culture but i no longer feel this way. Everywhere I travel outside of the US people know who Armenians are. Does Armenia have a “name recognition problem”? i don’t think so, Perhaps it’s America that has a geography problem.
Of course i celebrate the accomplishments of Armenians and i am pleased when they achieve wide acclaim. But I did not find this video complimentary or exciting, In fact i was incredible upset by it.
Also I think importantly I have to point out that in 2015 Lady Gaga took 2 million dollars from Azerbaijian for a performance at the “European Games”. This event was dubbed a showpiece for international media and despite public outcry denouncing the regime and calling for her to reconsider she went ahead anyway.
—Lady Gaga is notorious for ripping off other artists and a quick google search will reveal the number of lawsuits this has resulted in. she has built her career out of it. As you say- is it ripping off if you cite the artist as she did in the video? as you indicated in this article its not so clear cut- and you also mention the ethical intent. Now, what is the ethics of taking an original work completely out of context and slapping advertisements for cell phone companies on it?? It is unquestionable to me that paradjanov himself- who spent years in prison for his critical attitudes of the hegemonic political system he worked under, would NOT have endorsed this kind of hyper-capitalistic use of his work.
Another grievance – this film is a biography, albeit a very abstract one- how many western viewers are familiar with that? i have met many non-armenians that have really loved this film over the years and they are all vey excited to share their appreciation of it with me but exactly 0 of them knew who Sayat Nova was or even realized it was a biography at all. What about Gaga’s video does anything except further this misconcepton of this film simply being a crazy and absurd assault on the senses? Nothing. the subject of this video is of course- just lady gaga. how boring.
I think its also Interesting to note that in none of the discussion of this video on social media has anyone even mentioned how completely mediocre the music is. The visuals ARE the video and it is visually dependent on the original work. Personally, i don’t think just peppering in some Armenian designers checks the box for appropriation insurance. Certianly Gagas’ advisors are familiar with cancel culture and understand the potential misstep it would have been not to include them.
In the past 10 years ive whitnessed Such an amazing proliferation of Armenian culture within the diaspora and through the internet. Mostly through our younger generation who are free from the burden of “assimilation” and more acutely aware the emergent critical perspectives towards colonialism/white supremacy.
Parajanov should be sacred to us, He is a rare example of trans-caucasian And queer artistic identity and his legacy should be preserved with care. I think as a group we can progress past this excitement when the dominant culture throws us little crumbs of recognition.
Thanks for writing
@rogue_states
Is the second to last paragraph of the article serious or meant to be a satirical caricature of the way some people on the ivory towers of the world think?
May I remind Everyone that Rousseau loved to appear in Armenian garb. People are free to engage in transcultural exchanges. If anyone complains but is unable to obtain “gain de cause,” shows his weakness. Let’s move on; let’s stop dwelling in the osdt. Armenia’s future is what should count. All kinds of passéisme is a big mistake.
Instead of being concerned that non-Armenians found something of interest/value to them in Armenian culture/art to create their own artistic venue to present to the world at large we should be encouraging/supporting Armenians to create “art/culture” that reflects “Armenian Themes” (other than Genocide) to present to the world.
I think both of these things are related to each other. The lack of encouragement within Armenian communities in propelling narratives that exist outside of the traditional canon (and thus diversify and enrich our culture) is part of the reason Armenian culture exists in a bubble, and why many American-Armenians weren’t aware of Parajanov’s art until it was presented to them in pastiche form by Lady Gaga. Is that not problematic? She used an ode to ancestral and generational trauma — cutting up visual elements to present it as representative of mental health — without a good understanding of how that fits into Armenian culture beyond the mere aesthetic. We need to do better, be more inclusive, and teach all aspects of Armenian identity besides the outdated norms or those that found commonalities on the Armenian Genocide.
It’s rather offensive that a non-Armenian New York singer/songwriter/record producer/actress (such as Lady Gaga) would attempt to take elements of the Armenian culture and include them in her sleazy music video, for her own benefit. This is certainly something that we Armenians should never have the slightest bit of appreciation for.
On the other hand, for those Armenians out there (Hayastantsis, Artsakhtsis, Javakhktsis, Lebanese-Armenians, Persian-Armenians, Syrian-Armenians, Iraqi-Armenians, Turkish-Armenians, Russian-Armenians, Armenian-Americans, etc.) who really love our Armenian culture as well as our modern-day Armenian music, you should check out DJ Anna Pani’s “Armenian Party Mix” music video. That’s certainly a hell of a lot more than what Lady Gaga can possibly offer in terms of Armenian culture.
So, by that logic, no one should be acting in films because they haven’t experienced what they are portraying on screen. And never should a person in foreign culture show appreciation to other culture. Interesting.
From what I understand, cultural appropriation is defined as when the dominant culture in a society takes something from a non-dominant culture – usually an oppressed or disenfranchised one – and treats it as its own. The question is whether Lady Gaga used “The Color of Pomegranates” just to make money or to express something about the culture.
Just as soon would this perspective impose power hierarchical bureaucracies to constrain the works of artists and deem by humorless bureaucratic committee exactly what cultural elements, political themes, and ideas can be explored.
Precisely the hellish Soviet condition that Parajanov and every other painter, director, playwright, and poet of the USSR found themselves in.
First, if you really watch 911 or even know just a tiny bit of Lady Gaga’s discography, you won’t have that conclusion of her speaking for you or any social groups. She’s always asking everyone to embrace their OWN VOICE regardless of what backgrounds you are from. So, seeing the above conclusion truly makes me laugh (sorry not sorry). And I know Gaga will be unbothered by this with her already clear referencing to ‘The Color of Pomegranate’ clearly stated word-by-word in her music video. What’s more, that video is the reason why an Asian uni student like me is looking into the Armenian culture.
***SO CUI BONO? THE ARMENIAN CULTURE IS.*** By getting people from different walks of life to be interested in the richness of its culture…
Late to this discussion, but here goes…
My only adverse reaction to this Lady Gaga issue is what only one other commenter has mentioned- her performance in Azerbaijan.
Anyone who legitimizes such a regime is suspect. That’s why I have an issue with Gaga. Likewise Kobe Bryant and his shilling for Turkish Airlines.
There is an unlikely possibility here (emphasis on unlikely). Maybe she was trying to atone for her Baku appearance. In this case, it’s necessary for her to say so.
Otherwise, how we can control/regulate use/reference to cultural pieces by other “artists” is beyond me and probably not worth spending too much time on, except perhaps to criticize any instances of such that we deem Armenian-ly inappropriate.