Adaptation.

Adapting is was we do as people.  We naturally and un-naturally know how to adapt to other situations, ideas, strategies, peoples, etc.  Based on the two articles we have read this week and from our discussions in class that is the underlying theme that I have picked up on.  Within the Kongo, Beni and Sapi people's that is what they did.  They assimilated and appropriated images into their own cultures so it fit and made sense to them.


The articles talked about "others" and who they were.  In the first article, Imaging Otherness in Ivory: African Portrayals of the Portuguese ca. 1942 by Suzanne Preston Blier, the others were the Portuguese.  When the Portuguese were first introduced to these different cultures they were received, for the most part, pretty similarly.  The white skin, advanced technology, wealth and the facet that they came across the ocean all contributed to the assumption that they were ancestors and related to Olukun, the god of water, fertility and wealth.


The Portuguese, their looks and culture, were completely new to these African cultures.  How would you react if you encountered a new race, species, or alien race.  I am not sure about you, but I know that I would act similarly to these African Cultures.  I would feel the need to assimilate or adapt.  I would want(or need) a reason for this.  Would I consider this new something to be godlike? It is all unsure territory.  The reason I bring this up is to show that they were adapting to this new idea.  By the Portuguese coming across the ocean, the Kongo, Beni and Sapi cultures adapted this foreign idea and made it their own.


Because the Portuguese were then related to Olukun they were portrayed in art and objects similarly.  Symbols and animals were used to do this.  Olukun was often portrayed with sacred animals such as the leopard, crocodiles and mudfish.  Different objects were used such as ivories, salt cellars or plaques to represent the Portuguese with these symbols and ideas as well.


Since our class yesterday I have been trying to think of other ways we adapt in our culture today.  An example in class that was given was with food.  We have taken food from different cultures and then made it our own by fitting it to how we like and enjoy it.  Another example that we did not talk about in class that keeps coming to my mind is music.  New music is constantly being written all the time, but where does inspiration come from?  More often than not, we use ideas from other people and cultures.  I see this a lot in collaborations.  When are rapper joins with a country song to create a song a pretty interesting song comes from it.  While music is not a culture example I believe that it helps to portray how we adapt in our society.