The Re-Invention of Tradition and the Marketing of Cultural Values
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2546697 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Cath Oberholtzer (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1995 |
| Volume | 37 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 141 |
| Publication date | 1995-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Anthropologica (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0254-9212 • E-ISSN: 2224-6428 |
| Publisher | University of Victoria Libraries (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/25605807 |
| OpenAlex | W232107146 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 11 |
The concept of the invention of tradition has gained widespread acceptance and innumerable applications. However, consideration of the re-invention of tradition, particularly in the scope of material studies, has received minimal coverage. Increased production and of Native-made provides an excellent example. Derived from traditional baby charms no longer made to protect the developing infant, as a re-invented tradition this form is now rendered as earrings and ornamental items for car and home. For Natives, dream catchers serve a dual purpose in providing a cash return while simultaneously marketing Native values and spirituality.In their 1983 edited volume, The Invention of Tradition, Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger present the concept of inventing tradition. According to Hobsbawm in his introductory article in that volume, 'Traditions' which appear or claim to be old are often quite recent in origin and sometimes (Hobsbawm and Ranger 1983:1). Furthermore, he remarks that in a broad sense invented tradition includes both 'traditions' actually invented, constructed and formally instituted and those emerging in a less traceable manner within a brief and datable period--a matter of a few years perhaps--and establishing themselves with great rapidity (ibid.). Significant, too, is the deliberate inculcation of certain norms and values with an implied historic past. While this concept has gained widespread acceptance and innumerable applications within anthropological circles, consideration of the re-invention--that is, a re-introduction and expansive adoption of an actual historic and ethnographically documented tradition, particularly in the scope of material culture studies--has received minimal coverage.I became intrigued with this concept when I perceived the ubiquity of dream catchers that were being offered for sale from coast to coast in Canada and the United States, from as far north as Attiwapiskat on James Bay and at least as far south as Denver, Colorado, in the United States (Brasser 1994). These circular objects filled with a spider-web-like netting are being produced in various sizes and from a range of materials in Victoria, British Columbia,(f.2) in the west and Halifax, Nova Scotia, in the east, with countless other locations in between. Dream catchers are being made by Native artisans and marketed through mail-order catalogues,(f.3) sold in airports, souvenir stands, commercially run museum shops and Native craft stores.(f.4) On a more personal level, individual artists vend their products at powwows,(f.5) craft fairs and tourist outlets. More recently, specialized craft kits have been made available to crafters in general, irrespective of their heritage.(f.6) Marketing strategies are targeted--intentionally or unintentionally--so that any person, anywhere, in any income bracket, whether traveller, art collector or at-home shopper, has ready access to dream catchers.Fashioned as pairs of earrings or single ornamental items, dream catchers range in size from less than an inch to about a foot in diameter.(f.7) Variation in size correlates with their intended purpose: whether they are to be worn, hung from the rear-view mirror of a vehicle or displayed in homes, offices or collections. Materials vary from the more traditional indigenous ones that use willow for the circular frame and sinew for the netting to contemporary substitutes of plastic and synthetic sinew. Items intended as jewellery are wrought from sterling silver and silver-coloured metals. Decorative elements on larger ones may include a single feather attached to the centre, hide wrappings and/or fringes, tassels of beads and feathers suspended from the frame or tiny beads caught into the netting, reminiscent of the dewdrops caught in a spider's web. A singular example has a bear carved from bone, polished and then suspended on the netted surface. Furthermore, regionally associated materials are incorporated into items crafted in specific locales, as, for example, sterling silver and turquoise featured in the jewellery forms originating from the American Southwest
Aesthetics · Art · Sociology · Anthropology · Culinary Culture and Tourism · Historical Studies of British Isles · History · Philippine History and Culture
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,09 |
| Citation span | 1969 - 2024 (56) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |