5 Star Tossers

In this episode we discuss the absurdity of the taboo against cultural appropriation. Introducing specific examples like which Halloween costumes to wear, or which recipes you can and cannot cook, the Tossers argue that culture is itself appropriation, and thus the taboo attempts to inhibit something that can never be inhibited.

To emphasize this universal necessity of cultural appropriation, we introduce theories of language.

Jack introduces Wittgenstein's theory of language games and the impossibility of a private language.

Jake introduces Derrida's theory of language in Monolingualism of the Other and the Prosthesis of Origin.

Sagi makes sure that we do not simply define the ubiquity of cultural appropriation but study exactly why there is an attempt at re-appropriation that then bans certain people (always the original colonizer) from taking back again. By now, we hope you know what would Sagi do.

We read some gorgeous passages by Jacques Derrida, and discuss why the N-word and blackness are limit cases, especially in America, for thinking about cultural appropriation.