The Paradox of Authenticity in a Globalized World
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The Paradox of Authenticity in a Globalized World Edited by Russell Cobb
THE PARADOX OF AUTHENTICITY IN A GLOBALIZED WORLD Copyright Russell Cobb, 2014. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2014 978-1-137-35382-5 All rights reserved. First published in 2014 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN in the United States a division of St. Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-46978-9 ISBN 978-1-137-35383-2 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9781137353832 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the Library of Congress. A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Knowledge Works (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: April 2014 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Rachel and August: You are the real deal.
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Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments xi xiii 1 Introduction: The Artifice of Authenticity in the Age of Digital Reproduction 1 Russell Cobb Part I A Matter of Taste: Authenticity and Innovation in Food Culture 11 2 Authenticity, Tourism, and Cajun Cuisine in Lafayette, Louisiana 13 Michael S. Martin 3 Food Bureaucracy and the Making of Authentic Pizza 23 Rossella Ceccarini 4 Currying Flavor: Authenticity, Cultural Capital, and the Rise of Indian Food in the United Kingdom 35 Stephen A. Fielding Part II Performing the Real: Mediating Authenticity in Music, Television, and Publishing 53 5 Performing Cultural Authenticity in CBS s Good Times 55 Nicola Mann 6 Buying into the Monastic Experience: Are Chant Recordings the Real Thing? 69 Amanda J. Haste 7 Ancient, Spiritual, and Indian: Exploring Narratives of Authenticity in Modern Yoga 85 Laura Christine Graham
viii CONTENTS Part III Stereotypes, Clichés, and the Real Thing: Authenticity in Cultural Contact Zones 101 8 Toilets Tell Truth about People: 150 Years of Plumbing for Real Japan 103 Gavin James Campbell 9 Tourists as Primitives? Inverting the Tourist Gaze in The Lost Steps by Alejo Carpentier 123 Jeannine M. Pitas 10 The Database as a Distressed Genre 139 John Venecek Part IV Cut, Paste, Authenticate: Literary Studies and the Question of Authenticity 155 11 There Is No Such Thing as Originality Anyway... : Authorship in the Age of Digital Reproduction 157 Kaja Marczewska 12 Like in the Gringo Movies : Translatorese and the Global in Roberto Bolaño s 2666 175 Juan Meneses 13 Norman Mailer, Hipsters, and the Authenticity of the White Negro 187 Katharine Bausch 14 Privileged Access: Constructed Memories and the Autobiographical Impulse 205 Katherine Edwards Part V Real Politics: The Cultural Politics of Authenticity 219 15 Beyond the Infinite Loop? Subjectivity in the Age of the Copy 221 James E. Block 16 Real Feminists and Fake Feminists 233 Kathryn Telling 17 The Narrative Power of Authentic Class Litigation 247 Michael Brandon Lopez
CONTENTS ix 18 That Old School Lonsdale : Authenticity and Clothes in German Skinhead Culture 261 Aimar Ventsel Notes on Contributors 277 Index 281
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Illustrations Figures 5.1 Still from Good Times 61 5.2 Still from Good Times 64 5.3 Still from Good Times 65 Table 3.1 AVPN affiliates in the world 27
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Acknowledgments There is no way to begin this section without thanking the hundreds of Mexican restaurants around the world who bill themselves as selling authentic Mexican food. The original idea for this project came from a conversation about fish tacos, and whether something served with mayonnaise could ever be considered authentically Mexican. The project began to gather steam as Rachel Hertz Cobb and I researched the topic (selflessly and solely for the greater good, of course) at dozens of restaurants across several continents. I am grateful for the initial support of my dissertation cosupervisor, Charles Rossman, who encouraged me to think beyond my graduate field of study. Early conversations at the University of Texas at Austin with fellow graduate students (now scholars in their own right) Jeff Severs, Mike O Connor, and others at the Undergraduate Writing Center also piqued my interest in the broader idea of authenticity in culture. The highest words of praise go to both Palgrave editor Robyn Curtis for championing this work and steering it through the review process and Palgrave editorial assistant Erica Buchman for keeping me focused and on task not my natural inclination. Production thanks to Jeff LaSala and the copyeditors at Newgen Publishing and Data Services. I owe a special note of thanks to my students in LA ST 399: The Culture of Authenticity in Latin America for providing some of the most lively discussions I have ever witnessed in a classroom. You made it a joy to come to class every day. The support of two chairs in Modern Languages and Cultural Studies at the University of Alberta was instrumental: Dr. Laura Beard and Dr. Garrett Epp. Both provided encouragement and constructive feedback over the past four years. I would also like to thank my friends and colleagues who, in the course of many conversations on authenticity, pushed me in new directions and toward new connections. In particular, I would like to thank Daniel Laforest, Maïté Snauwaert, Eddy Kent, and Carrie Smith-Prei at the University of Alberta, Michael Erard of Schwa Fire, and Michael Mason of This Land Press. Family members also played a vital role: Mark Dolin provided cover art inspiration and Lenore Dolin cross-examined all my intuitions and crank theories.
xiv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Faculty of Arts at the University of Alberta provided me with funding to organize an invigorating seminar on authenticity at the 2011 American Comparative Literature Association Meeting in Vancouver. Many of the contributors to this volume participated in that seminar and helped lay the groundwork for its theoretical and disciplinary foundations. Finally, all the contributors to this volume lent brilliant ideas, great writing, willingness to meet deadlines and make revisions, and general good humor when it came to the vicissitudes of academic publishing. Thanks so much and keep it real whatever your real is.