AUTHENTICITY: THE TRUTH AND IMPORTANCE OF CULTURE
Authenticity: The Importance of Truth in Culture
Julia Holland
Professor Corner
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AUTHENTICITY: THE TRUTH AND IMPORTANCE OF CULTURE
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Authenticity: The Truth and Importance of Culture
The United Sates has created multiple cultural landscapes, national parks, and
recreational sights in which parks and cultures are replicated and maintained forms of nature and
habitats. However, the argument is whether or not these forms of landscapes are authentic
recreations and if these forms of nature hold the same amount of authenticity and importance as
forests and the original landscapes. The authenticity of landscapes can be compared to the
authenticity of a culture’s food because they both have roots that are continuously mimicked for
the sake of pleasure. For instance, Yellowstone National Park is the world’s first national park.
The question is whether or not the continuous conservation provides for an authentic experience
of nature. Secondly, this argument also brings to question whether or not the recreation of
cultural landscapes is an authentic experience of history and cultural heritages, along with the
recreation of traditional foods. Through the readings of Gaytán’s “From Sombreros to
Sincronizadas”, Huff and Varley’s “Natural Regulation in Yellowstone National Park's Northern
Range”, Mitchell’s “Considering the Authenticity of Cultural Landscapes”, Miller’s
“Authenticity, Sincerity, and Spontaneity”, and Andrews and Buggey’s essay “Authenticity in
Aboriginal Cultural Landscapes”, one can answer the question of whether or not an act is
creating a false implication of a culture can be authentic or not.
There are exceptions to the preservations of nature that creates a loss of authenticity. For
instance, in Miller’s (2013) essay, “Authenticity, Sincerity and Spontaneity: The Mutual
Implication of Nature and Religion in China and the West” he mentions the act of green washing
and its effect it has on the authenticity of nature. During the Olympic games in Beijing, there was
news of the potential harm the green paint used for painting the grass could be to people and the
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environment. The argument here is the difference between Westerners view of natural and
authenticity and Chinas. Miller (2013) states, “…the idea that one might paint grass green to
make it look nicer seems at best risible to many Westerners whereas, clearly, it had seemed
desirable to someone in China” (p. 284). Miller’s compares the artificial components to the
chemical used to paint the grass green to the authenticity of food when it comes to genetically
modified foods and food safety. Another example of artificial coloring of nature in order to
change the appearance of nature was the use of green paint for the side of a mountain in Yunnan
province. Here, Chinese and Westerners conceptions of aesthetic, authenticity, and nature are
very different. One is able to conclude that chemically changing the makeup of forests and
landscapes is a violation of natural order and is not authentic in any way. Miller (2013) claims,
“Closely allied to this concept of natural authenticity is the moral value of sincerity” (p. 284).
Miller argues that the act of “green washing” a side of a mountain or painting grass green is a
means of hypocrisy and false impressions. This argument is related to the idea of the authenticity
in food. Marie Sarita Gaytán evaluates the authenticity of foods of different ethnicities and its
impact in America. Much like the false impressions of landscapes in Miller’s essay, it can be
implicated that Americanized foods of other cultures can also leave a false impression of that
ethnicity. Food that is not made in true form of that ethnicity is not an authentic interpretation of
that heritage. The acts of authentic food making are ones that Gaytán (2015) states “…extends
beyond the parameters of cuisine, and directs attention to representation, identity, and culture”
(p. 161). This idea of truth corresponds to Andrew and Buggey’s idea of land. The heritage and
culture of the food must be respected and maintained much like Gaytán’s idea of the authenticity
of food. Otherwise, the food cannot be considered authentic because food without the culture is
merely a replica.
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Yellowstone National Park was one of the first national parks in the United States. The
Park was established in 1872 in Wyoming and originally made to maintain and protect what Huff
and Varley (1999) describe as being “unique geothermal features but the preservation of ‘all
objects’ was stipulated as well” (p. 17). The reasoning behind this was for people to be able to
enjoy the historic objects and wildlife in a way that will leave the wildlife unimpaired. For
conservation reasons, this all makes good sense. However, in terms of authenticity, and in
response to the definition of authenticity, Yellowstone National Park is authentic. It is authentic
because it is in fact in agreement with what a true forest is. The only artificial aspect of the Park
is the fact that they are protected and maintained in a destructive atmosphere, however this is in
order to maintain the authenticity of the forest. Huff and Varley (1999) state that the park’s main
purposes are to “…provide people the opportunity that has been allowed to evolve through
natural processes and rely on natural processes to control native species…” (p. 17). Therefore
stating that the forest has been permitted to grow and evolve in a true, authentic form. Due to the
fact that Yellowstone National Park’s purpose is to restore, fulfill, and promote the evolution of
plants and wildlife proves that it is an authentic approach to maintaining the forest. The culture
and roots of Yellowstone are kept alive by the work to maintain the landscape as naturally as
possible.
Cultural landscapes are another topic of discussion when evaluating the authenticity of a
natural landscape with human inhabitants. Andrews and Buggey (2008) make a claim in which
they state that land is a connection to heritage and an ancestral past. They claim that, “Cultural
identity is the foundation of our cultural heritage” (p. 64). This brings up whether or not the
tempering of human conservation and protection affects the true heritage and authenticity of the
land. Andrews and Buggey use David Lowenthal’s approach to the definition of authenticity to
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argue the importance of not only history but also the present day. Andrew and Buggey state,
“…cultural links to the past can exist only in the present” (p. 64). Therefore, to maintain the
authenticity and truth of these landscapes, one must pull from the past and the present day in
order to conserve the past, tradition, or heritage. Therefore, something new and original may be
created today, continuing the authenticity of the past. Andrew and Buggey (2008) state that
aboriginal landscapes are defined, according to archaeologist Denis Byrne and historian Maria
Nugent, as landscapes that are not sites or relics, but actual landscapes that serve as identities of
indigenous peoples (p.65). These aboriginal landscapes are authentic to the people living and
interacting with them, they are part of the culture. In order to maintain the authenticity, they must
be maintained and lived with rather than lived through. Therefore, a landscape will not remain
truly authentic if it’s purpose changes. If humans move in on a landscape and use the land in
ways in which it was not meant for. For example, industrialization, profit, houses, etc; then the
land looses its authenticity. Gaytans’s article addressing the authenticity of food can be used to
answer the question of the importance of maintaining tradition not only in food but in the land as
well.
In conclusion, by comparing the motives behind the preservation of national parks,
landscapes, and food; one is able to evaluate the authenticity and truth of the object or land.
Views of authenticity are seen differently around the world, however it may be concluded that
something is not authentic if it does not preserve the truth of its particular origins and the natural
state of being. In order to preserve authenticity one must preserve and protect its evolution,
heritage, and growth. The past is equally as important as the present in multiple aspects of life.
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References
Andrews, T., & Buggey, S. (2008). Authenticity in Aboriginal Cultural Landscapes. Association
for Preservation Technology International (APT), 39(2/3), 63-71.
Gaytán, M. (2015). From Sombreros to Sincronizadas: Authenticity, Ethnicity, and the Mexican
Restaurant Industry. In Focused Inquiry True Stories & Narrative Understanding.
Department of Focused Inquiry, University College, Virginia Commonwealth Univeristy.
Huff, D., & Varley, J. (1999). Natural Regulation in Yellowstone National Park's Northern
Range. Ecological Society of America, 9(1), 17-29.
Miller, J. (2013). Authenticity, Sincerity and Spontaneity: The Mutual Implication of Nature and
Religion in China and the West. Method and Theory in the Study of Religion, (25), 283307.
Mitchell, N. (2008). Considering the Authenticity of Cultural Landscapes. Association for
Preservation Technology International (APT), 39(2/3), 25-31.