Pizza effect

{{Short description|Phenomenon of foreign sources shaping a community's self-understanding}} {{pizza}}

In religious studies and sociology, the '''pizza effect''' is the phenomenon of elements of a nation's or people's culture being transformed or at least more fully embraced elsewhere, then re-exported to their culture of origin,<ref name=Queen /> or the way in which a community's self-understanding is influenced by (or imposed by, or imported from) foreign sources.<ref name=White /> Related phrases include "hermeneutical feedback loop", "re-enculturation", and "self-orientalization".

[[File:BOURCARD(1858) p2.172 - IL PIZZAIUOLO.jpg|thumb|Traditional, 19th-century Italian pizza was more akin to a flatbread than modern associations]] The term "pizza effect" was coined by the Austrian-born Hindu monk and professor of Anthropology at Syracuse University, Agehananda Bharati,<ref name=White /><ref name=Knott /> who wrote the following in 1970,<ref name=ab70 /> based on his analysis of this phenomenon. {{Blockquote |text=The original pizza was a simple, hot-baked bread without any trimmings, the staple of the Calabrian and Sicilian {{wikt-lang|it|contadini}} ["peasant-farmers"] from whom well over 90% of all Italo-Americans descend. After World War I, a highly elaborated dish, the U.S. pizza of many sizes, flavors, and hues, made its way back to Italy with visiting kinsfolk from America. The term and the object have acquired a new meaning and a new status, as well as many new tastes in the land of its origin, not only in the south, but throughout the length and width of Italy.<ref name="ab70"/>{{rp|273}} |author=Agehananda Bharati }}

Bharati's knowledge of pizza history was actually incorrect, as pizza clearly evolved in its current tomato and cheese form in Italy, specifically in Naples. For example, in 1843, Alexandre Dumas described the diversity of pizza toppings,<ref name="dumas">{{cite book|last=Dumas|first=Alexandre|url=http://www.dumaspere.com/pages/bibliotheque/chapitre.php?lid=v4&cid=9|title=Le Corricolo|year=1843|edition=Oeuvres Complètes (1851)|page=91|language=fr|author-link=Alexandre Dumas|access-date=May 22, 2012}}</ref> and margherita pizza with tomato and mozzarella already appeared in books in 1830.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Università degli Studi di Udine, Facoltà di Agraria: "La Pizza" |url=http://web.uniud.it/dial/documenti/tesine_degli_studenti/la_pizza_Orlando_Giacomo.pdf |language=it |access-date=April 18, 2024 |archive-date=June 11, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070611022045/http://web.uniud.it/dial/documenti/tesine_degli_studenti/la_pizza_Orlando_Giacomo.pdf |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> Nevertheless, the term ''pizza effect'' stuck.

== Examples ==

=== Original meaning === The original examples given by Agehananda Bharati mostly had to do with popularity and status: * The Apu trilogy films of Satyajit Ray, which were flops in India before they were given prizes in Western countries and re-evaluated as classics of the Indian cinema<ref name="expat" /> * The popularity in India of movements like those of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and ISKCON based on their popularity in the West<ref name="expat" /> * The popularity of postural yoga in India, several gurus, and some other Indian systems and teachings following their popularity in the West<ref name=Flood /> * The exalted status of the ''Bhagavad Gita'' in Hinduism, where, although it was always highly regarded, it gained its current prominence only following Western attempts to identify a single canonical "Hindu Bible"<ref name="ab70" />

=== Contemporary understanding ===

==== Buddhism ==== The founders of the Theosophical Society, Helena Blavatsky and Henry Steel Olcott, were influenced by Eastern religions, then placed their headquarters in Adyar, Chennai, from where they spread their views within India.<ref name=Knott />

Similarly, Buddhist modernism or "Protestant Buddhism" was developed by Westerners who, according to scholar Stephen Jenkins, "mistook it for an indigenous Sri Lankan product", and they in turn influenced Sri Lankan Buddhist Anagarika Dharmapala, who, along with the Theosophical Society, was instrumental in spreading Buddhism in both India and the West.<ref name=Jenkins />{{rp|xvi}}

According to scholar Kim Knott, Mahatma Gandhi "was not very interested in religion until he went to London to study law, where he studied the ''Bhagavad Gita'' in English in Sir Edwin Arnold's translation, and this deeply influenced his spiritual outlook."<ref name=Knott />

Another example of this effect is the influence of the translations of the British-based Pali Text Society on modern South Asian Buddhism.<ref name=White />

==== Mexico ==== Cholo culture is an invention of Chicanos in California, especially Los Angeles. Today, the fashion of Cholos is finding its way into Mexico in a reinterpreted form.<ref name=Watkins />

The Day of the Dead parade in Mexico City was inspired by an event in the James Bond film ''Spectre'', which was fictional when the film was produced.<ref name=Agren />

==== Ireland ==== thumb|upright|Model of a traditional Irish jack-o-lantern, carved from a turnip

The creation of jack-o'-lanterns from turnips (rutabaga) was a Halloween custom in Ireland and parts of Great Britain. Irish immigrants brought this tradition with them to the United States, and adapted it to use native pumpkins instead of turnips. In time, pumpkins came to be used instead of turnips to create jack-o'-lanterns in Ireland and Great Britain.<ref name=McElwain />

St Patrick's Day, and the parades associated with it, were first made festival events by Irish Americans; in fact, Dublin did not hold a St Patrick's Day parade until 1931.<ref name=Trekking /> The Irish traditional music revival of the 1960s–70s was partially begun in the United States.<ref>{{cite web |title=Much More Than "Danny Boy": Bringing Irish Traditional Music to the United States |url=https://eprints.dkit.ie/id/eprint/881/1/Much%20More%20Than%20Danny%20Boy%20Final.pdf |website=Dundalk Institute of Technology}}</ref> The leprechaun is a very minor figure in Irish myth and folklore; they were popularized in Irish U.S. and are only seen in Ireland in tourist contexts, such as in souvenir shops and at the National Leprechaun Museum.<ref name=OBrien /><ref name=IrishCentral /><ref name=OConnell />

==== Islam ==== The religious thought of Ibn Rushd (Averroes), which was taken up by 19th-century Europeans such as Ernest Renan, and thereby regained popularity during the Nahda, the Islamic renaissance.<ref name=Leaman />

Analyst Mark Sedgwick wrote that Islamist terrorism, and specifically suicide bombing, can be seen as examples, beginning as isolated interpretations of the concept of shahid, or martyrdom, then being re-exported to the greater Muslim world.<ref name=Sedgwick />

==== Other examples ==== Ramen, a Japanese noodle dish of Chinese origin, became popular in China where it is known as rìshì lāmiàn (日式拉麵, lit. 'Japanese-style lamian').

Teppanyaki, a Western-influenced cuisine style created in Japan, became popular in the U.S and Canada, where it is often called hibachi.

Anime, being derived from Western animation and created in Japan, has also become wildly popular in the U.S. and the entire Western world in recent decades, and even more popular than Western-style cartoons.

Salsa music: the first salsa bands were mainly Puerto Ricans who moved to New York in the 1930s.

''Haoqiu zhuan'', a Chinese novel. James St. André, author of "Modern Translation Theory and Past Translation Practice: European Translations of the ''Haoqiu zhuan''", wrote that in China the novel was originally "considered second-rate fiction and stood in danger of being completely forgotten with changes in literary taste in the early twentieth century."<ref name="StAndrep39" /> He stated that the fact there had been interest in translating the novel into English "gave life and fame" to ''Haoqiu zhuan'' and therefore affected its standing in China.<ref name="StAndrep39" />

===Variants=== Scholar Jørn Borup wrote about an "inverted pizza-effect", when a society's modification of another culture gets further re-modified by that same society, such as European philosophers including Martin Heidegger "appear to have been significantly inspired by Eastern thought – an Eastern thought itself presented through 'Protestant' or 'Western' eyes. This transformation is naturally not a unique phenomenon in religious studies, where interpretations, re-interpretations and inventions are seen as common characteristics of religion."<ref name=Borup />

Stephen Jenkins noted that the feedback phenomenon could continue; in the case of pizza, he wrote that the return of pizza to Italy again influenced American cuisine: "pizza-loving American tourists, going to Italy in the millions, sought out authentic Italian pizza. Italians, responding to this demand, developed pizzerias to meet American expectations. Delighted with their discovery of 'authentic' Italian pizza, Americans subsequently developed chains of 'authentic' Italian brick-oven pizzerias. Hence, Americans met their own reflection in the other and were delighted."<ref name=Jenkins />{{rp|81}}

Jim Douglas, familiar with Bharati's thesis, applied it to blues music originating in the United States before 1960. The music of African American artists like Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters was embraced by rock musicians in the United Kingdom. Then, this re-packaged blues came back to the US presented by the Rolling Stones, Cream, Led Zeppelin, etc. in the late 1960s where it was embraced by Americans (who had never heard of Robert Johnson, etc.). Later, some of these Americans discovered the roots of the British blues-rock in the recordings of the original American Blues artists.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}} Some of those influenced by this British Invasion went on to form garage rock bands, which later influenced the first wave of punk music in the UK.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}}

== See also == * Coals to Newcastle * Invented tradition * Transculturation

== References == {{Reflist|2|refs=

<ref name=ab70>{{Cite journal| publisher = Association for Asian Studies| year = 1970| author1 = Agehananda Bharati| jstor = 2942625| issue = 2| volume = 29| pages = 267–287| title = The Hindu Renaissance and its Apologetic Patterns| journal = The Journal of Asian Studies| doi = 10.2307/2942625| doi-access = free}}</ref>

<ref name=Agren>{{Cite web |first=David |last=Agren |date=October 30, 2016 |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/29/day-of-the-dead-parade-james-bond-mexico-city |title=Mexico City's James Bond-inspired Day of the Dead parade gets mixed reviews |access-date=October 28, 2018}}</ref>

<ref name=Borup>{{citation | year=2004 | author1=Jørn Borup | chapter=Zen and the Art of Inverting Orientalism: Buddhism, Religious Studies and Interrelated Networks | title=Regional, Critical, and Historical Approaches | publisher=Walter de Gruyter | isbn=3-11-017698-X | page=477 | doi=10.1515/9783110211702.3.451 | chapter-url=http://www.reference-global.com/doi/abs/10.1515/9783110211702.3.451 }}{{Dead link|date=January 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

<ref name="expat"> {{citation | author=Agehananda Bharati | contribution=Indian Expatriates in North America and neo-Hindu Movements | year=1980 | title = The Communication of Ideas | editor1=Vinayshil Gautam | editor2= J. S. Yadava | publisher=Concept Publishing Company | page=245 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=waWQ8mAUrC8C&pg=PA245}} </ref>

<ref name=Flood> {{citation | year=1996 | title = An introduction to Hinduism | author1=Gavin D. Flood | publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn=978-0-521-43878-0 | page=267 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KpIWhKnYmF0C&q=%22pizza+effect%22&pg=PA267}}</ref>

<ref name=IrishCentral>{{Cite web |title=Leprechauns versus Irish fairies on St. Patrick's Day |url=http://www.irishcentral.com/culture/craic/irish-fairies-leprechauns-st-patricks-day |date=March 6, 2020 |website=IrishCentral.com}}</ref>

<ref name=Jenkins> {{citation|author1=Stephen Jenkins|title=Teaching Buddhism in the West: from the wheel to the Web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=49y9kQ8Yo3cC|year=2002|publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=9780700715565|editor1=Victor Sōgen Hori|contribution=Black ships, Blavatsky, and the Pizza effect: critical self-consciousness as a thematic foundation for courses in Buddhist studies|editor2=Richard P. Hayes|editor3=James Mark Shields}} </ref>

<ref name=Knott>{{citation|author1=Kim Knott|title=Hinduism: a very short introduction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wv8XK_GU9icC&q=wonders&pg=PA78|page=78|year=2000|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-285387-5}}</ref>

<ref name=Leaman> {{citation | year=1999 | title = A brief introduction to Islamic philosophy | author1=Oliver Leaman | publisher=Wiley-Blackwell | isbn=978-0-7456-1961-3 | page=150 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=COolNy1Aub8C&q=%22pizza+effect%22&pg=PA150}} </ref>

<ref name=McElwain>{{Cite web|first=Aoife |last=McElwain |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/food-and-drink/halloween-forget-pumpkins-carved-turnips-are-truly-frightening-1.3668184 |title=Halloween: Forget pumpkins – carved turnips are truly frightening |date=October 27, 2018 |publisher=Irish Times |access-date=March 3, 2020}}</ref>

<ref name=OBrien>{{Cite web |last=O'Brien|first=John|date=October 6, 2019 |title=Where Did The U.S. Find Its Leprechaun? |url=https://ohioirishamericannews.com/2019/10/06/where-did-the-u-s-find-its-leprechaun/ |website=News and Events - Ohio Irish American News}}</ref>

<ref name=OConnell>{{Cite web |last=O'Connell |first=Ronan |date=August 20, 2020 |title=Sidhe Fairies Are Truly Part of Irish Mythology, Not Leprechauns |url=https://www.fodors.com/world/europe/ireland/experiences/news/forget-leprechauns-these-fairies-rule-ireland |website=Fodors Travel Guide}}</ref>

<ref name=Queen> {{citation | year=2003 | title = Action dharma: new studies in engaged Buddhism | editor1=Christopher S. Queen | editor2=Charles S. Prebish | editor3=Damien Keown | publisher=Routledge | isbn=978-0-7007-1594-7 | page=33 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WP4RcKcEm2QC&q=%22pizza+effect%22&pg=PA33}} </ref>

<ref name=Sedgwick>{{cite journal |url=https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/binaries/content/assets/customsites/perspectives-on-terrorism/2007/issue-6/19-125-1-pb.pdf  |title=Islamist Terrorism and the "Pizza Effect" |first=Mark |last=Sedgwick |date=December 2007 |journal=Perspectives on Terrorism |volume=I |issue=6 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807013923/https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/binaries/content/assets/customsites/perspectives-on-terrorism/2007/issue-6/19-125-1-pb.pdf |archive-date=2020-08-07}}</ref>

<ref name="StAndrep39">St. André, James. "Modern Translation Theory and Past Translation Practice: European Translations of the ''Haoqiu zhuan''" (Chapter 2). In: Chan, Leo Tak-hung (editor). ''One Into Many: Translation and the Dissemination of Classical Chinese Literature'' (Issue 18 of Approaches to translation studies). Rodopi, 2003. Start page 39. {{ISBN|9042008156}}, 9789042008151. p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=o5oPBC2AfgAC&pg=PA39 39].</ref>

<ref name=Trekking>{{Cite web|title=Getting My Irish Up |url=http://trektrebek.weebly.com/1/post/2013/03/getting-my-irish-up.html |website=Trekking and Trebeking}}</ref>

<ref name=Watkins>{{Cite book |last=Watkins |first=Amanda |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/880356978 |title=Cholombianos|date=2014 |publisher=Trilce Ediciones |isbn=978-607-7663-64-5 |oclc=880356978}}</ref>

<ref name=White> {{citation|author1=David Gordon White|title=Myths of the dog-man|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xLJ-aiwT0CsC&q=%22pizza+effect%22&pg=PA267|page=267|year=1991|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-89509-3}} </ref>

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Category:Religious studies Category:Global culture Category:Cultural studies Category:Pizza Category:Cultural exchange