Marco Polo Syndrome in Art and Society

When people think of cultures other than their own, they typically stereotype. They tend to generalize and automatically think of cliché words such as “tradition”. For example, thinking that African art should only be created within the context of “tradition” and believing that contemporary concepts have no place in “traditional” art. People of the Western world have a hard time escaping these stereotypes, especially when it comes to art. Gerardo Mosquera states, “Third World artists are constantly asked to display their identity, to be fantastic, to look like no one else or to look like Frida…” (Kocur, Leung 221). I agree with this statement because it seems that people can be accepting of “the other’s” work to a certain extent. That is if it fits into their perceived image of what the art should look like based on their prior knowledge of the artworks cultural category. However if the work is too different from their expectations, they will reject it.

Just as much as the Marco Polo Syndrome relates to art, it also relates to American society in general. From a sociological standpoint, people base their beliefs and attitudes on their social or cultural norms. Anything that is outside or different from those norms is considered “taboo”. People are quick to make judgments based on what they know as “normal”. The “others” or people of another culture, then have to make the decision whether or not to adapt to the “norms” of society in which they live, or to expressively enhance their cultural background and be “different”. Mosquera states, “Ethnocentrism always suggests the naïve vanity of a villager who, as Jose Marti said, assumes that ‘the whole world is his village’, believing everything originated there even if it were imposed on him through conquest” (Kocur, Leung 219). Although it is improving, I feel that as Americans, we can be so sheltered in our perspective of other cultures, thinking that our way of life is the only way.

When doing further research on the Marco Polo Syndrome, I found a website called, “China Expat”, which discussed the Marco Polo Syndrome in relation to the way Americans handle their unknown environment, specifically China. The author, Ernie Diaz, listed several of the “symptoms” of Marco Polo Syndrome. My favorite symptom, due to its complete accuracy, was “Communicative Aphasia, manifested by shouting English in the mistaken belief that increased volume can bridge the language gap” (Diaz, “Marco Polo Syndrome”). Although this website did not relate to art, I think this “symptom” can be connected to Mosquero’s viewpoint. Mosquero says, “we should realize that the way towards an intercultural evaluation of the work of art is not just a question of seeing, but also of listening” (Kocur, Leung 223). These two quotes can be compared in that they both are trying to say that we should take a step back and instead of screaming or just simply looking, we should listen to what the “other” is trying to say, literally and/or abstractly. It is possible that if we were to take that advice we could increase the possibility of our world being a little less “ethnocentric”.

Kocur, Zoya, and Simon Leung. Theory in Contemporary Art since 1985. Malden:

Blackwell Publishing, 2005. Print.

“Marco Polo Syndrome.” Chinaexpat.com China Expat, n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2010