BON JOVI ELDER

Photograph by J. C. McCall

Most Americans find it jarring and humorous to see this image of an elderly African man in a Bon Jovi T-shirt. It is instructive to reflect upon the source of this reaction. In America, the shirt would signify that the wearer is a fan of the metal rock band Bon Jovi— something this man is almost certainly not. In rural Africa, the symbolism of the shirt becomes alienated from the context that gives it significance for Americans, much as when an African initiation mask is removed from its ceremonial context and displayed as an object of art in a museum. In both cases, the original meanings associated with the object are lost and new meanings are attached.