Ashkenazic elites framed themselves as the exclusive preservers of Mizrahi culture.

Evidence

Offering no acknowledgment of the social pressures placed on Mizrahi immigrants to adapt to Ashkenazic Israeli culture, Bat-Dori claims that the immigrants swiftly abandoned their traditional ways of life because they thought them to be not worth preserving. The preservation of Mizrahi culture was entirely the work of Ashkenazic experts: “And so we began to uncover these treasures through persuasion. We went to the villages, talked with people, opened armoires, took out clothes and musical instruments. We convinced them that they had something beautiful to show us.” — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 723 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Yet much of the so-called Mizrahi music was, in fact, written by European Jews with a Western musical sensibility. Oriental embellishments (and oriental performers) were grafted onto Western tonal and chord patterns. — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 707 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The Mizrahi category was an elite construct before becoming a reclaimed identity; Ashkenazic experts framed Mizrahi cultural preservation as their own benevolent civilizing work — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 723; Mizrahi cultures were framed as isolated, unchanging, and awaiting external preservation — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 723 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Ashkenazic experts framed Mizrahi cultural preservation as their own benevolent civilizing work #corroborates (0.95) — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 723
• Supposedly Mizrahi music was largely composed by European Jews in Western styles. #complicates (0.73) — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 707