In religious studies and

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

, 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, or the way in which a community's self-understanding is influenced by (or imposed by, or imported from) foreign sources. Related phrases include "hermeneutical feedback loop", "re-enculturation", and "self-orientalization". BOURCARD(1858) p2

The term "pizza effect" was coined by the Austrian-born

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedic ...

and professor of Anthropology at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

Agehananda Bharati Swāmī Agehānanda Bhāratī (अगेहानन्द भारती) (Vienna, April 20, 1923 – New York, May 14, 1991) was the monastic name of Leopold Fischer, professor of anthropology at Syracuse University for over 30 years. He was an ...

, who wrote the following in 1970, based on his analysis of this phenomenon. Although Bharati's knowledge of pizza history was incorrect, the term ''pizza effect'' nonetheless 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 Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian director, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, author, essayist, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and music composer. One of the greatest auteurs of ...

, which were flops in India before they were given prizes in

Western countries The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.

and re-evaluated as classics of the

Indian cinema The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, ...

* The popularity in India of movements like those of

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (born Mahesh Prasad Varma, 12 January 1918

and

ISKCON The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), known colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement or Hare Krishnas, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava Hindu religious organization. ISKCON was founded in 1966 in New York City by A. C. Bhaktiv ...

based on their popularity in the West * The popularity of postural yoga in India, several

gurus Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverential ...

, and some other Indian systems and teachings following their popularity in the West * The exalted status of the ''

Bhagavad Gita The Bhagavad Gita (; sa, श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता, lit=The Song by God, translit=śrīmadbhagavadgītā;), often referred to as the Gita (), is a 700- verse Hindu scripture that is part of the epic ''Mahabharata'' ( ...

'' 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"

Contemporary understanding

Buddhism

The founders of the

Theosophical Society The Theosophical Society, founded in 1875, is a worldwide body with the aim to advance the ideas of Theosophy in continuation of previous Theosophists, especially the Greek and Alexandrian Neo-Platonic philosophers dating back to 3rd century CE ...

, Helena Blavatsky and

Henry Steel Olcott Colonel Henry Steel Olcott (2 August 1832 – 17 February 1907) was an American military officer, journalist, lawyer, Freemason and the co-founder and first president of the Theosophical Society. Olcott was the first well-known American of Euro ...

, were influenced by Eastern religions, then placed their headquarters in

Adyar, Chennai Adyar is a large neighbourhood in south Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is located on the southern banks of the Adyar River. It is surrounded by the Tharamani in the West, Thiruvanmiyur to the South, Besant Nagar in the East, Kotturpuram i ...

, from where they spread their views within India. Similarly,

Buddhist modernism Buddhist modernism (also referred to as modern Buddhism, modernist Buddhism, and Neo-Buddhism are new movements based on modern era reinterpretations of Buddhism. David McMahan states that modernism in Buddhism is similar to those found in other ...

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 Theravada Buddhism is the largest and official religion of Sri Lanka, practiced by 70.2% of the population as of 2012. Practitioners of Sri Lankan Buddhism can be found amongst the majority Sinhalese population as well as among the minority e ...

Anagarika Dharmapala Anagārika Dharmapāla (Pali: ''Anagārika'', ; Sinhala: Anagārika, lit., si, අනගාරික ධර්මපාල; 17 September 1864 – 29 April 1933) was a Sri Lankan Buddhist revivalist and a writer. Anagarika Dharmapāla is not ...

, who, along with the Theosophical Society, was instrumental in spreading Buddhism in both India and the West. According to scholar Kim Knott,

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

"was not very interested in religion until he went to London to study law, where he studied the ''

'' in English in

Sir Edwin Arnold Sir Edwin Arnold KCIE CSI (10 June 183224 March 1904) was an English poet and journalist, who is most known for his work '' The Light of Asia''. The influence of translations by the British-based

Pali Text Society The Pali Text Society is a text publication society founded in 1881 by Thomas William Rhys Davids "to foster and promote the study of Pāli texts". Pāli is the language in which the texts of the Theravada school of Buddhism are preserved. The ...

on South Asian Buddhism.

Mexico

Cholo culture is an invention of

Chicanos Chicano or Chicana is a chosen identity for many Mexican Americans in the United States. The label ''Chicano'' is sometimes used interchangeably with ''Mexican American'', although the terms have different meanings. While Mexican-American iden ...

in California, especially Los Angeles. Today, the fashion of Cholos is finding its way into Mexico in a reinterpreted form. The

Day of the Dead The Day of the Dead ( es, Día de Muertos or ''Día de los Muertos'') is a holiday traditionally celebrated on November 1 and 2, though other days, such as October 31 or November 6, may be included depending on the locality. It is widely obser ...

parade in Mexico City was inspired by an event in the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors hav ...

film ''

Spectre Spectre, specter or the spectre may refer to: Religion and spirituality * Vision (spirituality) * Apparitional experience * Ghost Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Spectre'' (1977 film), a made-for-television film produced and wri ...

'', which was fictional when the film was produced.

Ireland

Traditional Irish halloween Jack-o'-lantern

The creation of

jack-o'-lanterns A jack-o'-lantern (or jack o'lantern) is a carved lantern, most commonly made from a pumpkin or a root vegetable such as a rutabaga or turnip. Jack-o'-lanterns are associated with the Halloween holiday. Its name comes from the reported phenomen ...

from turnips (

rutabaga Rutabaga (; North American English) or swede (British English and some Commonwealth English) is a root vegetable, a form of ''Brassica napus'' (which also includes rapeseed). Other names include Swedish turnip, neep (Scots), and turnip (Scott ...

) was a

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observan ...

custom in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

and parts of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

. Irish immigrants brought this tradition with them to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, and adapted it to use native

pumpkins A pumpkin is a vernacular term for mature winter squash of species and varieties in the genus ''Cucurbita'' that has culinary and cultural significance but no agreed upon botanical or scientific meaning. The term ''pumpkin'' is sometimes use ...

instead of turnips. In time, pumpkins came to be used instead of turnips to create jack-o'-lanterns in Ireland and Great Britain.

St Patrick's Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick ( ga, Lá Fhéile Pádraig, lit=the Day of the Festival of Patrick), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patr ...

, and the

parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of s ...

s associated with it, were first made festival events by

Irish Americans , image = Irish ancestry in the USA 2018; Where Irish eyes are Smiling.png , image_caption = Irish Americans, % of population by state , caption = Notable Irish Americans , population = 36,115,472 (10.9%) alone ...

; in fact,

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

did not hold a St Patrick's Day parade until 1931. The

Irish traditional music Irish traditional music (also known as Irish trad, Irish folk music, and other variants) is a genre of folk music that developed in Ireland. In ''A History of Irish Music'' (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that, in Gaelic Ireland, there we ...

revival of the 1960s–70s was partially begun in America. The

leprechaun A leprechaun ( ga, leipreachán/luchorpán) is a diminutive supernatural being in Irish folklore, classed by some as a type of solitary fairy. They are usually depicted as little bearded men, wearing a coat and hat, who partake in mischief. ...

is a very minor figure in Irish myth and folklore; they were popularized in Irish America and are only seen in

in tourist contexts, such as in souvenir shops and at the National Leprechaun Museum.

Islam

The religious thought of

Ibn Rushd Ibn Rushd ( ar, ; full name in ; 14 April 112611 December 1198), often Latinized as Averroes ( ), was an Andalusian polymath and jurist who wrote about many subjects, including philosophy, theology, medicine, astronomy, physics, psychology, ...

(Averroes), which was taken up by 19th-century Europeans such as

Ernest Renan Joseph Ernest Renan (; 27 February 18232 October 1892) was a French Orientalist and Semitic scholar, expert of Semitic languages and civilizations, historian of religion, philologist, philosopher, biblical scholar, and critic. He wrote in ...

, and thereby regained popularity during the

Nahda The Nahda ( ar, النهضة, translit=an-nahḍa, meaning "the Awakening"), also referred to as the Arab Awakening or Enlightenment, was a cultural movement that flourished in Arabic-speaking regions of the Ottoman Empire, notably in Egypt, Leb ...

, the Islamic renaissance. Analyst

Mark Sedgwick Mark J. Sedgwick (born 20 July 1960) is a British historian specialising in the study of traditionalism, Islam, Sufi mysticism, and terrorism. He is Professor of Arab and Islamic Studies at Aarhus University in Denmark and chair of the Nordic S ...

wrote that

Islamist terrorism Islamic terrorism (also known as Islamist terrorism or radical Islamic terrorism) refers to terrorist acts with religious motivations carried out by fundamentalist militant Islamists and Islamic extremists. Incidents and fatalities f ...

, and specifically

suicide bombing A suicide attack is any violent attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have occurred throughout histor ...

, can be seen as examples, beginning as isolated interpretations of the concept of

shahid ''Shaheed'' ( , , ; pa, ਸ਼ਹੀਦ) denotes a martyr in Islam. The word is used frequently in the Quran in the generic sense of "witness" but only once in the sense of "martyr" (i.e. one who dies for his faith); ...

, or martyrdom, then being re-exported to the greater Muslim world.

Other examples

Teppanyaki , often confused with , is a post-World War II style of Japanese cuisine that uses an iron griddle to cook food. The word ''teppanyaki'' is derived from ''teppan'' ( 鉄板), the metal plate on which it is cooked, and ''yaki'' ( 焼き), whic ...

, a Western-influenced cuisine style created in Japan, popular in the U.S.

Salsa music Salsa music is a style of Latin American music. Because most of the basic musical components predate the labeling of salsa, there have been many controversies regarding its origin. Most songs considered as salsa are primarily based on son mont ...

: the first salsa bands were mainly

Puerto Ricans Puerto Ricans ( es, Puertorriqueños; or boricuas) are the people of Puerto Rico, the inhabitants, and citizens of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and their descendants. Overview The culture held in common by most Puerto Ricans is referred t ...

who moved to New York in the 1930s. ''

Haoqiu zhuan ''Haoqiu zhuan'' (translated into English variously as ''The Fortunate Union'' or ''The Pleasing History''), also known as ''Hau Kiou Chuaan'', is a Chinese ''caizi jiaren'' (scholar and beauty) novel published in the 17th century.Epstein, Maram ...

'', 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." 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.

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 Martin Heidegger (; ; 26 September 188926 May 1976) was a German philosopher who is best known for contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. He is among the most important and influential philosophers of the 20th centu ...

"appear to have been significantly inspired by Eastern thought – an Eastern thought itself presented through '

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

' 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." 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 American cuisine consists of the cooking style and traditional dishes prepared in the United States. It has been significantly influenced by Europeans, indigenous Native Americans, Africans, Asians, Pacific Islanders, and many other cultures a ...

: "pizza-loving American tourists, going to Italy in the millions, sought out authentic Italian pizza. Italians, responding to this demand, developed

pizzeria A pizzeria is a restaurant focusing on pizza. As well as pizza, dishes at pizzerias can include kebab, salads and pasta. Many pizzerias offer take-away, where the customer orders their food either in advance or at the restaurant and then take ...

s 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."

Jim Douglas James Holley Douglas (born June 21, 1951) is an American politician from the state of Vermont. A Republican, he served the 80th governor of Vermont from 2003 to 2011. On August 27, 2009, Douglas announced that he would not seek re-election fo ...

, familiar with Bharati's thesis, applied it to

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the ...

music originating in the United States before 1960. The music of

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

artists like Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, etc. went over to England, where it was embraced by rock musicians. 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. Some of those influenced by this British Invasion went on to form

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

bands, which later influenced the first wave of punk music in the UK.

References

{{Reflist, 2, refs= {{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 David Agren, October 30, 2016, The Guardian
Mexico City's James Bond-inspired Day of the Dead parade gets mixed reviews
retrieved October 28, 2018. {{citation , year=2004 , chapter = Zen and the Art of Inverting Orientalism , author1=Jørn Borup , 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 {{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 {{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 {{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 {{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, 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 {{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 {{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 Aoife McElwain
Halloween: Forget pumpkins – carved turnips are truly frightening
(October 27, 2018). ''Irish Times''. Retrieved March 3rd 2020. {{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 {{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 {{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 {{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 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
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{{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 {{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 {{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 Religious studies Metaphors referring to food and drink Global culture Cultural studies