The cultural theorist Iain Chambers is known for his historically
grounded, philosophically informed, and politically pointed
inquiries into issues of identity, alterity, and migration, and the
challenge postcolonial studies poses to conventional Western
thought. With Mediterranean Crossings, he challenges insufficient
prevailing characterizations of the Mediterranean by offering a
vibrant interdisciplinary and intercultural interpretation of the
region’s culture and history. The “Mediterranean” as a
concept entered the European lexicon only in the early nineteenth
century. As an object of study, it is the product of modern
geographical, political, and historical classifications. Chambers
contends that the region’s fundamentally fluid, hybrid nature has
long been obscured by the categories and strictures imposed by
European discourse and government.In evocative and erudite prose,
Chambers renders the Mediterranean a mutable space, profoundly
marked by the linguistic, literary, culinary, musical, and
intellectual dissemination of Arab, Jewish, Turkish, and Latin
cultures. He brings to light histories of Mediterranean
crossings—of people, goods, melodies, thought—that are rarely
part of orthodox understandings. Chambers writes in a style that
reflects the fluidity of the exchanges that have formed the region;
he segues between major historical events and local daily routines,
backwards and forwards in time, and from one part of the
Mediterranean to another. A sea of endlessly overlapping cultural
and historical currents, the Mediterranean exceeds the immediate
constraints of nationalism and inflexible identity. It offers
scholars an opportunity to rethink the past and present and to
imagine a future beyond the confines of Western humanistic thought.
General
Imprint: |
Duke University Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
2008 |
Firstpublished: |
2008 |
Authors: |
Iain Chambers
|
Dimensions: |
222 x 152 x 16mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback
|
Pages: |
192 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-8223-4150-5 |
Categories: |
Books
Promotions
|
LSN: |
0-8223-4150-6 |
Barcode: |
9780822341505 |
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