The Predicament of Culture - Twentieth-Century Ethnography, Literature, and Art (Paperback)

The Predicament of Culture is a critical ethnography of the West in its changing relations with other societies. Analyzing cultural practices such as anthropology, travel writing, collecting, and museum displays of tribal art, James Clifford shows authoritative accounts of other ways of life to be contingent fictions, now actively contested in post-colonial contexts. His critique raises questions of global significance: Who has the authority to speak for any group's identity and authenticity? What are the essential elements and boundaries of a culture? How do self and "the other" clash in the encounters of ethnography, travel, and modern interethnic relations? In chapters devoted to the history of anthropology, Clifford discusses the work of Malinowski, Mead, Griaule, Levi-Strauss, Turner, Geertz, and other influential scholars. He also explores the affinity of ethnography with avant-garde art and writing, recovering a subversive, self-reflexive cultural criticism. The surrealists' encounters with Paris or New York, the work of Georges Bataille and Michel Leiris in the College de Sociologie, and the hybrid constructions of recent tribal artists offer provocative ethnographic examples that challenge familiar notions of difference and identity. In an emerging global modernity, the exotic is unexpectedly nearby, the familiar strangely distanced.

General

Imprint:	Harvard University Press
Country of origin:	United States
Release date:	May 1988
First published:	May 1988
Authors:	James Clifford
Dimensions:	235 x 152 x 25mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback - Trade
Pages:	398
ISBN-13:	978-0-674-69843-7
Categories:	Books > Reference & Interdisciplinary > Interdisciplinary studies > Cultural studies > General Promotions
LSN:	0-674-69843-6
Barcode:	9780674698437

Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate? Let us know about it.

Does this product have an incorrect or missing image? Send us a new image.

Is this product missing categories? Add more categories.

Review This Product

No reviews yet - be the first to create one!