In a wide-ranging account of the development of ideas about
human difference, Nicholas Thomas challenges reigning theories that
portray colonialism as monolithic in character, purpose, and
efficacy throughout the world. Taking issue with such writers as
Edward Said, Homi Bhabha, and Gayatri Spivak, Thomas describes
colonialism not so much as a discourse but a project--a project in
which the interactions among colonizing and colonized people are
far more variable and reveal greater ambivalence than generally
imagined. In addition to his review of current literature in
cultural studies, the author provides extended reflections on
photographs, colonial novels, exhibits of indigenous art,
ethnographic films, and recent Hollywood films in order to reveal
how deep and pervasive is colonialism's culture for colonizer and
colonized.
Thomas proposes that historicized, ethnographic explorations of
the colonial experience are the most fruitful approaches to
understanding colonialism's continued effects. He draws on travel,
anthropology, and government as vehicles that gave nineteenth-and
early twentieth-century Europeans exposure to colonized populations
and provided a language through which to discuss them. The author
reveals colonialism to be a complex ongoing cultural process--one
in which dominated populations are represented in ways that play
upon and legitimize racial and cultural differences. A provocative
book for specialists, "Colonialism's Culture" can also serve as a
stimulating introduction for students across the social sciences
and humanities interested in this multifaceted field of
inquiry.
General
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!