Returning the Gaze : The Manichean Drama of Postcolonial Exoticism

This book is proposed as a contribution to postcolonial critiques of the colonial and postcolonial exotic. It investigates the exotic as a representation of colonial cultural difference in colonial discourse, culture and history, and its oppositional rewritings in postcolonial thought and literature. Its analyses of the exotic include classical Arabo-Islamic ethnographic texts, Marco Polo’s and Mandeville’s travel accounts, Shakespeare’s __The Tempest__, Montesquieu’s __Lettres Persanes__, and a variety of colonial and postcolonial texts. Its Deconstructive approach to the exotic breaks new grounds of analysis beyond the Saidian problematic of «Orientalism», Homi Bhabha’s intervention on the exotic, Hegel’s Master/Slave dialectic, Michel Foucault’s archaeology of Western cultural history, and Sartre’s theorization of the «gaze» and its underlying Phenomenological subject. The scope of critical discussions of the exotic in this book includes – apart from Western cultural history – postmodern and postcolonial critiques of the colonial Other and exotic, and anthropological and philosophical discussions of the exotic. While tracing the divided inscription of the exotic as a colonial subject with reference to Shakespeare’s __The Tempest__, the author throws into question l’Exote and the exotic Other as problematic subject positions for reading and rewriting the exotic in cultural history, and the double binds of counter-Exoticist discourses. Cover Contents Acknowledgements A Note to the Reader Introduction: Re-reading the Alterity of the Exotic in Cultural History Beyond Michel Foucault’s Archaeology and Said’s ‘Orientalism’ Model Some Methodological Difficulties of Approaching Exoticism/the Exotic The "Catachrestical" Inscription of the Other and Exotic in Western Cultural History The Inscription of the Exotic in Western Discourse, Culture and History Two Philosophical Readings of the "Alterity" of the Other in Cultural History Notes Chapter 1. Mapping Exoticism/the Exotic on Colonial and Postcolonial Culture Mapping Literary Exoticism on Colonial Cultural History Segalen’s Re-Definition of Exoticism/the Exotic: Two Postcolonial Readings Mapping Exoticism/the Exotic on Orientalism Bhabha’s ‘Untranslatability’ of the Exotic and its Ambivalence Postcolonial Readings of the Exotic in Colonial Fiction Exoticism/the Exotic from the Viewpoint of Critical Anthropology Baudrillard’s Post-Hegelian Critique of the Exotic The Re-Invention of the Exotic in Postmodern Thought and Literature The Alterity of the Colonial Other and Exotic Notes Chapter 2. The Articulations of Exoticism on Culture, History and Subjectivity The Exotic as an (Imagined) ‘Universal’ Subject The ‘Relativist’ Conception of the Exotic and its Ethical Subject The Anthropological Reading of the Exotic: ‘Reading Through Western Eyes’ In the name of "l’Exote:" Some Postcolonial Interventions on the Exotic V.Y. Mudimbe’s Archaeological Reading of the African Exotic Edward Said’s Critical Intervention on Exoticism/the Exotic Homi Bhabha’s Semiotic Approach to the Exotic Deconstructing the Exotic in Cultural History Beyond Hegel’s Self/Other Dialectic The Arabo-Islamic Assimilation of the Other and Exotic The Inscription of the Exotic as a Colonial Subject Returning the Gaze’: Counter-Exoticist Discourses and Their Double Binds Notes Chapter 3. Beyond Michel Foucault’s Archaeology of the ‘Same’ and the ‘Other’ Foucault’s Archaeology of Classical Culture: Two Post-Foucauldian Readings The Blind Spots of Foucault’s Archaeological Account of Classical Culture "Exotic Alterity" in Renaissance Culture: Foucault’s Major Blind Spot Re-Reading Caliban as the Colonial Other and Exotic The Inscription of the "Exotic" as a "Colonial Subject" in "The Tempest" The Troping of Caliban’s Exotic Alterity as "Catachresis" Notes Chapter 4. Beyond Hegel’s Master/Slave Dialectic: Writing Back as Caliban, or as Prospero The Postcolonial Critique of Writing Back as Caliban or as Prospero The Colonial ‘Other’ as an ‘(Im)Possible’ Reading Perspective Beyond Hegel’s Master/Slave Dialectic: The Postcolonial Inscription of Prospero and Caliban Two Dialectical Rewritings of Caliban In the Name of "L’Exote:" Retamar’s Rewriting of Caliban The Double Binds of Writing Back as "l’Exote" or the "Exotic Other" The Manichean Drama of Postcolonial Exoticism: Writing Back as "l’Exote," or the "Exotic Other" The Limits of Dialectical Rewritings of l’Exote/the Exotic Other Notes Conclusions. Beyond the Manichean Drama of Postcolonial Exoticism Notes Bibliography Index This Book Is Proposed As A Contribution To Postcolonial Critiques Of The Colonial And Postcolonial Exotic. It Investigates The Exotic As A Representation Of Colonial Cultural Difference In Colonial Discourse, Culture And History, And Its Oppositional Rewritings In Postcolonial Thought And Literature. Introduction: Re-reading The Alterity Of The Exotic In Cultural History -- Mapping Exoticism/the Exotic On Colonial And Postcolonial Culture -- The Articulations Of Exoticism On Culture, History And Subjectivity -- Beyond Michel Foucault's Archaeology Of The 'same' And The 'other' -- Beyond Hegel's Master/slave Dialectic: Writing Back As Caliban, Or As Prospero -- Beyond And The Manichean Drama Of Postcolonial Exoticism. Asma Agzenay. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.