Against Exoticism: Toward the Transcendence of Relativism and Universalism in Anthropology

Against Exoticism: Toward the Transcendence of Relativism and Universalism in Anthropology

Paperback (01 Dec 2016)

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Publisher's Synopsis

Anthropology begins in the encounter with the 'exotic': what stands outside of-and challenges-conventional or established understandings. This volume confronts the distortions of orientalism, ethnocentrism, and romantic nostalgia to expose exoticism, defined as the construction of false and unsubstantiated difference. Its aim is to re-found the importance of the exotic in the development of anthropological knowledge and to overcome methodological dualisms and dualistic approaches.


Chapters look at the risk of exoticism in the perspectivist approach, the significant exotic corrective of Lévi-Strauss vis-à-vis an imperializing Eurocentrism, our nostalgic relationship with the ethnographic record, and the attempts of local communities to readapt previous exoticized referents, renegotiate their identity, and 'counter-exoticize.' This volume demonstrates a range of approaches that will be valuable for researchers and students seeking to effectively establish comparative methodological frameworks that transcend issues of relativism and universalism.

Book information

ISBN: 9781785333705
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Imprint: Berghahn Books
Pub date:
DEWEY: 305.8
DEWEY edition: 23
Language: English
Number of pages: vi, 147
Weight: 246g
Height: 155mm
Width: 229mm
Spine width: 13mm