Barbarism and its discontents / Maria Boletsi.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Boletsi, Maria.

Series:

Cultural Memory in the Present

Cultural memory in the present

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Civilization.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (326 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Stanford, Calif. : Stanford University Press, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Barbarism and civilization form one of the oldest and most rigid oppositions in Western history. According to this dichotomy, barbarism functions as the negative standard through which "civilization" fosters its self-definition and superiority by labeling others "barbarians." Since the 1990's, and especially since 9/11, these terms have become increasingly popular in Western political and cultural rhetoric—a rhetoric that divides the world into forces of good and evil. This study intervenes in this recent trend and interrogates contemporary and historical uses of barbarism, arguing that barbarism also has a disruptive, insurgent potential. Boletsi recasts barbarism as a productive concept, finding that it is a common thread in works of literature, art, and theory. By dislodging barbarism from its conventional contexts, this book reclaims barbarism's edge and proposes it as a useful theoretical tool.

Contents:

Piecework

Thinking barbarism today

It's all Greek to me : the barbarian in history

A positive barbarism?

Barbarism in repetition : literature's waiting for the barbarians

Another "kind of solution"? : art's waiting for the barbarians

New barbarians.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780804785372

0804785376

OCLC:

827212569