Michael Taussig: Mimesis and Alterity: A Particular History of the Senses (1993)

In his most ambitious and accomplished work to date, Michael Taussig undertakes a history of mimesis, the practice of imitation, and its relation to alterity, the opposition of Self and Other. Drawing upon such diverse sources as theories of Benjamin, Adorno and Horckheimer, research on the Cuna Indians, and theories of colonialism and postcolonialism, Taussig shows that the history of mimesis is deeply tied to colonialism, and more specifically, to the colonial trade’s construction of “savages.” With analysis that is vigorous, unorthodox, and often breathtaking, Taussig’s cross-cultural discussion of mimesis deepens our understanding of the relationship between ethnography, racism and society.

Publisher Routledge, New York/London, 1993
ISBN 0415906873, 9780415906876
320 pages

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Dorothy M. Figueira: Otherwise Occupied: Pedagogies of Alterity and the Brahminization of Theory (2008)

“Questions whether current theories and pedagogies of alterity have allowed us truly to engage the Other.

Tracing the historical development of recent identity-based trends in literary theory to their roots in structuralism, Dorothy M. Figueira questions the extent to which theories and pedagogies of alterity have actually enabled us to engage the Other. She tracks academic attempts to deal with alterity from their inception in critical thought in the 1960s to the present. Focusing on multiculturalism and postcolonialism as professional and institutional practices, Figueira examines how such theories and pedagogies informed the academic and public discourse regarding September 11. She also investigates the theories and pedagogies of alterity as crucial elements in the bureaucratization of diversity within academe and discusses their impact on affirmative action.”

Publisher SUNY Press, 2008
ISBN 0791475735, 9780791475737
163 pages

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