Unthinking Eurocentrism

Multiculturalism and the Media

By Ella Shohat, Robert Stam | Publisher: Taylor and Francis

About the book

Unthinking Eurocentrism, a seminal and award-winning work in postcolonial studies first published in 1994, explored Eurocentrism as an interlocking network of buried premises, embedded narratives, and submerged tropes that constituted a broadly shared epistemology. Within a transdisciplinary study, the authors argued that the debates about Eurocentrism and post/coloniality must be considered within a broad historical sweep that goes at least as far back as the various 1492s – the Inquisition, the Expulsion of Jews and Muslims, the Conquest of the Americas, and the Transatlantic slave trade – a process which culminates in the post-War attempts to radically decolonize global culture. Ranging over multiple geographies, the book deprovincialized media/cultural studies through a \"polycentric\" approach, while analysing in depth such issues as postcolonial hybridity, antinomies of Enlightenment, the tropes of empire, gender and rescue fantasies, the racial politics of casting, and the limitations of \"positive image\" analysis.

The substantial new afterword in this 20th anniversary new edition brings these issues into the present by charting recent transformations of the intellectual debates, as terms such as the \"transnational,\" the \"commons,\" \"indigeneity,\" and the \"Red Atlantic\" have come to the fore. The afterword also explores some cinematic trends such as \"indigenous media\" and \"postcolonial adaptations\" that have gained strength over the past two decades, along with others, such as Nollywood, that have emerged with startling force. Winner of the Katherine Kovacs Singer Best Film Book Award, the book has been translated in full or in its entirety into diverse languages from Spanish to Farsi. This expanded edition of a ground-breaking text proposes analytical grids relevant to a wide variety of fields including postcolonial studies, literary studies, anthropology, media studies, cultural studies, and critical race studies.

Editions of Unthinking Eurocentrism

EBook
ISBN 9781317675402
PDF
ISBN 9781317675419

Read an Excerpt

Unthinking Eurocentrism, a seminal and award-winning work in postcolonial studies first published in 1994, explored Eurocentrism as an interlocking network of buried premises, embedded narratives, and submerged tropes that constituted a broadly shared epistemology. Within a transdisciplinary study, the authors argued that the debates about Eurocentrism and post/coloniality must be considered within a broad historical sweep that goes at least as far back as the various 1492s – the Inquisition, the Expulsion of Jews and Muslims, the Conquest of the Americas, and the Transatlantic slave trade – a process which culminates in the post-War attempts to radically decolonize global culture. Ranging over multiple geographies, the book deprovincialized media/cultural studies through a \"polycentric\" approach, while analysing in depth such issues as postcolonial hybridity, antinomies of Enlightenment, the tropes of empire, gender and rescue fantasies, the racial politics of casting, and the limitations of \"positive image\" analysis.

The substantial new afterword in this 20th anniversary new edition brings these issues into the present by charting recent transformations of the intellectual debates, as terms such as the \"transnational,\" the \"commons,\" \"indigeneity,\" and the \"Red Atlantic\" have come to the fore. The afterword also explores some cinematic trends such as \"indigenous media\" and \"postcolonial adaptations\" that have gained strength over the past two decades, along with others, such as Nollywood, that have emerged with startling force. Winner of the Katherine Kovacs Singer Best Film Book Award, the book has been translated in full or in its entirety into diverse languages from Spanish to Farsi. This expanded edition of a ground-breaking text proposes analytical grids relevant to a wide variety of fields including postcolonial studies, literary studies, anthropology, media studies, cultural studies, and critical race studies.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Unthinking Eurocentrism about?

Unthinking Eurocentrism, a seminal and award-winning work in postcolonial studies first published in 1994, explored Eurocentrism as an interlocking network of buried premises, embedded narratives, and submerged tropes that constituted a broadly shared epistemology. Within a transdisciplinary study, the authors argued that the debates about Eurocentrism and post/coloniality must be considered within a broad historical sweep that goes at least as far back as the various 1492s – the Inquisition, the Expulsion of Jews and Muslims, the Conquest of the Americas, and the Transatlantic slave trade – a process which culminates in the post-War attempts to radically decolonize global culture. Ranging over multiple geographies, the book deprovincialized media/cultural studies through a \"polycentric\" approach, while analysing in depth such issues as postcolonial hybridity, antinomies of Enlightenment, the tropes of empire, gender and rescue fantasies, the racial politics of casting, and the limitations of \"positive image\" analysis.

The substantial new afterword in this 20th anniversary new edition brings these issues into the present by charting recent transformations of the intellectual debates, as terms such as the \"transnational,\" the \"commons,\" \"indigeneity,\" and the \"Red Atlantic\" have come to the fore. The afterword also explores some cinematic trends such as \"indigenous media\" and \"postcolonial adaptations\" that have gained strength over the past two decades, along with others, such as Nollywood, that have emerged with startling force. Winner of the Katherine Kovacs Singer Best Film Book Award, the book has been translated in full or in its entirety into diverse languages from Spanish to Farsi. This expanded edition of a ground-breaking text proposes analytical grids relevant to a wide variety of fields including postcolonial studies, literary studies, anthropology, media studies, cultural studies, and critical race studies.

What core themes, tropes, or subjects are explored in Unthinking Eurocentrism?

Society and Social Sciences > Society and culture: general > Cultural and media studies > Media studies

Where can I read a sample of Unthinking Eurocentrism?

You can read an official preview of the few pages here https://www.book2look.com/book/9781317675402

Is Unthinking Eurocentrism part of a series, and can it be read as a standalone?

Yes it is a part of series Sightlines

Who is/are the Author/s of the book Unthinking Eurocentrism?

Ella Shohat, Robert Stam

Who is the Publisher of the book Unthinking Eurocentrism?

Taylor and Francis

What are the ISBN numbers for the physical and digital editions?

Unthinking Eurocentrism is available as ebook(ISBN 9781317675402) and pdf(ISBN 9781317675419)