Modernity as exile
Subtitle: The stranger in John Berger's writing
By: Nikos Papastergiadis.
Publisher: Manchester University Press; Distributed exclusively in the USA and Canada by St. Martin's Press
Published: 1993
Place of publication: Manchester, UK; New York; New York
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 218
Subjects: Berger, John -- Characters -- Outsiders.; Outsiders in literature.; Modernism (Literature) -- Great Britain.; Alienation (Social psychology) in literature.; Marginality, Social, in literature.; Exiles in literature.
Description: Modernity as exile tackles the themes of migration, displacement, and multiculturalism in the modern world. Throughout John Berger's writings, whether an art, literature or sociology, the figure of the stranger signals both the pain of uprooting and the insight gained from 'another way of seeing'. Nikos Papastergiadis uses this figure to argue that 'exile' is not merely a political or social fact, but is an inner condition, central to the postmodern self. He analyses the cultural dynamics that connect migration and exile, not simply as the negative consequence of contemporary culture, but as its fundamental driving force. Peoples are displaced not only by wars and famine but by economics, tourism, global telecommunications. How this explodes our notions of home, of community and our sense of belonging is the central question addressed by this provocative and powerful book.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [196]-209) and index.