Otherness: A Multilateral Perspective

by Susan Yi Sencindiver (editor), Maria Beville (Editor), Marie Lauritzen (Editor)

In recent decades, theoretical and critical studies have oscillated between, on the one hand, wrestling otherness from a condition in which it is dependent on and defined relative to the notion of the same and, on the other hand, pursuing an approach to sameness and universality uncontaminated by otherness. Yet these concepts continuously prove mutually dependent. Together, they constitute a dynamic and productive tension which this book addresses. Inquiring into the representations and nature of self-other relationships in art, literature and culture, the chapters are written in and to a contemporary world struggling with the critical question of otherness and its present-day status. Given the complexity and multidimensional nature of otherness, a multilateral focus is called for and so this collection of selected essays brings together a range of scholarly disciplines and inquiries to engage in a multilateral discussion of otherness.

Contents:

- Susan Yi Sencindiver/Marie Lauritzen/Maria Beville: Introduction
- Olu Jenzen: Same, Same but Other: Over-Sameness as Sexual Otherness
- Susan Yi Sencindiver: Pregnant Doppelg- Susan Yi Sencindiver: Pregnant Doppelgängers: Lived and Literary
- Steven Bond: Alterity and Transcendence: From Dedalus the Dub to Hamlet the Dane
- Luce Irigaray: How Can We Meet the Other?
- Maria Beville: In Pursuit of Alterity: The Labyrinth in Literature as Other Space
- Sune Borkfelt: Non-Human Otherness: Animals as Others and Devices for Othering
- Ann McCulloch: Secrets, Betrayals and Inexpressable Otherness: Art as Problem-Solver?
- Sten Pultz Moslund: Difference, Otherness and Speeds of Becoming in Transcultural and Migration Literature and Theory
- Svend Erik Larsen: How to Narrate the Other
- Maeve Tynan: Re-fusing Broken Records: Caribbean Creolisation Revisited
- Thomas Hylland Eriksen: Living in an Overheated World: Otherness as a Universal Condition
- Eugene O Brien: Mobile Technology and the Actuvirtual/Artifactual Subject.

Genres: Nonfiction

280 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Regitze Xenia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another book that I've read for my BA and once more, the rating is not bases on the whole book, but the articles that I read because they're relevant to my project.

As the title says, it is a book that offers a multitude of perspectives, and on a miltitude of subjects as well all related to "otherness", be it sexually, human vs non-human or culturally. As you can probably guess, I read the parts that forvises on the last of the three and I found that it has offered some really useful points for me to use.

At some point, when I'm not as stressed, I think I should like to read the entire book, because even though you rarely read theoretical books like this just for the kicks, I still found it pretty darn interesting.