Instructor: M. Dosemeci and R. Hofmann
This seminar explores the meaning of the “West” through political and cultural critiques articulated – and carried out – across the world from the late nineteenth century to the present. We will examine how a wide range of writers, philosophers, filmmakers, and political activists have construed the “West” from both the inside and outside. This interdisciplinary approach enables us to highlight how the “West” has been criticized for possessing different and contradictory characteristics – for being materialistic and idealist; national and imperial; secular and Christian; universalist and Euro-centric; progressive and polluting. How did the concept of “West” emerge? How has it been used? For what purpose? What was the “West” supposed to explain and what did it conceal? What political projects did were envisioned – and brought about – through the critique of the “West?” Students will confront these critiques by analyzing how the category of the “West” figured (and figures) into the various agendas of intellectuals from Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe itself.
