Occidentalism Modernity and Subjectivity [Paperback]

This important book critically addresses the `becoming West' of Europe and investigates the `becoming Modern' of the world. Drawing on the work of Derrida, Foucault, Levinas, Lyotard, Merleau-Ponty and Ricoeur, the book proposes that the question of postmodernity is inseparable from that of postcoloniality. The argument fully conveys the sense that modernity is in crisis. It maps out a new genealogy of the birth of the modern and suggests a new way of grounding the idea of an emancipation of being.

Postcolonialism has emerged as a central topic in contemporary social science and cultural studies. This book informs readers as to the central strands of the debate and introduces a host of new ideas which will be a rich fund fThis important book critically addresses the `becoming West' of Europe and investigates the `becoming Modern' of the world. Drawing on the work of Derrida, Foucault, Levinas, Lyotard, Merleau-Ponty and Ricoeur, the book proposes that the question of postmodernity is inseparable from that of postcoloniality. The argument fully conveys the sense that modernity is in crisis. It maps out a new genealogy of the birth of the modern and suggests a new way of grounding the idea of an emancipation of being.

Postcolonialism has emerged as a central topic in contemporary social science and cultural studies. This book informs readers as to the central strands of the debate and introduces a host of new ideas which will be a rich fund f`Couze Venn has written an outstanding and very important book. The issues that he raises about the subject, modernity and European colonisation are vital to our understanding of the politics and ethics of subjectivity in postmodernity. The book is extremely erudite. Its different account of the emergence of the subject of modernity complements the work of postcolonial theorists by demonstrating the central significance of European colonization of the Othel3y