Deconstructing America: Representations of the Other

Deconstructing America, published in 1990, challenges the notion that the European vision of America is a distorted view of some extra-European reality. It argues that European representations of America constitute a cultural monologue that tells more about the Old World than the New, and is a stimulating reading for those working in the fields of symbolic and cultural anthropology, semiotics, cultural studies, Latin America, structuralism, and deconstruction.

Format: Hardback
Length: 226 pages
Publication date: 30 January 2024
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Deconstructing America, first published in 1990, is a groundbreaking work that delves into the exploration of representations of Otherness, particularly in relation to the European discovery of America. Author Peter Mason acknowledges that America had already been part of the European imagination before its actual discovery. However, he disputes the notion that the European vision of America is merely a distorted reflection of some external reality. Mason connects the European portrayal of South American inhabitants as monstrous figures to a long-standing European tradition of the "Plinian human races." He further points out that similar representations among contemporary Amerindian peoples challenge the notion that ethnocentrism is solely a European concept. By drawing on a wide range of anthropological, literary, and philosophical studies, Mason demonstrates how European representations of America form a cultural monologue that sheds more light on the Old World than the New. This book is an essential reading for scholars and researchers working in the fields of symbolic and cultural anthropology, semiotics, cultural studies, Latin America, structuralism, and deconstruction.

Dimension: 246 x 174 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032725321