Post-Truth Society: A Political Anthropology of Trickster Logic

Post-truth society is characterized by trickster figures and logic, with liminality becoming permanent and modern life absurd. This book provides guides to understanding and navigating Trickster Land, discussing art, thought, the economy, politics, and society. It contrasts trickster logic with social life's foundational logic of gift-giving and sociability.

\n Format: Paperback / softback
\n Length: 232 pages
\n Publication date: 30 November 2021
\n Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
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The assertion that we are currently residing in a post-truth society has gained widespread acceptance. This book contends that the contemporary global world is not only plagued by trickster figures but also permeated with an entire and operational trickster logic. Alternatively, it suggests that we are living in a Trickster Land, an argument supported by the notion that modernity has transformed liminality into a permanent state. Furthermore, some argue that modern life is blatantly absurd.

The first section of the book offers a collection of "guides" to this peculiar condition, presented in the form of influential thinkers and writers who can assist us in comprehending and navigating our Trickster Land. These guides encompass individuals such as Hermann Broch, Lewis Hyde, Roberto Calasso, Michel Serres, Sándor Márai, Colin Thubron, and Albert Camus.

The second section delves into five primary regions of Trickster Land: art, thought, the economy, politics, and society. This concluding chapter of the book serves as a contrast between trickster logic and the fundamental, foundational logic of social life, which is presented as gift-giving by Marcel Mauss and as sociability by Georg Simmel. Here, the author combines the teachings of Heraclitus and Plato with the Gospel of John to express this fundamental logic through three essential terms from ancient Greek culture: arkhé charis logos. Meaningful social life, in its original and essence, is animated by the power of kind benevolence.

This book is of interest to scholars engaged in the study of social theory, anthropology, and sociology, particularly those with a keen interest in political thought and contemporary culture.

\n Weight: 378g\n
Dimension: 154 x 232 x 18 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9781032126456\n \n