ANY2530

Culture, colonialism and modernity

Proposed to be offered next in 1999

Penelope Graham

8 points
* 3 hours per week
* Clayton

Objectives On completion of this subject students should be able to critique unduly dichotomous accounts of colonial/precolonial, traditional/modern, Western/non-Western social formations; analyse sociocultural aspects of colonialism and/or modernity in selected ethnographic settings; demonstrate a knowledge of recent trends in the anthropological and sociological literature on colonialism and modernity; articulate an understanding of some of the mutually constitutive relations between travel, modernity, anthropology, culture and colonialism.

Synopsis This subject explores connections between travel, anthropology, colonialism and modernity with the focus on colonialism as a set of cultural processes. It involves a critique of the notion of `tradition' and a consideration of the emergence of `modern' identities in various parts of the Asian and Pacific regions. It focuses on the culture of colonialism as depicted in ethnographic accounts of the modern period, analysing forms of religious and secular colonisation, theories of colonial discourse, the critique of colonial categories and the instigation of regimes of work and cultures of fear in parts of Asia and Africa, South and Central America. These issues are considered in the light of Edward Said's work on orientalism, culture and imperialism, especially its significance for current practices of generating knowledge in the social sciences.

Assessment Tutorial participation: 10%
* Book review (1000 words): 15%
* First essay (1500 words): 25%
* Second essay (2000 words): 30%
* Examination (1.5 hours): 20%

Recommended texts

Dirks N B (ed) Colonialism and culture Michigan U P, 1992
Thomas N Colonialism's culture: Anthropology, travel and government Princeton U P/Polity, 1994
Wolf E R Europe and the people without history U California P, 1982
A reading package of selected journal articles and book chapters will be available for purchase