300083 Noble Savages and Barbarians: The Perception of other Cultures (S) (WiSe 2005/2006)

In Europe the perception of foreign countries and cultures has always been influenced by stereotypes and prejudices. These are not necessarily unambiguous but often rather contradictory such as the concepts of the noble savage and the barbarian. Discussion in the seminar should not only try to identify perceptional concepts like these but also, and more relevant, link them to cultural and social conditions in Europe over the various historical periods ranging from the Age of Enlightenment to current days. Indispensible for the discussion will be the study of literary sources such as early travellers' reports, "Robinson Crusoe", "Winnetoe", and reports from the colonies. More recent literature will have to deal with the picture of other cultures as presented in today's TV reports, traveller's guide-books, researchers' fieldreports, and newspapers, the latter of which could be analyzed with special reference to the way foreign immigrants in Europe are depicted. The theoretical discussion should be based on concepts of ethnicity, ethnocentrism, exotism, and xenophobia.

Bibliography

Banks, M. (1996): Ethnicity: Anthropological Constructions. Routledge (12 ID 200B218)
Theye, Thomas (hg.) (1998): Wir und die Wilden. Einblicke in eine kannibalische Beziehung.