Encounters: Representation of the Others in Modern European History

Encounters: Representation of the Others in Modern European History (full text of book, pdf) ed. by Madeleine Hurd

"This anthology utilizes the concept of encounters to investigate the linked constructions of identity and difference in modern European history. The articles use representations of others to ask basic questions about identity: how is the encountered group described, and what does this description say about the observer and about the cultural group and discourse that the observer represents?

The studies span 150 years and a wide geographical area (Germany,the U.S., Sweden and Russia). Importantly, they also demonstrate how descriptions of the “other” vary according to the media used. The form in which the representation is placed – in novels, travel literature, web sites, newspapers or World Fairs – affects the way in which its messages on identity and otherness are conceptualised and conveyed. These articles, thus, not only present insights into how the discourses of, e.g., race, Orientalism, educational, gender and class hierarchies affect concepts of “us and the others”. They also show how the medium functions as an integral part of that message".

http://sh.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2:16333&rvn=1