The end of the West and other cautionary tales

278 Pages·2016·0.835 MB·English

by  Meighoo, Sean

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AND OTHER CAUTIONARY TALES
S E A N M EIGH O O
THE END OF THE WEST
and
OTHER CAUTIONARY TALES
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THE END OF THE WEST
and
OTHER CAUTIONARY TALES

S E A N M E I G H O O
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS New York
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COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS
PUBLISHERS SINCE 1893
NEW YORK CHICHESTER, WEST SUSSEX
cup.columbia.edu
Copyright © 2016 Columbia University Press
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Meighoo, Sean, author.
Title: The end of the West and other cautionary tales / Sean Meighoo.
Description: 1 [edition]. | New York, NY : Columbia University Press, 2016. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015041593 | ISBN 9780231176729 (cloth : alkaline paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Civilization, Western. | Civilization, Western—Philosophy. |
Ethnocentrism. | Postcolonialism—Philosophy. | Continental philosophy. |
Culture—Study and teaching. | Philosophy—History. | Intellectual life—History. |
Teleology. | East and West.
Classification: LCC CB245 .M434 2016 | DDC 909/.09821—dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015041593

Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid-free paper.
This book is printed on paper with recycled content.
Printed in the United States of America
c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
C OVER DESIGN: HEADS OF STATE

References to websites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing. Neither the
author nor Columbia University Press is responsible for URLs that may have
expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared.
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To my parents, Cynthia and Peter Meighoo,
for all the times that they have asked me
when my book would be published
and to my partner, Deboleena Roy,
and our children, Kheyal and Koan Roy-Meighoo,
for all the times that they have made me stop to celebrate
the slow and fi tful progress of my manuscript with them—
the celebrations, I hope, are not over yet.
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C O N T E N T S
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi
PART I
THE END OF THE WEST 1
1. The B lack Athena Debate 9
Bernal and His Critics 9
Deconstructing “Roots” 29
PART II
FROM TELEOLOGY TO NEGATIVE TELEOLOGY 43
2. The Phenomenological Turn 49
Husserl and the Spiritual Shape of Europe 49
Heidegger and the Opening 60
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viii CONTENTS
3. The Ethical Turn 70
Levinas and Orientation 70
Derrida and “Globalatinization” 84
PART III
FROM CONTINENTAL PHILOSOPHY TO
POSTCOLONIAL THEORY 109
4. The Critique of Representation 117
Said and Orientalism 117
Mohanty and Western Feminism 133
5. The Defense of Difference 150
Bhabha and the Third Space 150
Trinh and the Third World Woman 163
PART IV
THE LIMITS OF ANTIETHNOCENTRISM 179
6. The Beatles in India 185
Help! 185
Hyperbolic Representation 192
Conclusion 219
Notes 223
Bibliography 239
Index 247
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A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S
THANKS TO MY COLLEAGUES AT BOTH EMORY UNIVERSITY
and San Diego State University who have supported my work in one way
or another during the past ten years, even if they have since come to regret
it: Huma Ahmed-Ghosh, Peter Atterton, Deepika Bahri, Steven Barbone,
Geoffrey Bennington, the late Rudolph P. Byrd, Kevin Corrigan, Jonathan
K. Crane, Anne Donadey, C. Aiden Downey, Rosemarie Garland-Thomson,
Sander L. Gilman, Jonathan Goldberg, Elizabeth Goodstein, Naama Harel,
Lynne Huffer, John Johnston, Howard Kushner, Irene Lara, John Lysaker,
Elissa Marder, Noëlle McAfee, Andrew J. Mitchell, Michael Moon, Wil-
liam A. Nericcio, Walter Reed, Benjamin Reiss, Pamela Scully, Kimberly
Wallace-Sanders, Chris Werry, Deborah Elise White, Cynthia Willett, Eliza-
beth Wilson, and Yanna Yannakakis.
Thanks also to Cecelia Cancellaro at Idea Architects for helping me with
my book proposal, to Wendy Lochner and Christine Dunbar at Columbia
University Press for walking me through the publishing process, and to
both anonymous readers for their generous comments on my initial manu-
script draft. And fi nally, thanks to the Emory College of Arts and Sciences
and the Laney Graduate School for providing subvention funds to cover the
indexing costs of this book.
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