Contemporary processes of globalization have led to radical new modes of cultural interaction, forms not easily understandable in terms of traditional models of discrete national or ethnic cultures. Transcultural Experiments develops new scholarly and creative strategies out of this intersection of cultural traditions in Russia and the United States. Ellen E. Berry and Mikhail N. Epstein define and enact a transcultural method as an alternative to the legacies of cultural divisions and hegemony that have dominated both Western and Second Worlds. The book introduces a system of original concepts and genres of writing: "transculture" (vs. multiculturalism), "interference" (vs. difference), "potentiation" (vs. deconstruction), "inteLnet" (vs. internet), ethics of imagination, hyperauthorship, and collective improvisation. The authors make a revolutionary argument in cultural studies that will be of profound interest to anyone concerned with finding new modes of creativity in the humanities, interdisciplinary thinking, and intercultural communication between the former First and Second Worlds.
Author(s): Ellen E. Berry, Mikhail N. Epstein
Edition: 1
Year: 1999
Language: English
Pages: 352
Cover......Page 1
Contents......Page 8
Acknowledgments......Page 10
Introduction......Page 14
Part I. HISTORY......Page 27
1 From Culturology to Transculture with Appendix......Page 28
2 Collective Improvisation and Transcultural Consciousness......Page 44
3 Postmodern Avant-Gardes and Cultural Reinvention......Page 69
A. Definitions......Page 91
4 Transculture in the Context of Contemporary Critical Theories......Page 92
5 From Difference to Interference......Page 104
6 Transculture and Society......Page 115
7 The Rehumanization of the Humanities......Page 126
8 Nomadic Desires and Transcultural Becomings......Page 134
B. Infinitions......Page 154
9 How Does Newness Enter the Postmodern World?......Page 155
10 The Permanence of Newness and Spaces for Difference: From History to Geography......Page 165
11 The Ethics of Imagination......Page 177
12 A Transcultural Imaginary......Page 182
Part III. PRACTICE......Page 189
13 The Lawlessness of Genres......Page 190
14 On the Birth of Genres......Page 197
15 An Essay on the Essay......Page 202
16 The Catalog of Catalogs......Page 208
17 Improvisational Community......Page 214
18 Sample Sessions at Universities......Page 227
19 Nomads at Home: Improvisation in the Academy......Page 242
20 Hyperauthorship: The Case of Araki Yasusada......Page 253
21 Poetry as a State of Being: From the Notes of Ivan Solovyov......Page 269
22 InteLnet: Web Projects in the Humanities......Page 289
23 The Interactive Anthology of Alternative Ideas: An Introduction......Page 303
In Place of a Conclusion: Transcultural Dialogue......Page 315
B......Page 336
H......Page 337
M......Page 338
R......Page 339
Z......Page 340
C......Page 342
F......Page 344
I......Page 345
L......Page 346
O......Page 347
R......Page 348
T......Page 349
W......Page 351
