RE: Reflection

[Brill de Ramirez, Susan]

Tim,   Within the broad realm of cultural studies (including such fields as literature, art, music, drama, film, ethnic studies, women’s studies, etc.), essentialism is defined as follows:   “An essentialist belief is one that mistakenly confuses the effects of bilogy with the effects of culture; in particular it refers to the belief that biology is more significant than culture in subject formation” (299).   This is from Julian Wolfreys’s literary theory guide and glossary.   Essentialism has been especially strongly debated and critiqued within the various global fields of indigenous studies (Native American, Canadian First Nations, Australisn Aboriginal, various African studies areas, etc.), with the obvious early criticisms directed at the essentialist views of generations of ethnographers stereotypes of the indigenous “other.”  As the Vietnamese-American film-makes Trinh T. Minh-ha writes out: “anthropo-logo-centrism” to emphasize the western and logocentric bias that denied the validity of diverse ways of knowing.   All the best,   Susan   Dr. Susan Berry Brill de Ramirez, Professor of English Bradley University, Peoria, IL 61625  U.S.A. [EMAIL PROTECTED]; (309) 677-3888; fax (309) 677-2330   -----Original Message----- From: Tim Nolan [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, August 20, 2004 8:29 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Brill de Ramirez, Susan Subject: RE: Reflection   Hello Susan,   >essentialist racial appropriations endure, even though as Native writer and filmmaker >Sherman Alexie says, "The endgame of essentialism was flying airplanes into >buildings."   Could you please explain what essentialism means?   Thanks, Tim Nolan Do you Yahoo!? Win 1 of 4,000 free domain names from Yahoo! Enter now. __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe, send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, use subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Web - http://list.jccc.edu/read/?forum=bahai-st News - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Public - http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]