The Myth of Primitivism

Author:   Susan Hiller
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
ISBN:  

9780415014816


Pages:   368
Publication Date:   06 June 1991
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
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The Myth of Primitivism


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Overview

This book explores the fusion of myth, history and geography which leads to ideas of primitivism, and looks at their construction, interpretation and consumption in Western culture. Contextualized by Susan Hiller's introductions to each section, discussions range from the origins of cultural colonialism to eurocentric ideas of primitive societies, including the use of primitive culture in constructing national identities, and the appropriation of primitivist imagery in modernist art. The result is a controversial critique of art theory, practice and politics, and a major enquiry into the history of primitivism and its implications for contemporary culture.

Full Product Details

Author:   Susan Hiller
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 23.40cm
Weight:   0.816kg
ISBN:  

9780415014816


ISBN 10:   0415014816
Pages:   368
Publication Date:   06 June 1991
Audience:   College/higher education ,  General/trade ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations, Editor’s foreword, Acknowledgements, PART I, Editor’s introduction, 1. Some general observations on the problem of cultural colonialism, 2. Outsiders or insiders?, 3. Primitive art and the necessity of primitivism to art, 4. Expeditions: on race and nation Black Audio/Film Collective, PART II, Editor’s introduction, 5. Emil Nolde’s ‘ethnographic’ still lifes: primitivism, tradition, and modernity, 6. Unofficial versions, 7. The resurgence of the night-mind: primitivist revivals in recent art, 8. From primitivism to ethnic arts, PART III, Editor’s introduction, 9. Ethnography and the formation of national and cultural identities, 10. Art and meaning, 11. Dark continents explored by women, 12. Leonardo’s ‘Last Supper’ in Fiji, PART IV, Editor’s introduction, 13. The search for virginity, 14. Unsettled accounts of Indians and others, 15. Locality fails, 16. Aboriginal representation and kitsch, 17. Born from sharp rocks, Notes on contributors, Index

Reviews

Deeply engaging, this book's long section on labor exhibits excellent scholarship, displaying all the qualities we've come to expect from this author. Domhoff reorganizes and extends his earlier analysis by incorporating more recent empirical findings, new archival data, and more. The story comes to life in the historical narrative of labor's rise and decline, which offers a richness of detail and analytical coherence that makes the account both engaging and accessible to a wide readership. This book can be used in advanced undergraduate or entry level graduate courses in political sociology (and related sociology courses on social problems, economics) and courses in other disciplines that deal centrally with politics, inequality, and American society, particularly in political science, public policy, and American culture. Howard Kimeldorf, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, University of Michigan This book offers an analysis of US politics and social/economic policy from the Progressive Era into the early twenty-first century based on extensive archival and secondary sources. The book analyzes three of the more important realms of federal policy: regulation of labor unions, social benefits, and foreign relations, focusing especially on trade. It sharply contrasts an analysis of the power elite to Marxist and institutional theories, and then throughout the book specifies how the power elite analysis yields better explanations for historical change and for the particularities of US political economy than previous explanations. The book dramatically advances our understanding of the role of race, racism, and racial conflict in the making of policy in the United States, offers an historical explanation for the emergence of a divided power elite made up of cooperate moderates and ultraconservatives, and identifies the mechanisms through which the elite shaped public policy. It also traces the making of labor policy, explaining why labor militancy had a limited effect due to the enduring divisions of craft and industrial workers and their unions, racism, and the usually united corporate interests. Taken together, these chapters offer the most sophisticated and accurate history of labor in the United States yet written. Richard Lachmann, Professor of Sociology, State University of New York at Albany


'This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the wider implications of 20th century, Western art-historical assumptions about the primative other.' - Artscribe


Author Information

G. William Domhoff is the author or co-author of 16 books on the American power structure, four of which appeared on a list of the top-50 best-sellers in sociology from the 1950s through the early 1990s, including his now-classic, Who Rules America? He is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus in Sociology and remains active as a Research Professor and an instructor in senior seminars at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Who Rules America? was published in a revised and updated version in 2013 and has been in print and used in many classrooms for 52 years.

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