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F r o m E a r ly A n t h r o p o lo g y to t h e L it e r a t u r e ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDC o f t h e S a v a g e : T h e N a t u r a liz a t io n o f t h e P r im it iv e PONMLKJIHGFEDCBA C H R IS T IA N M A R O U B Y W h y th is su d d en in terest in variou s form s of "O th ern ess"? B eyon d th e obviou s exotic or even escap ist ap p eal of su ch exp loration s— p er­ h ap s itself a sign of th e tim es— it seem s to m e th at several assu m p ­ tion s of a m ore th eoretical n atu re, ev^n if n ot alw ays exp licitly for­ m u lated , h ave recen tly con tribu ted to m akin g th e O th er a p articu lar focu s of atten tion . O n e critical factor, p erh ap s th e m ost evid en t, is th e im p ortan ce attribu ted by variou s d iscip lin es to w h at can be d e­ fin ed as th e sp ecu lar m od e: th e O th er fu n ction s as a locu s of p rojec­ tions; it reflects, if only indirectly, the im aginary p ercep tions of a given cu ltu re. T h e d iscou rse on th e O th er h as th u s becom e, for u s, a p riv­ ileged sou rce of in form ation on its elu sive su bject, be th at su bject a h istorical on e. A n oth er of th ose p rod u ctive assu m p tion s, m ore d i­ rectly Fou cald ian th is tim e, is th e id ea th at a cu ltu re d efin es itself as m u ch by w h at it exclu d es from its d om inant d iscou rse, or rejects from its con sciou sn ess, as by w h at it ad m its in to it; h en ce ou r in terest in th e m argin al, th e rep ressed , in th ose cu ltu ral objects w h ich at a given tim e seem to elicit a kin d of d en egation . T h e O th er, in th is very d if­ feren t sen se, is th at w h ich can n ot be rep resen ted . T h ere w ou ld of cou rse be oth er w ays of accou n tin g for ou r p resen t in terest in O th ­ ern ess. T h e reason I h ave ch osen to em p h asize th ese tw o p articu lar an d com p lem en tary m od es of op eration is th at in ou r p eriod of con­ 289 290 / MAROUBYZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA cern th ey can be seen to illu m in ate in an exem p lary m an n er th e fate of w h at is u n d ou bted ly th e m ost sign ifican t O th er: th e savage. In th e lon g h istory of ou r relation to th e p rim itive, th e eig h teen th centu ry, an d p erh ap s m ost strikin gly th e secon d h alf of th at p eriod , stan d s ou t as an excep tion al tim e. In a stran gely belated aftersh ock of th e d iscovery, th e m ass of d ocu m en tation an d m ission ary relation s...

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