Victor Segalen – författare

The “Other”-source of fear and fascination; emblem of difference demonized and romanticized. Theories of alterity and cultural diversity abound in the contemporary academic landscape. Victor Segalen’s early attempt to theorize the exotic is a crucial reference point for all discussions of alterity, diversity, and ethnicity.Written over the course of fourteen years between 1904 and 1918, at the height of the age of imperialism, Essay on Exoticism encompasses Segalen’s attempts to define “true Exoticism.” This concept, he hoped, would not only replace nineteenth-century notions of exoticism that he considered tawdry and romantic, but also redirect his contemporaries’ propensity to reduce the exotic to the “colonial.” His critique envisions a mechanism that appreciates cultural difference-which it posits as an aesthetic and ontological value-rather than assimilating it: “Exoticism’s power is nothing other than the ability to conceive otherwise,” he writes. Segalen’s pioneering work on otherness anticipates and informs much of the current postcolonial critique of colonial discourse. As such Essay on Exoticism is essential reading for both cultural theorists or those with an interest in the politics of difference and diversity.

The “Other”—source of fear and fascination; emblem of difference demonized and romanticized. Theories of alterity and cultural diversity abound in the contemporary academic landscape. Victor Segalen’s early attempt to theorize the exotic is a crucial reference point for all discussions of alterity, diversity, and ethnicity.Written over the course of fourteen years between 1904 and 1918, at the height of the age of imperialism, Essay on Exoticism encompasses Segalen’s attempts to define “true Exoticism.” This concept, he hoped, would not only replace nineteenth-century notions of exoticism that he considered tawdry and romantic, but also redirect his contemporaries’ propensity to reduce the exotic to the “colonial.” His critique envisions a mechanism that appreciates cultural difference—which it posits as an aesthetic and ontological value—rather than assimilating it: “Exoticism’s power is nothing other than the ability to conceive otherwise,” he writes.Segalen’s pioneering work on otherness anticipates and informs much of the current postcolonial critique of colonial discourse. As such Essay on Exoticism is essential reading for both cultural theorists or those with an interest in the politics of difference and diversity.

Né d’une mission archéologique et nourri par plusieurs voyages dans la Chine profonde, ce livre de Victor Segalen, à la fois médecin, explorateur et poète, dépasse rapidement son point de départ pour devenir une grande œuvre littéraire qui permet à l’auteur de se révéler à la lumière du taoïsme. Hommes et femmes rencontrés, souvent humbles et farouches, mais aussi objets, parures, cérémonies : tout fait signe à l’auteur d’Équipée qui tente, dans une langue choisie, de comprendre la vieille et subtile civilisation chinoise. Ce livre numérique comporte : - Une préface - Équipée. Voyage au pays du réel de Victor Segalen - Un dossier de lecture rédigé par Claude Le Manchec La rédaction du dossier de lecture, claire et accessible, a été confiée à un spécialiste universitaire. En effet, Claude Le Manchec est docteur en sciences du langage de l''EHESS. Il a publié plusieurs essais sur l''enseignement des sciences humaines pour différents éditeurs, avant d''être responsable des collections « Savoirs » et « Grands voyageurs » au sein des éditions de l''Ebook malin.

Entre los textos aparecidos tras su muerte en 1919 se encuentran estas breves páginas que ahora rescatamos sobre el tema central de su obra literaria y su propia biografía. El exotismo, como una cierta estética de lo diverso, es para Segalen una categoría de la sensibilidad enfrentada a lo extraño, lo otro. Hoy este ensayo no ha perdido la vivacidad y audacia con la que se gestó en las dos primeras décadas del siglo XX, y en él alienta la consideración de las culturas lejanas desde una óptica interna y no desde la mirada del occidente colonial. Las ideas que se recogen en este ensayo conforman la articulación de una estética de lo diferente.