Synopses & Reviews
In this distillation of reflections accumulated from a lifetime of travel, Ryszard Kapuscinski takes a fresh look at the Western idea of the Other. Looking at this concept through the lens of his own encounters in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and considering its formative significance for his own work, Kapuscinski traces how the West has understood the non-European from classical times to the present day. He observes how in the twenty-first century we continue to treat the residents of the Global South as hostile aliens, objects of study rather than full partners sharing responsibility for the fate of humankind.
In our globalised but increasingly polarised world, Kapuscinski shows how the Other remains one of the most compelling ideas of our times.
Review
"Extraordinarily intelligent ... The lectures are as erudite as they are profound ... An astonishingly fresh and perceptive discussion of what identity means today." Jason Burke
Review
"Kapuscinski's case for humanity to accept and acknowledge 'otherness' is cogent and invites further contemplation." The Observer
Review
"An alternative journey through philosophy, history and anthropology ... a powerful, quasi-religious, meditation on the power of humbling oneself in the face of the unknown." Financial Times
Review
"Eloquent ... remarkably thoughtful and compressed." The Independent
Synopsis
In this distillation of reflections accumulated from a lifetime of travel, Ryszard Kapuscinski takes a fresh look at the Western idea of the Other. Looking at this concept through the lens of his own encounters in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and considering its formative significance for his own work, Kapuscinski traces how the West has understood the non-European from classical times to the present day. He observes how in the twenty-first century we continue to treat the residents of the Global South as hostile aliens, objects of study rather than full partners sharing responsibility for the fate of humankind.
In our globalised but increasingly polarised world, Kapuscinski shows how the Other remains one of the most compelling ideas of our times.
Synopsis
The master of literary reportage reflects on the West's encounters with the non-European throughout the ages.
About the Author
Born in Pinsk (in what is now Belarus), the celebrated Polish foreign correspondent Ryszard Kapu?ci?ski is the author of, among other titles, Shah of Shahs, Imperium, Shadow of the Sun, The Other and the memoir Travels with Herodotus. His books have been translated into twenty-eight languages. He died in 2007.