From the imprint of African art on Cubism to the frequent references to Native American peoples in the ecological movement, twentieth century Western literature, art, and thought have been characterized by resorting to the so-called "primitive" and the "traditional" in their search to develop alternative cultural practices to those present in the European tradition. This appeal to "primitive" cultures as "models" for modernity and postmodernity is, however, not limited to Europe. As the examples of Brazilian modernismo and Spanish-American "magical realism" illustrate, intellectuals of the Americas have also resorted to traditional African-American and indigenous cultures as prototypes for modernity. This seminar attempts to map the uses of traditional cultures and their artifacts by "modern" and "postmodern" Western intellectuals, not only in Europe and North America, but also by "modern" and "postmodern" intellectuals in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

Send abstract and summary cv by 20 September to:

Prof. Juan de Castro
Division of Liberal Arts and International Studies
Colorado School of Mines
Golden, CO 80401-1887

fax: (303) 273-3751

e-mail as of 10 July: jdecastr@mines.edu