Journal of East China Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences) ›› 2020, Vol. 52 ›› Issue (4): 77-84.doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5579.2020.04.008

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Discourse, Comparison, and Reflexivity in Area Studies

Michael HERZFELD   

  • Published:2020-07-21

Abstract: Two points are vital for the survival and florescence of area studies as an interdisciplinary research field. First, specialists in each group must focus on the discursive nature of what they do, rather than treating it as somehow a natural condition of the universe. Second, they must talk to each other. Area studies can hardly expect to flourish except by embracing an intellectual attitude that is both critically self-aware and radically comparative.

Key words: area studies, Mediterranean cultural area, discourse, reflexivity