The fuzzy logic of encounter

How can we describe cultural contact adequately? The Fuzzy Logic of Encounter presents a series of essays reflecting the growing dissatisfaction with dualistic concepts which ignore the complex situations resulting from the European expansion and subsequent historical developments. This intellectual shift is exemplified by a new awareness, in various fields of scholarship, for phenomena of “impurity”, such as the use of slightly disharmonious microtones in Indian music, the North American “wampum” (shell beads) as an ambivalent cultural signifier, or archaeological artefacts as embodiments of semantic complexity. The essays share a common critical concern with the consequences of spatial mobility, cultural amalgamation, and changing cultural affiliations. They seek to introduce a new, positive attitude toward blurred or fuzzy cultural products and boundaries which enables us to take account of entanglement, ambiguity, and mutual impact. The volume includes a variety of disciplinary perspectives ranging from ethnography, historiography, and religious studies to literature, archaeology, and musicology.