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A theory of representation based on the possibility of producing an exact copy of the original. In landscape studies, mimetic theories have been challenged by those who emphasize the constructed and partial nature of different \'ways of seeing\'. While mimetic representations strive to produce an accurate facsimile of reality, critics stress that \'there is no neutral, univocal, “visible†world out there to match our vision against\' (Duncan and Ley, 1993, p. 4). Taussig\'s study of the \'magic of mimesis\' argues that the mimetic faculty is closely tied to Euroamerican colonialism through \'the felt relation of the civilizing process to savagery, to aping\' (1993, p. xiv), a point which Bhabha (1994) develops in terms of the ambiguities of the mimic in colonial discourse. (PAJ)
References Bhabha, H. 1994: Of mimicry and man. In The location of culture. London: Routledge, 85-92. Duncan, J. and Ley, D., eds, 1993: Place/culture/representation. London: Routledge. Taussig, M. 1993: Mimesis and alterity. London: Routledge. |
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