On critical times: return, repetition, and the uncanny present

Bryant, Rebecca (2016) On critical times: return, repetition, and the uncanny present. History and Anthropology, 27 (1). 19 - 31. ISSN 0275-7206

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Abstract

This article posits that the vernacular understanding of crisis as existing in a different sort of time needs to be mined for what it tells us about social perceptions of temporality. Using three ethnographic examples from Cyprus, I ask here what temporal features we may identify that lead our interlocutors to see certain periods as “times of crisis”. In particular, I propose a notion that I call the uncanny present to refer to a particular sense of present-ness produced by futures that cannot be anticipated. Crisis, I claim, becomes such precisely because it brings the present into consciousness, creating an awareness or perception of present-ness that we do not normally have.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ghan20#.VjDAaF9FBu0
Additional Information:	© 2016 Taylor & Francis
Divisions:	European Institute
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General) D History General and Old World > DE The Mediterranean Region. The Greco-Roman World H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races J Political Science > JZ International relations
Date Deposited:	28 Oct 2015 12:39
Last Modified:	15 Jun 2025 22:09
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/64202

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