Customer Reviews

Transculturalism: How the World Is Coming Together

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
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I imagine this was quite a 'trendy' book to own when it came out in 2003. On retrospect though, it doesn't seem a particularly relevant text to own in the 2010's.

Some of the foresights on who are going to be tomorrow's multicultural 'stars' were wrong, the movers and shakers they claimed to be taking over in the world of the arts still largely unknown and some of the features just, well, desperate. There are 'cutting edge' pieces on 'new' subcultures like 'The Aggressives' (Aka Lesbians) and 'Transmen' (Transexuals) as well as 'Space Invaders' (Graffiti artists) and at times it can be cringeworthy in its self indulgence, culminating in an hilariously egoic, insecure piece a director (Michael Power anybody!?) did about himself, encouraging friends to say what they loved and hated about him. There are some interesting moments; most of Claude Grunitzky's articles hold weight, especially the piece about French Hip Hop. Journalist Sara Elise Patterson provides a nice travelogue and Alex Sharkey's 'What is Cool?' is fun. The problem is that the book is SO trendy, it probably only REALLY mattered for the few months after it was published. 2000 and late one might say.

Where the book does succeed though is in looking at where the world was in 2003 and is interesting in that, you can see traces (no pun intended) of how we got to where we are now. It's also quite amusing to see how fleeting the world of the fashionista is. Some of the subjects/writers believe in their trends SO much, but with the advantage of being able to look back, the style over substance approach is almost painfully evident.

Overall a pretty unique, interesting read, but (I imagine...) not the way they intended it to be

J Pitts

How provocative, challenging and even optimistic is this anthology of essays, edited by the insightful Claude Grunitzky, you may ask? Very much so on all counts. The writers are well aware of the capability of thinking, visionary individualists to transform and improve an advanced capitalist consumer society that is within a century of decline due to the depletion of resources, overpopulation and incresing intolerance (including that of one "reviewer" below, Matt, who clearly has not read this anthology). The fusion of cultures is inevitable in a society with instantaneous communications capability, from the McCluhanesque "cold" medium of television to "hot" radio and interactive Internet media. The book amkes no claim that other cultures ghave "equal" voice with or within western imperialism, but that such a voice is subject to the cultural transformation. The book would indeed be offensive if Matt's allegations were true -- but they aren't. Get it. Read it. Judge for yourself. I do not agree with every assertion in the book -- but found it a terrific catalyst for thought and ideas. Get it. Read it. Enjoy!

When this book first came out many of the ideas it represented were part of the verge culture that only Tastemakers and Fashionista in major cities were aware of. However, currently most of the content in this tome is outdated. The further we get from 2004 the more apparent that will become.

Yet this book is still enjoyable if read for mostly entertainment purposes and not strictly as a cultural guide. It is still interesting to see so many emerging ideas of "cool" from around globe even if they were never actually considered "cool" by the masses.

i LOVE this book! "transculturalism" says everything that needs to be said about now the world's citizens need to communicate with each other, and every page is CAPTIVATING. the illustrations are great, too. i want to know all the people in this book! my name is "curious georgia."

How terribly self-congratulatory this book is. All the people in it conveniently seem to forget that the live within the confines of an advanced capitalist consumer society. The idea that other cultures have an equal voice with western imperialism is ridiculous. The book would be more offensive if it weren't so ignorant. It's We Are The World for the ipod set.