Rey Chow and the hauntological spectres of poststructuralism

Abstract

One of the most persistent themes in Rey Chow's work is the concept of the ethnic and the ways in which it has been redefined in a poststructuralist context. This essay examines Chow's critique of poststructuralist theory, particularly as it pertains to the concepts of nationalism, multiculturalism, and cosmopolitanism. Contrary to the predominant definitions of nationalism and ethnicity, Chow's work challenges the largely unquestioned tendency in contemporary theory both to be humanistic, or cosmopolitan, and to deconstruct any ‘fixed’ meaning. Chow's theoretical position underlines the fact that such theoretical de-constructions, first and foremost, ignore the social and political problems that are irrevocably linked to the question of ethnicity. It also exposes the ways in which poststructuralist theory's critique of ethnicity inadvertently serves the Western logocentrism that it originally set out to deconstruct. Finally, this article focuses on the relevance of Chow's critique to the status of national departments in the University setting and the definition of Comparative Literature as a field.