The paradigm of métissage, between aesthetics and human sciences

Abstract

The paper aims at reconstructing the paradigm of the métissage (crossbreeding), as it was developed in the social sciences of the French speaking countries: an approach to the problems caused by globalisation and by the more and more frequent interethnic contacts, which is characterized by its interdisciplinary nature, by the great importance ascribed to the concept of alterity (otherness) in the identity building and by the as much deciding function attributed to the art of creation and/or interpretation of the cultural contamination processes. The analysis of the perspectives of Édouard Glissant, Serge Gruzinski, François Laplantine and Alexis Nouss highlights the mutual involvement between aesthetics and education: while the art production shows the dynamic and relational character of cultural identities, it emphasizes an often underestimated effect of the hybridisation and métissage processes: their creative potential, e.g. the original configurations they are able to create, even if social and power relation are inequal and asymmetrical.