Global Autofictional Flânerie

pathological imitation of the West to their mimicking, under-mined both Western and traditions. only the identification, not the alienating mechanism . Instead of validating mimicry as a strategy of resistance, they it as mere imitation, which only served to self-doubt and shame. And since they the objects of the dandies’ imitation to be the superficial trap-pings of the West, not its deep values, its philosophy, or its technoscientific achievements, they could claim that Weststruck individuals knew neither the self nor the West well and that they did not fully belong to either. Dandies in this view became lightweight floating signifiers in search of signifieds. In part, this misreading stemmed from the distrust that both secular and religious intellectuals across the political spectrum had for mimicry and its engine, performativity (emphasis added).