Becoming Other: Heterogeneity and Plasticity of the Self

Most of us are conscious of having a single and stable self, but the self is more fragmented and plastic than we care to think. David Berliner explores the captivating world of identity through an array of astonishing experiences. From Napoleon doppelgangers to Philip Roth’s alter-ego Nathan Zukerman and Wonder Woman cosplayers to anthropologists going native, he delves into the kaleidoscopic nature of the self and attempts to understand the heterogenous nature of identity. But Becoming Other also discusses a great cultural controversy of our time: who has the right to play at being whom?

David Berliner is an anthropologist at the Université Libre of Brussels. He is the author of several books, including Losing Culture (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2020).