Concentric, Vernacular and Rhizomatic Cosmopolitanisms

Abstract

This concluding chapter (coda) begins with a brief account of the geometrical metaphor of concentric circles, its employment in cosmopolitan literature and its relevance to selfhood. Then, polycentric challenges to this model such as Homi Bhabha’s vernacular cosmopolitanism and W. E. Connolly’s rhizomatic cosmopolitanism are discussed. Against the concentric metaphor and its polycentric challenges, a third option is explored: the metaphor of eccentric circles. Since eccentric circles are not drawn around the same centre, some new possibilities emerge for illustrating the relation of cosmopolitanism with multiple allegiances. As figures of such allegiances, eccentric circles can also disrupt the harmonious and proportionate geometrical order of concentricity and thus better accommodate the more dissonant, unruly, and fluctuating character of real human entanglement. Ultimately, the ‘ec’ of the eccentric goes beyond the ‘poly’-centric because it denotes a departure from a centre rather than a mere enrichment that may not disrupt the centrality of the ego enough.