What is ethnocentric point of view?

Answer 1

An ethnocentric point of view is when something such a a story, film, or even historical events are presented from the experiences, perceptions, and attitudes of a particular cultural or ethnic group. Generally the term usually is negative, in that the particular group sees its own culture as superior to others, and will twist or even invent facts to support it and denigrate other cultures at the same time. However, a certain amount of ethnocentrism may be due to the fact that different cultures can view even historical events, based on the same facts quite differently due to how events may have influenced their particular people. For example, Italian-Americans may view the landing of Christopher Columbus in the New World in a different way than Native-Americans might given the same set of circumstances. Fiction can especially be skewed toward not only a particular group, but toward the individual viewpoint of the author. Margaret Mitchell's famous novel of the Old South "Gone with the Wind" presents a very romanticized, even nostalgic view of plantation life. African-American author, Alice Randall's 2001 parody/companion novel "The Wind Done Gone" tells the story from the viewpoint of the plantation slaves and the secret half-slave sister of Scarlett O'Hara. (A federal court in Atlanta tried to shut down publication citing "piracy" but was overturned. The matter did not go away without lawsuits and settlements)

Citation:

.iupui.edu/~anthkb/ethnocen.htm

.rcfp.org/newsitems/index.php?i=3121