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Introduction
Thisbookhasgrownoutofaprojectcalled“CivilisationandFear,”which
culminatedinaninternationalconference–heldbytheInstituteofEnglish
CulturesandLiteratures,UniversityofSilesia,in2010–thataddressedmani-
festationsofanxietyinculture.FearfulSymmetriesismostlyabouthowfears,
apprehensionsandphobiasfindtheirrepresentationinwriting.Consequently,
theseessaysarenotpsychological,philosophicalorsociologicalstudiesof
anxiety.Thatistosay,wearenotconcernedherewithfearintheabstract:
theindividualcontributionsfocusontextsinwhichanxietyhasappeared
indiscourse,thusasacontextualizedandhistoricizedpresence.Thereaders
whoexpectclear-cutanswerstosuchfundamentalquestionsas“Whatis
fear?”maybedisappointed.However,thosewhoexpectinspiringinsightsinto
textualmanifestationsofanxietyarelikelytofindtheseessaysofinterest.
Wedobelievethatthevalueofthisbookliesintheviable,notinfrequently
freshapproachestosomeofthemostproblematicandcomplicatedjunctions
betweenfearandcivilisation.Theoverarchingassumptionwhichunderlies
mostoftheessaysisthatfearfeedsontheindividualpsyche,andcertainly
cannotexistinasocialvacuum;discourse,asanelementofculture,seems
tobeitsnaturalhabitat.
Suchideasasanxietyandfearmaybeusedtoreducethemultiplematri-
cesofcivilisation,andthemanydiscourseswhichrepresentthem,toacom-
mondenominator.Still,inthisbook,weaimtorecognisethepotentialfor
diferentiationattheheartofcivilisation.Inevitably,theessaysvaryinscope,
historicalcontext,angleofvisionandinterpretivemethod.Weseesuchdif-
ferencesasanasset,ratherthanathreat.Divergent,perhapsdeviating,ap-
proachesandmethodologiesshouldnotmultiplyanxieties;instead,theymay
increasethechancesofcontainmentanddissipation.Asaresult,abooklike
thismaybeusefulincomingtotermswiththosefearswhichthriveonthe
