A Critique of Alexander Samoilovich (1880– 1938) and the Process of an “Imperial Visitor’s” Evolution

The modern epoch is connected to the increased pace of intercultural interaction. In numerous spheres of human activity, the communication field between representatives of different cultures has become a part of everyday life. The necessity to provide an academic study of this phenomenon has led to the emergence of a specific branch of science titled “intercultural communication” and has changed the direction of anthropological studies, the methodology of history, and sociology. However, the basis for this change of approach was not only a “cultural turn” and an attempt to enrich the “toolkit” by the newest methods of social sciences. One of the foundations for this shift to a new field of studies was self-reflection by historians and anthropologists. According to Maria Todorova, the ability to acknowledge the possibility of a scholar’s self-transformation by contact with the Other (and the dual nature of this process) is an ultimate indicator of this development by any branch of science. Asian and African studies are not exceptions.