Halloween Costuming among Young Adults in Bloomington, Indiana: A Local Exotic

Abstract

What is the meaning of the word "exotic"? Does it denote, as popular usage would suggest, a category of places and customs remote from the home perspective of the viewer? Or rather, is the label "exotic" a signal that any entity whatsoever, distant or intimate, is being regarded with special scrutiny? I would argue for the latter interpretation, because even the commonplace can appear exotic under close inspection. The mission of the riddle, for example, is to render exotic, through close description, the everyday objects that provide a familiar context for our routine lives.