Learn English – Word for the opposite of universality

academiaantonymssingle-word-requests

I am looking for a word that implies the unique/non-translatable aspects of a specific place or culture. It's for an academic paper, so feel free to pull suggestions from theory etc.

The author argues that the text does not appeal to universality but, on the contrary, to {{what is local/not shared by others}}.

Current option is "locality" or "the local" but neither feel quite right.

Best Answer

Generally speaking, the opposite of universality is particularity, which means

The quality of being individual.

In your example, it reads:

The author argues that the text does not appeal to universality but, on the contrary, to the particularity of the place/culture.

If you really want to emphasize the "non-translatability" aspect, you might go with haecceity (/hek-SAY-ih-TEE/), which means:

The property of being a unique and individual thing.

It comes from the Latin word for thisness and strongly connotes a thing's (almost metaphysical) uniqueness.

In your example it reads:

The author argues that the text does not appeal to universality but, on the contrary, to the haecceity of the place/culture.