Anthropology Through the Novel

0.5 credits · Undergraduate

This seminar explores the relationship between ethnography and literature. Are (some) novels ethnographic, and how so? Are (some) ethnographies works of literature, and how so? How do ethnography and literature do similar work, and in what meaningful ways do they diverge? Because this is a fourth-year seminar, most students will have read full-length ethnographic monographs in previous courses. The readings for this seminar will be comprised mostly of novels, which we will assess and discuss in their relationship to anthropological knowledge production as well as questions of aesthetics; race, sex, and gender; ethics; and social commentary.