Translating Between Worlds: Literature and Anthropology

Anything is "a person, a religion, a literary text, a work of art, an idea" thatmoves from one cultural context or language into another is altered by that shift. Both anthropology and comparative literature scrutinize such transitions, tracking how meanings change as contexts do, and how things are adapted, rearranged, and sometimes entirely transformed as they move from one culture into another. Anthropologists often draw on literature, not only folklore and myth,but also poetry and fiction, while there is a considerable library of literary works that draw on anthropology. That intersection is the site of this course: in it, anthropological texts and literary works are read together for what they tell us about transculturation and the ways in which moving between cultures and languages changes us. (Students will receive credit for CMP 4020 or ANT4020, not both. These courses may substitute for each other in the F-replacement policy.)