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Academic Year 2005/2006


Blurred Genres: Feminist Ethnographic Writing
ANTH 223 FA

Crosslistings:
WMST 262

This course focuses on feminist approaches to interpretations of culture. Through in-depth reading of various ethnographic works, we consider the broader academic context within which ethnographies are created. We will examine the significant impact of feminist interventions on issues of epistemology and knowledge production to deconstruct differences in feminist textual strategies that challenge conventional ethnographic writing. Particular attention is paid to ethnographers who blur genres by troubling the boundaries between literature and social science as well as those who turn to the arts for fuller expressions of their perceptions. The aim is to seriously question what it means to choose the margins to write against ethnographic hegemony. In the process, we seek to understand the broader question of why creative or non-conventional works tend to be produced mostly by feminists of color and other marginal individuals within the discipline of anthropology.

MAJOR READINGS

Ruth Behar and Debra Gordon, WOMEN WRITING CULTURE
Ruth Behar, TRANSLATED WOMAN
Karen McCarthy Brown, MAMA LOLA
Zora Neale Hurston, TELL MY HORSE
Carolyn Martin Shaw, COLONIAL INSCRIPTIONS
Laurel Richardson, FIELDS OF PLAY
Anna Tsing, IN THE REALM OF THE DIAMOND QUEEN
Kamala Visweswaran, FICTIONS OF FEMINIST ETHNOGRAPHY
Mary Weismantel, CHOLAS AND PISTACOS
Kath Weston, FAMILIES WE CHOOSE

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Class presentation, weekly response papers, two short papers (3-5 pgs) and final paper (10-12 pgs).

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

ANTH101, WMST101 Recommended

COURSE FORMAT: Seminar

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS ANTH    Grading Mode: Graded   

Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-30-2006


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