The Anthropology of Texts, Persons and PublicsWhat can texts - both written and oral - tell us about the societies that produce them? How are texts constituted in different cultures, and how do they shape societies and individuals? How can we understand the people who compose them? Drawing on examples from Africa and other countries, this original study sets out to answer these questions, by exploring textuality from a variety of angles. Topics covered include the importance of genre, the ways in which oral genres transcend the here-and-now, and the complex relationship between texts and the material world. Barber considers the ways in which personhood is evoked, both in oral poetry and in written diaries and letters, discusses the audience's role in creating the meaning of texts, and shows textual creativity to be a universal human capacity expressed in myriad forms. Engaging and thought-provoking, this book will be welcomed by anyone interested in anthropology, literature and cultural studies. |
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Africa's hidden histories African Literatures Americanist tradition Andrew Lock anthropology Austin autobiography Ben-Amos Berkeley Blackwell Bloomington book culture bridge University Press British Central Africa Brokaw and Kai-Wing California Press Cambridge University Press Charles Clarendon Press culture in Late Dangerous words David Dinka discourse essays ethnography everyday literacy Gender Ghana Indiana University Press introduction James Currey John Jonathan Kai-Wing Chow Karin Barber Kpelle l'Afrique Centrale language and politics Late Imperial China Literary cultures Lovedale Manchester Michael Miescher modernity Moraes Farias Musée Royal narrative Natal Press oríkì Oxford University Press Paris Paul Pennsylvania Press performance PhD dissertation Pietermaritzburg poetics popular culture Printing and book Regna Darnell Research in African Rhodes-Livingstone Richard Bauman Routledge Royal de l'Afrique Rwanda Sheldon Pollock social song South Africa Stephan F Texas Press theory Toronto Press Trans University of California University of Chicago University of Natal University of Texas University of Toronto W. B. Yeats Wisconsin Yoruba