BHUM 17A30 - Anthropologizing the United States

If the anthropology of the United States is not yet very much institutionalized in France, it still deserves to be studied given the influence of the US in world affairs and collective imaginaries. Against this background, this class will address the issue by elaborating on how such a field of research is constituted across the Atlantic. The objective is twofold. On the one hand, it will give the students an introduction to the discipline of « anthropology », understood as being simultaneously a work on concepts, a way of approaching the world, and a writing style. On the other hand, it will provide them with tools to evaluate the specificities of the US as both an anthropological object, and a place where empirical research can be conducted (what we call « fieldwork » or « ethnography »).

Marie VIDAL

Séminaire

English

There will be no prerequisite to attend the class.

Autumn and Spring 2023-2024

1. Collective presentation of a reading, along with the task to help monitor the discussion (30%) 2. Preparation for the end-of-term essay (30%) 3. End-of-term essay: Critical analysis of an ethnographic excerpt chosen by the students (among a selective bibliography that will be proposed at the beginning of the semester). (30%) 4. Attendance (10%)

Required Readings for each session: 1. Introduction to an « anthropology of the United States » : an experiment Stewart, Kathleen. A Space on the Side of the Road: Cultural Poetics in an "Other" America, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996. 2.  Studying up  Concept : « culture of smartness » (Ho, 2009) Ho, Karen. Liquidated: An Ethnography of Wall Street, NC: Duke University Press, 2009.Nader, Laura. “Up the anthropologist: perspectives gained from studying up” dans Reinventing Anthropology, Dell Hymes, New York: Pantheon Books, 1992. 3. Middle Class Concept : « rugged entitlement » (Heiman, 2015)  Heiman, Rachel. Driving after Class: Anxious Times in an American Suburb. Oakland: University of California Press, 2015. 4. Conservatism Concept : « deep stories » (Hochschild, 2016) Hochschild, Arlie Russell. Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right. New York: New Press, 2016. 5. People in relation to their expressed identities Concept : « whiteness » (Hartigan, 2000) Hartigan, John. Racial Situations: Class Predicaments of Whiteness in Detroit. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000. Frankenberg, Ruth. The Social Construction of Whiteness: White Women, Race Matters. University of Minnesota Press, 1999 (première édition en 1993).  6. People in « communities » Concept : « snowbirds » (Fitzgerald, 1987) FitzGerald, Frances. Cities on a Hill. A Journey Through Contemporary American Cultures. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1987.  7. Coming out of age Concept : « New Jersey dreaming » (Ortner, 2005) Ortner, Sherry. New Jersey Dreaming: Capital, Culture, and the Class of '58. Duke University Press, 2005. 8. Women Concept : « nurturing » (Ginsburg, 1989) Ginsburg, Faye D. Contested Lives: The Abortion Debate in an American Community. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989. Hochschild, Arlie R, et Anne Machung. The Second Shift: Working Families and the Revolution at Home. New York: Penguin Books, 2012 (première édition en 1988). 9. Regions Concept : « California dream » Stout, Noelle. Dispossessed: How Predatory Bureaucracy Foreclosed on the American Middle Class. Oakland: University of California Press, 2019. 10. Believing Concept : « talking to God » (Luhrmann, 2012) Luhrmann, Tania. When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with God. New York: Alfred Knopf, 2012. 11. Poetics in the US Concept : « uncanny » (Lepselter, 2016) Lepselter, Susan. The Resonance of Unseen Things: Poetics, Power, Captivity, and UFOs in the American Uncanny. University of Michigan, 2016. 12. Conclusion : a reworking of the major topics and concepts through reflecting on « what is America » ?