This book links world-literary studies with anthropology and ethnography. It shows how ethnographic narratives can represent a compelling point of departure for world-literary explorations. The volume compares the travel writing and fiction of Robert Louis Stevenson and Rudyard Kipling as colonial ethnographic narratives; the militant writings of Carlo Levi and Mahasweta Devi; and the travelogues and ethnographic fiction of Amitav Ghosh and the literary journalism of Frank Westerman. Each of these readings focuses on a set of social, political and historical circumstances and relies on a dialogue with anthropological theory and history. This book demonstrates how imperialism, colonialism, capitalism and ecology are interdependent, and contributes to methodological debates within both anthropology and world-literary studies.

Brings anthropology and ethnography into dialogue with world-literary studies Situates writings from around the world within an ethnographic fieldwork Shows how imperialism, colonialism, capitalism and ecology are interdependent

Autorentext

Lucio De Capitani is Research Fellow in the Department of Linguistics and Comparative Cultural Studies at Cä Foscari University of Venice, Italy.

Inhalt

1. Ethnographic Fieldwork as a Point of Departure for World Literature.- 2. Colonial Ethnography and Uneven Intimacies in Robert Louis Stevenson and Rudyard Kipling.- 3. Militant Ethnography and Internal Colonialism in Carlo Levi and Mahasweta Devi.- 4. Patchy Ethnographies of Neocolonial and Neoliberal Landscapes in Amitav Ghosh and Frank Westerman.- 5. Conclusion.