Vincent Crapanzano is a celebrated anthropologist and comparative literature scholar whose work delves into the profound connections between human culture and the way we narrate our experiences. His interdisciplinary approach uncovers how language and narrative structures shape our understanding of the world. Crapanzano's research offers unique insights into how ideas and traditions circulate across diverse cultures. His contributions to contemporary anthropology and literary studies are significant.
Exploring the theme of literalism, this book offers a keen analysis of its widespread influence in both religious and secular contexts in contemporary America. Through insightful observations and compelling arguments, it reveals the various unexpected manifestations of literal interpretation, challenging readers to reconsider the implications of this phenomenon in everyday life.
The narrative unfolds through the eyes of a distinguished anthropologist who reflects on his life with the introspection of a wistful novelist. As he recounts his experiences, he observes himself from a distance, blending personal anecdotes with anthropological insights. This unique perspective allows for a deep exploration of identity, memory, and the human experience, inviting readers to ponder the complexities of self-perception and the intertwined nature of life and storytelling.
A distinguished anthropologist tells his life story as a wistful novelist would, watching himself as if he were someone else This memoir recaptures meaningful moments from the author’s life: as his childhood on the grounds of a psychiatric hospital, his psychiatrist father’s early death, his years at school in Switzerland and then at Harvard in the 1960s, his love affairs, his own teaching, and his far-flung travels. Taken together, these stories have the power of a nothing-taken-for-granted vision, fighting those conventions and ideologies that deaden the creative and inquiring mind.
V dnes již klasické práci Tuhami: Portrét Maročana líčí Vincent Crapanzano výsledky svého setkávání s negramotným Maročanem, jenž se živil jako dělník v továrně na výrobu kachlů a věřil, že se oženil s Ajšou Kandišou, démonkou s velbloudíma nohama, která si jej zcela uzurpovala, a on se musel podřizovat její vůli. Za nocí jej pronásledovali démoni a navštěvovali svatí. Tuhami se snažil vysvobodit z moci Ajši Kandiši, na čemž se zprvu nevědomky podílel sám kulturní antropolog Crapanzano. Autor s námi sdílí své porozumění životním osudům a zmateným, nejasným, protimluvným a zároveň pravdivým Tuhamiho vyprávěním. Kniha Tuhami zásadním způsobem přispěla k formování nového přístupu v kulturní antropologii, který se vyznačuje reflexivitou a experimentováním s textem. Crapanzanovo průkopnické dílo inovativním způsobem otevřelo otázku vztahu antropologa a Jiného a jejich podílu na vyjednávání etnografické reality. Crapanzano staví na fenomenologii, psychoanalýze a antropologii a otevírá otázky po povaze skutečnosti a pravdy.