Anthropology and Literature 3102-LAIL

Anthropology of literature is the field often treated as sub-discipline of literature studying; in Poland it is mostly reserved for theory of literature. Nevertheless it is to be integrated also into ethnological studies, particularly since the "discovery" of elements of literature in the anthropological works and since the well-known conclusion of Clifford Geertz that an "anthropologist writes". The anthropologist reads the literature too and in his / her works he or she often recall it, often treated it as a point of reference for conclusions on the culture and man. As stated by Ryszard Nycz, for the anthropologist the literature is the art of the expression of human experience. During the course we will concentrate on the interpretation of different types of literature, both Polish and foreign one. The theoretical texts will serve as a context. The course is proposed to students interested in literature.