In the Circle of the Dance: Notes of an Outsider in Nepal - Couverture souple

Guneratne, Katharine Bjork

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0801485924 ISBN 13 : 9780801485923

Editeur : Cornell University Press, 1999

Synopsis

Feeling initially aimless and out of place in rural Nepal where she accompanied her anthropologist husband for a year of fieldwork, Katharine Bjork Guneratne turned to writing to make sense of her sojourn in the shadow of the Himalaya. The resulting book is both an acute portrait of a village and an intimate account of her struggles to adapt to a different way of life. Like the best cultural travel narratives, In the Circle of the Dance draws on the author's experiences to illuminate both exterior and interior worlds.

Bjork's book is in many ways a primer on the realities of fieldwork, from setting up house to participating in the work of the village women to finding ways to communicate across cultural divides. It describes how this outsider achieved a gradual and provisional inclusion in the community, an inclusion represented by her participation in a traditional women's circle dance. The book also depicts the effects of modernization and tourism on a society that remained closed to the West well into this century, while offering comparative insights about wider South Asian cultures.

The author's lyrical, frequently moving descriptions of everyday life guide her readers through the stages of her cultural apprenticeship. In the end, as Bjork joins the circle dance, she is a stranger to the community still, but a familiar and welcome one.

A propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

Katharine Bjork Guneratne lives in St. Paul. She has taught history at the University of Minnesota and Macalester College.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Cornell University Press
• Date d'édition: 1999
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0801485924
• ISBN 13: 9780801485923
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 240
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible