Writing Anthropologists, Sounding Primitives: The Poetry and Scholarship of Edward Sapir, Margaret Mead, and Ruth Benedict

431 Pages·2021·8.265 MB·English

by  A. Elisabeth Reichel

Writing Anthropologists,
Sounding Primitives
()
Critical Studies
in the History of
Anthropology
Series Editors
Regna Darnell
Robert Oppenheim
Writing Anthropologists,
Sounding Primitives
The Poetry and
Scholarship of
Edward Sapir,
Margaret Mead, and
Ruth Benedict
()
A. Elisabeth Reichel
University of Nebraska Press
Lincoln
© 2021 by the Board of Regents of the University of
Nebraska. Acknowledgments for the use of previously
published material appear on page xvi, which constitutes
an extension of the copyright page.
All rights reserved
The open access version of this publication was funded by
the Swiss National Science Foundation.
Publication of this work was assisted by the Murray- Hong
Family Trust, to honor and sustain the distinguished
legacy of Stephen O. Murray in the History of
Anthropology at the University of Nebraska Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Reichel, A. Elisabeth, author.
Title: Writing anthropologists, sounding primitives: the
poetry and scholarship of Edward Sapir, Margaret Mead,
and Ruth Benedict / A. Elisabeth Reichel.
Description: Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2021. |
Series: Critical studies in the history of anthropology |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: lccn 2020039758
isbn 9781496226082 (hardback)
isbn 9781496227522 (epub)
isbn 9781496227539 (mobi)
isbn 9781496227546 (pdf)
Subjects: lcsh: Sapir, Edward, 1884– 1939— Criticism and
interpretation. | Mead, Margaret, 1901– 1978— Criticism
and interpretation. | Benedict, Ruth, 1887– 1948—
Criticism and interpretation. | Anthropologists’ writings,
American— History and criticism. | American poetry—
20th century.
Classification: lcc ps323.5 r353 2021 | ddc 808.1— dc23
lc record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020039758
Set in Arno Pro by Mikala Kolander.
In memory of Mary Catherine
Bateson ( 1939–2021)

I love some of my printed books as much as
anyone can. Just the same, my heart always
beats faster at a book of blank pages than it
does at any book filled with printing.
Ruth Benedict
“Preface to an Anthology”

Contents
List of Illustrations xi
Series Editors’ Introduction xiii
Acknowledgments xv
Editorial Note on Archival Sources xvii
Introduction: Poets, Anthropologists, Primitives 1
1. Of Mumbling Melody, Soft Singing, and Slow
Speech: Constructions of Sonic Otherness in the
Poetry of Edward Sapir 27
2. On Alternating Sounds: Musical Alterities in
Sapir’s Poetry and Critical Writings 81
Interlude: French Canadian Folk Songs in Translation 125
3. “For You Have Given Me Speech!”: Gifted Literates,
Illiterate Primitives, and Margaret Mead 139
4. Toward Unnerving the Us: The Poetry and
Scholarship of Ruth Benedict 185
Conclusion: Cultural and Media Evolutionism in
Boasian Anthropology and Beyond 227
Appendix: The Complete Poetry of Edward Sapir,
Ruth Benedict, and Margaret Mead 237
The Poetry of Edward Sapir 237
The Poetry of Ruth Benedict 276
The Poetry of Margaret Mead 287
Notes 299
Bibliography 345
Index 385