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Being homeless as an anthropologist

Caton talks of the peculiar homelessness of the anthropologist.

"That’s a very deep personal strain in a lot of anthropologists. They talk about not feeling quite at home in their own culture, and that’s why they go outside to another culture. But when they come back, they can’t ‘go home.’ They’re now even more different than they were leaving it."

Somewhat like Lawrence, the tribe-less man in Arabia, Caton puzzles over defining his cultural identity.

"I see myself as someone who’s engaged in a number of different political and intellectual projects. And this has certain effects, but I don’t see them cohering into a narrative where I can say, this is Steve Caton. When I look back on who I was, or where I’ve been, or where I’ve come from, I can’t give any kind of coherent narrative. Nor do I wish to."
by fumiwakamatsu | 2007-02-27 01:47 | 文化人類学
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