anthropology of letter writing

[Keith Murphy]

I don't think anyone's mentioned this one yet...

Ahearn, Laura M. 2001. Invitations to Love: Literacy, Love Letters, and 
Social Change in Nepal. Ann Arbor: University  of Michigan Press.

/keith

Keith M. Murphy
Department of Anthropology
University of California, Los Angeles
341 Haines Hall
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1553
------------------------------
M/ +46 070 469 37 84
E/ kmtam at ucla.edu


On Jun 21, 2006, at 5:59 AM, Rachel Reynolds wrote:

> Hi Everyone:
>
> A student has just written me a terrific response paper to Keith 
> Basso's "Ethnography of Writing" article in  _Explorations in 
> Ethnography of Speaking_ that has left me wondering about research 
> that may or may not have been spurred on by Basso's piece.  Does 
> anyone know of research work on letter writers who write for 
> illiterate people?  All I can think of is a few literary references, 
> but not any anthropological research.
>
> My second generation South Asian American student wrote:  "Finally, I 
> was curious to find out how letter writers in India (those who write 
> and send out letters for the illiterate) change, delete, or add to the 
> content dictated to them by the customer and the reasons behind this.  
> For me, letter-writing is such a personal act and I couldn't imagine 
> having to ask someone to write for me.  Also, since this communicative 
> act is performed for a fee, how do those dictating the letter alter 
> their language to ensure that they can afford to pay the letter 
> writer.  What topics are of the utmost concern and how do these 
> reflect cultural assumptions?  I would guess that the topics in the 
> case of the illiterate in India are money and well-being."
>
> Any leads would be appreciated.
>
> Rachel
>
> &%\----&%\----&%\----&%\----&%\-----/%&---/%&---/%&----/%&---/%&---/%&
> Rachel R. Reynolds
> Assistant Professor
> Director of Graduate Programs
> Department of Culture & Communication
> Drexel University
> 3141 Chestnut Street
> Philadelphia, PA 19104
> (215) 895-0498
> rrr at drexel.edu
>
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