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The Anthropology of Intensity

Language, Culture, and Environment

Paul Kockelman author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Cambridge University Press

Published:19th May '22

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The Anthropology of Intensity cover

By using a linguistic and anthropological framework, this pioneering book offers a natural history of intensity in the Anthropocene.

Focusing on the last twenty years of life in a small Mayan village, this pioneering book offers a natural history of intensity in the age of the Anthropocene. It is designed to bring together not only anthropologists and linguists, but also ecologically oriented readers, critical theorists, and environmental scientists.What counts as too close for comfort? How can an entire room suddenly feel restless at the imminence of a yet unknown occurrence? And who decides whether or not we are already in an age of unliveable extremes? The anthropology of intensity studies how humans encounter and communicate the continuous and gradable features of social and environmental phenomena in everyday interactions. Focusing on the last twenty years of life in a Mayan village in the cloud forests of Guatemala, this book provides a natural history of intensity in exceedingly tense times, through a careful analysis of ethnographic and linguistic evidence. It uses intensity as a way to reframe Anthropology in the age of the Anthropocene, and rethinks classic work in the formal linguistic tradition from a culture-specific and context-sensitive stance. It is essential reading not only for anthropologists and linguists, but also for ecologically oriented readers, critical theorists, and environmental scientists.

'… offers a thorough framework for understanding how speakers make sense of shifting degrees of change in a starkly mutable world.' Sean P. Smith, Language in Society

ISBN: 9781009011075

Dimensions: 228mm x 151mm x 20mm

Weight: 590g

290 pages