Don Kulick – författare

This narrative follows the lives of a group of transgendered prostitutes ("travestis" in Portuguese) in the Brazilian city Salvador. Travestis are males who, at an age as young as ten, adopt female names, clothing styles, hairstyles and linguistic pronouns. They ingest massive doses of female hormones and inject litres of industrial silicone into their bodies to create breasts, wide hips and large thighs and buttocks. However, no travesti identifies herself as a woman, moreover they regard any male that does so as mentally disturbed. The text analyzes the ways that travestis modify their bodies, explores the motivations that lead them to choose this particular gendered identity, and examines the complex relationships that they maintain with one another, their boyfriends and their families. Also examining how they earn their living through prostitution and discussing the reasons that prostitution for most travestis is a positive and affirmative experience.Arguing that transgenderism never occurs in a natural or arbitrary form, the text shows how it is created in specific social contexts and assumes specific social forms, suggesting that travestis may distill and perfect the messages that give meaning to gender throughout Brazilian society and possibly throughout much of Latin America.

Taboo looks at the ethnographer and sexuality in anthropological fieldwork and considers the many roles that sexuality plays in the anthropological production of knowledge and texts. How does the sexual identity that anthropologists have in their "home" society affect the kind of sexuality they are allowed to express in other cultures? How is the anthropologists' sexuality perceived by the people with whom he or she does research? How common is sexual violence and intimidation in the field and why is its existence virtually unmentioned in anthropology? These are but a few of the questions to be confronted, exploring from differing perspectives the depth of the influence this tabooed topic has on the entire practice and production of anthropology.A long-overdue text for all students and lecturers of anthropology, many post-fieldwork readers will find a resonance of issues they have previously faced (or tried to avoid) and those who are still to undertake fieldwork will find articles that refer to other kinds of personal and professional experience as well as providing invaluable preparations for coping in the field.

Taboo looks at the ethnographer and sexuality in anthropological fieldwork and considers the many roles that sexuality plays in the anthropological production of knowledge and texts. How does the sexual identity that anthropologists have in their "home" society affect the kind of sexuality they are allowed to express in other cultures? How is the anthropologists' sexuality perceived by the people with whom he or she does research? How common is sexual violence and intimidation in the field and why is its existence virtually unmentioned in anthropology? These are but a few of the questions to be confronted, exploring from differing perspectives the depth of the influence this tabooed topic has on the entire practice and production of anthropology.A long-overdue text for all students and lecturers of anthropology, many post-fieldwork readers will find a resonance of issues they have previously faced (or tried to avoid) and those who are still to undertake fieldwork will find articles that refer to other kinds of personal and professional experience as well as providing invaluable preparations for coping in the field.

The Language and Sexuality Reader is the first of its kind to bring together material from the fields of anthropology, communication studies, linguistics, medicine and psychology in an examination of the role of sexuality in written and spoken language. Organized into thematic sections, the Reader addresses:early documentation of vocabulary used by male homosexuals and later work on the existence of a discourse style signifying gay identitythe use of language by individuals to present themselves as sexual and gendered subjectsthe way language reflects, reinforces or challenges cultural norms defining what is 'natural' and desirable in the sphere of sexthe verbal communication of sexual desire in different settings, genres and media.The Language and Sexuality Reader includes extracts from: Hideko Abe, Laura M. Ahearn, Rusty Barrett, Deborah Cameron, Kathryn Campbell-Kibler, Donald W. Cory, Justine Coupland, Louie Crew, James Darsey, Penelope Eckert, Susan Ehrlich, Joseph J. Hayes, Scott F. Kiesling, Celia Kitzinger, Don Kulick, William L. Leap, Gershon Legman, Momoko Nakamura, Sally McConnell-Ginet, Julia Penelope, Robert J. Podesva, June Machover Reinisch, Sarah J. Roberts, Stephanie A. Sanders, David Sonenschein, and David Valentine.

The Language and Sexuality Reader is the first of its kind to bring together material from the fields of anthropology, communication studies, linguistics, medicine and psychology in an examination of the role of sexuality in written and spoken language. Organized into thematic sections, the Reader addresses:early documentation of vocabulary used by male homosexuals and later work on the existence of a discourse style signifying gay identitythe use of language by individuals to present themselves as sexual and gendered subjectsthe way language reflects, reinforces or challenges cultural norms defining what is 'natural' and desirable in the sphere of sexthe verbal communication of sexual desire in different settings, genres and media.The Language and Sexuality Reader includes extracts from: Hideko Abe, Laura M. Ahearn, Rusty Barrett, Deborah Cameron, Kathryn Campbell-Kibler, Donald W. Cory, Justine Coupland, Louie Crew, James Darsey, Penelope Eckert, Susan Ehrlich, Joseph J. Hayes, Scott F. Kiesling, Celia Kitzinger, Don Kulick, William L. Leap, Gershon Legman, Momoko Nakamura, Sally McConnell-Ginet, Julia Penelope, Robert J. Podesva, June Machover Reinisch, Sarah J. Roberts, Stephanie A. Sanders, David Sonenschein, and David Valentine.

This lively and accessible textbook looks at how we talk about sex and why we talk about it the way we do. Drawing on a wide range of examples, from personal ads to phone sex, from sado-masochistic scenes to sexual assault trials, the book provides a clear introduction to the relationship between language and sexuality. Using a broad definition of 'sexuality', the book encompasses not only issues surrounding sexual orientation and identity but also questions about the discursive construction of sexuality and the verbal expression of erotic desire. Cameron and Kulick contextualize their findings within current research in linguistics, anthropology and psychology, and bring together relevant theoretical debates on sexuality, gender, identity, desire, meaning and power. Topical and entertaining, this much-needed textbook will be welcomed by students and researchers in sociolinguistics, linguistic anthropology and gender/sexuality studies, as well as anyone interested in the relationship between language and sex.

Language Shift and Cultural Reproduction, first published in 1992, is a fascinating anthropological study of language and cultural change among the villagers of Gapun, in the Sepik region of Papua New Guinea. Despite their strong attachment to their own language as a source of identity and as a tie to their lands, people are abandoning their vernacular in favour of Tok Pisin, the most widely spoken language in Papua New Guinea. By examining village language socialization practices and drawing on Marshall Sahlins's ideas about structure and event, Don Kulick reveals how daily interactions, attitudes towards language, children, change, and personhood, all contribute to a shift in language and culture that is beyond the villagers' understanding and control. This is the first detailed documention of the process of language shift. It places linguistic change within an interpretive framework, and treats language as a symbolic system that affects, and is affected by, the thoughts and actions of everyday life.

This lively and accessible textbook looks at how we talk about sex and why we talk about it the way we do. Drawing on a wide range of examples, from personal ads to phone sex, from sado-masochistic scenes to sexual assault trials, the book provides a clear introduction to the relationship between language and sexuality. Using a broad definition of 'sexuality', the book encompasses not only issues surrounding sexual orientation and identity but also questions about the discursive construction of sexuality and the verbal expression of erotic desire. Cameron and Kulick contextualize their findings within current research in linguistics, anthropology and psychology, and bring together relevant theoretical debates on sexuality, gender, identity, desire, meaning and power. Topical and entertaining, this much-needed textbook will be welcomed by students and researchers in sociolinguistics, linguistic anthropology and gender/sexuality studies, as well as anyone interested in the relationship between language and sex.

Few people these days would oppose making the public realm of space, social services and jobs accessible to women and men with disabilities. But what about access to the private realm of desire and sexuality? How can one also facilitate access to that, in ways that respect the integrity of disabled adults, and also of those people who work with and care for them?Loneliness and Its Opposite documents how two countries generally imagined to be progressive engage with these questions in very different ways. Denmark and Sweden are both liberal welfare states, but they diverge dramatically when it comes to sexuality and disability. In Denmark, the erotic lives of people with disabilities are acknowledged and facilitated. In Sweden, they are denied and blocked. Why do these differences exist, and how do both facilitation and hindrance play out in practice?Loneliness and Its Opposite charts complex boundaries between private and public, love and sex, work and intimacy, and affection and abuse. It shows how providing disabled adults with access to sexual lives is not just crucial for a life with dignity. It is an issue of fundamental social justice with far reaching consequences for everyone.

Few people these days would oppose making the public realm of space, social services and jobs accessible to women and men with disabilities. But what about access to the private realm of desire and sexuality? How can one also facilitate access to that, in ways that respect the integrity of disabled adults, and also of those people who work with and care for them?Loneliness and Its Opposite documents how two countries generally imagined to be progressive engage with these questions in very different ways. Denmark and Sweden are both liberal welfare states, but they diverge dramatically when it comes to sexuality and disability. In Denmark, the erotic lives of people with disabilities are acknowledged and facilitated. In Sweden, they are denied and blocked. Why do these differences exist, and how do both facilitation and hindrance play out in practice?Loneliness and Its Opposite charts complex boundaries between private and public, love and sex, work and intimacy, and affection and abuse. It shows how providing disabled adults with access to sexual lives is not just crucial for a life with dignity. It is an issue of fundamental social justice with far reaching consequences for everyone.

This book is about how we might think about vulnerability—what it is and how it operates—by looking at cases where different kinds of vulnerabilities clash. Disability is often portrayed as a vulnerability in itself, and disabled people are often labelled a prototypical “vulnerable group”. This book disassembles that label by highlighting how vulnerabilities involving people with disabilities emerge and how they often conflict with other vulnerabilities: the vulnerabilities of disabled students vs. the vulnerabilities of under-educated and harassed teachers, for example. Or the struggles for legitimacy that pit neuro-divergent groups against people with chronic illnesses, one casting doubt on the validity of the other. Or the different uses of curb cuts for people in wheelchairs and people with visual impairments—uses which sometimes clash. Clashes like these illustrate the role that conflict plays in defining “vulnerability” and they lead us to think about how we might try to adjudicate between different claims of what can count as a vulnerability.Providing new insight into power and non-power, ideology, socioeconomic structures, and the vicissitudes of disability as both a subject position and a lived experience, this book will be of interest to scholars and students of disability studies, anthropology and sociology, policy, and philosophy.

This book is about how we might think about vulnerability—what it is and how it operates—by looking at cases where different kinds of vulnerabilities clash. Disability is often portrayed as a vulnerability in itself, and disabled people are often labelled a prototypical “vulnerable group”. This book disassembles that label by highlighting how vulnerabilities involving people with disabilities emerge and how they often conflict with other vulnerabilities: the vulnerabilities of disabled students vs. the vulnerabilities of under-educated and harassed teachers, for example. Or the struggles for legitimacy that pit neuro-divergent groups against people with chronic illnesses, one casting doubt on the validity of the other. Or the different uses of curb cuts for people in wheelchairs and people with visual impairments—uses which sometimes clash. Clashes like these illustrate the role that conflict plays in defining “vulnerability” and they lead us to think about how we might try to adjudicate between different claims of what can count as a vulnerability.Providing new insight into power and non-power, ideology, socioeconomic structures, and the vicissitudes of disability as both a subject position and a lived experience, this book will be of interest to scholars and students of disability studies, anthropology and sociology, policy, and philosophy.

Tayap is a small, previously undocumented Papuan language, spoken in a single village called Gapun, in the lower Sepik River region of Papua New Guinea. The language is an isolate, unrelated to any other in the area. Furthermore, Tayap is dying. Fewer than fifty speakers actively command it today. Based on linguistic anthropological work conducted over the course of thirty years, this book describes the grammar of the language, detailing its phonology, morphology and syntax. It devotes particular attention to verbs, which are the most elaborated area of the grammar, and which are complex, fusional and massively suppletive.The book also provides a full Tayap-English-Tok Pisin dictionary. A particularly innovative contribution is the detailed discussions of how Tayap’'s grammar is dissolving in the language of young speakers. The book exemplifies how the complex structures in fluent speakers’ Tayap are reduced or reanalyzed by younger speakers. This grammar and dictionary should therefore be a valuable resource for anyone interested in the mechanics of how languages disappear. The fact that it is the sole documentation of this unique Papuan language should also make it of interest to areal specialists and language typologists.

Tayap is a small, previously undocumented Papuan language, spoken in a single village called Gapun, in the lower Sepik River region of Papua New Guinea. The language is an isolate, unrelated to any other in the area. Furthermore, Tayap is dying. Fewer than fifty speakers actively command it today. Based on linguistic anthropological work conducted over the course of thirty years, this book describes the grammar of the language, detailing its phonology, morphology and syntax. It devotes particular attention to verbs, which are the most elaborated area of the grammar, and which are complex, fusional and massively suppletive.The book also provides a full Tayap-English-Tok Pisin dictionary. A particularly innovative contribution is the detailed discussions of how Tayap’'s grammar is dissolving in the language of young speakers. The book exemplifies how the complex structures in fluent speakers’ Tayap are reduced or reanalyzed by younger speakers. This grammar and dictionary should therefore be a valuable resource for anyone interested in the mechanics of how languages disappear. The fact that it is the sole documentation of this unique Papuan language should also make it of interest to areal specialists and language typologists.

“Perhaps the finest and most profound account of ethnographic fieldwork and discovery that has ever entered the anthropological literature.” —The Wall Street Journal “If you want to experience a profoundly different culture without the exhausting travel (to say nothing of the cost), this is an excellent choice.”—The Washington Post One of Time’s 32 Books You Need to Read This Summer * One of National Geographic’s Best Travel Books of Summer As a young anthropologist, Don Kulick went to the tiny village of Gapun in New Guinea to document the death of the native language, Tayap. He arrived knowing that you can’t study a language without understanding the daily lives of the people who speak it: how they talk to their children, how they argue, how they gossip, how they joke. Over the course of thirty years, as he returned again and again to document the vanishing language, he found himself inexorably drawn into the lives and world of the Gapuners, and implicated in their destiny. In A Death in the Rainforest, Kulick takes us inside the village as he came to know it, revealing what it is like to live in a difficult-to-get-to village of two hundred people, carved out like a cleft in the middle of a tropical rainforest. And in doing so, he also gives us a brilliant interrogation of what it means to study a culture, an illuminating look at the impact of Western culture on the farthest reaches of the globe—and, ultimately, the story of why this anthropologist realized that he had to give up his study of this language and this village.