Literature and the Anthropological Turn: Ethnography, Cultural Practices, and Human Behaviour in Selected Works of Zadie Smith and Ruth Ozeki

Najwa Mohammed Saeed

doi:10.53286/arts.v7i4.2857

Authors

Najwa Mohammed Saeed Assistant Professor of English Literature, Department of English, College of Education, Arts and Sciences, Al-Turba, Taiz University, Republic of Yemen.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53286/arts.v7i4.2857

Keywords:

Anthropology, Ethnography, White Teeth, On Beauty, My Year of Meats

Abstract

This study examines the anthropological turn in contemporary fiction through the works of Ruth Ozeki and Zadie Smith. It investigates how these writers employ ethnographic methods and anthropological insight to explore human behaviour and cultural norms. Focusing on Ozeki’s My Year of Meats (1998) and A Tale for the Time Being (2013), and Smith’s White Teeth (2000) and On Beauty (2005), the research analyses how literature and ethnography intersect to represent cultural truths. Using anthropological literary theory and ethnographic approaches, the study explores narrative strategies, thematic concerns, and portrayals of identity, migration, and globalisation. The findings reveal that both authors use fiction as a form of cultural inquiry, blending imaginative storytelling with ethnographic observation. The study concludes that the anthropological turn enables writers to construct culturally engaged narratives that bridge literary and anthropological knowledge, underscoring the significance of interdisciplinary research in understanding and representing contemporary cultural practices.

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