Book contents
- Soviet Adventures in the Land of the Capitalists
- Soviet Adventures in the Land of the Capitalists
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgments
- Note on Transliteration and Translation
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Part I Promised Lands
- Part II New York and the Eastern States
- Part III To the Pacific Ocean
- 13 The Road
- 14 Frozen Meat, Salty Butter, and Other American Delicacies
- 15 The Nationalities Question
- 16 A Laboratory of Anthropology
- 17 New Mexico Moderns
- 18 Can You Kid a Kidder?
- 19 The Man in the Red Shirt
- 20 Natural Wonders and Technical Marvels
- 21 The American Dneprostroi
- Part IV The Golden State
- Part V Journey’s End
- Select Bibliography
- Index
16 - A Laboratory of Anthropology
from Part III - To the Pacific Ocean
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 January 2024
- Soviet Adventures in the Land of the Capitalists
- Soviet Adventures in the Land of the Capitalists
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgments
- Note on Transliteration and Translation
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Part I Promised Lands
- Part II New York and the Eastern States
- Part III To the Pacific Ocean
- 13 The Road
- 14 Frozen Meat, Salty Butter, and Other American Delicacies
- 15 The Nationalities Question
- 16 A Laboratory of Anthropology
- 17 New Mexico Moderns
- 18 Can You Kid a Kidder?
- 19 The Man in the Red Shirt
- 20 Natural Wonders and Technical Marvels
- 21 The American Dneprostroi
- Part IV The Golden State
- Part V Journey’s End
- Select Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Chapter 16 reconstructs Ilf and Petrov’s visit to the Laboratory of Anthropology in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It argues that their encounter with the Lab’s exhibits and its assistant director Kenneth Chapman did not generate new knowledge. Rather, it affirmed their assumptions about both capitalism and American Indians. Even without understanding the Lab’s current financial crisis, they highlighted the irrationality of having a Rockefeller, rather than the state, support scientific institutions. The Laboratory’s exhibits, and perhaps Chapman’s explanation of them, offered confirmation of their view of American Indians as romantic relics.
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- Information
- Soviet Adventures in the Land of the CapitalistsIlf and Petrov's American Road Trip, pp. 168 - 174Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024