Ruth Behar
Encyclopedia
Ruth Behar is a Jewish Cuban American
anthropologist
, poet, and writer who teaches at the University of Michigan
.
After receiving her B.A. from Wesleyan University
in 1977, she studied cultural anthropology at Princeton University
. Her dissertation (1983), based on her first fieldwork in northern Spain
, became the basis for her first book.
She is a noted feminist
, and her personal life experiences as a Jewish Cuban-American woman are frequently an important part of her writing.
Her second book, Translated Woman (1993), was based on ten years of fieldwork in a rural town in Mexico
. Her controversial book The Vulnerable Observer: Anthropology That Breaks Your Heart examines the role that the personal can play in ethnographic writing
.
Since 1991 her research and writing have largely focused on her native country, Cuba, which she left at the age of four. Her research on the dwindling yet vibrant Jewish community in Cuba is the focus of her film Adio Kerida
(2002), which featured camerawork and editing by her son Gabriel Frye-Behar. Jewish Cuba is also the topic of her latest book, An Island Called Home: Returning to Jewish Cuba (2007).
"genius grant."
Cuban American
A Cuban American is a United States citizen who traces his or her "national origin" to Cuba. Cuban Americans are also considered native born Americans with Cuban parents or Cuban-born persons who were raised and educated in US...
anthropologist
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
, poet, and writer who teaches at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
.
After receiving her B.A. from Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...
in 1977, she studied cultural anthropology at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
. Her dissertation (1983), based on her first fieldwork in northern Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, became the basis for her first book.
She is a noted feminist
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
, and her personal life experiences as a Jewish Cuban-American woman are frequently an important part of her writing.
Her second book, Translated Woman (1993), was based on ten years of fieldwork in a rural town in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. Her controversial book The Vulnerable Observer: Anthropology That Breaks Your Heart examines the role that the personal can play in ethnographic writing
Ethnography
Ethnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
.
Since 1991 her research and writing have largely focused on her native country, Cuba, which she left at the age of four. Her research on the dwindling yet vibrant Jewish community in Cuba is the focus of her film Adio Kerida
Adio Kerida
Adio Kerida: Goodbye my Dear Love is an award-winning 2002 documentary by anthropologist Ruth Behar that follows her trip back to Cuba, the place of her childhood, as she searches for memories from her past and investigates the dwindling Jewish community that remains.-Summary:Ruth Behar was Born in...
(2002), which featured camerawork and editing by her son Gabriel Frye-Behar. Jewish Cuba is also the topic of her latest book, An Island Called Home: Returning to Jewish Cuba (2007).
Awards
In 1988, she became the first Latin woman to be awarded a MacArthur fellowshipMacArthur Fellows Program
The MacArthur Fellows Program or MacArthur Fellowship is an award given by the John D. and Catherine T...
"genius grant."
Books
- The Presence of the Past in a Spanish Village: Santa María del Monte (1986)
- Translated Woman: Crossing the Border with Esperanza's Story (1993; second edition, Beacon Press, 2003 ISBN 9780807046470)
- Bridges to Cuba / Puentes a Cuba, editor, University of Michigan Press, 1995, ISBN 9780472066117
- Women Writing Culture Editors Ruth Behar, Deborah A. Gordon, University of California Press, 1995, ISBN 9780520202085
- The Vulnerable Observer: Anthropology That Breaks Your Heart, Beacon Press, 1996, ISBN 9780807046319
- An Island Called Home: Returning to Jewish Cuba, Rutgers University Press, 2007, ISBN 9780813541891
- The Portable Island: Cubans at Home in the World, Editors Ruth Behar, Lucía M. Suárez, Macmillan, 2008, ISBN 9780230604773
Film
- Adio KeridaAdio KeridaAdio Kerida: Goodbye my Dear Love is an award-winning 2002 documentary by anthropologist Ruth Behar that follows her trip back to Cuba, the place of her childhood, as she searches for memories from her past and investigates the dwindling Jewish community that remains.-Summary:Ruth Behar was Born in...
(Goodbye Dear Love): A Cuban-American Woman's Search for Sephardic Memories (2002)