Anthropology
Laura Bohanna’s Return To Laughter An Anthropological Novel is the realistic fiction novel of a woman’s quest to study a remote African tribe. Along the way she deals with many obstacles. However, Eleanor Smith Bowens, the nom de plume for Laura Bohanna, gets through it and is able to make a conclusion on the tribe that is explicit and truthful to the tribe’s situation. The themes of the novel and the author’s background lead to a conclusion, which will be critiqued, that has social implications. The major themes in the novel point out Bowen’s complications in achieving her goal in learning about the people and making an objective conclusion. The first theme is the foreigner vs. native. Before becoming part of the society Bowen’s had to give up some of the accommodations she was familiar with to in her society. For example her privacy, which she wanted in order to collect her thoughts and do work. Her want for privacy stigmatized her making it harder for Bowen to do her work. She overcomes it enough to become a part of the tribe by dealing with the tribes suffering. Suffering and the triumph over suffering is another theme of the book. Dealing with the pain together brings Bowens and the tribe together. There become an exchange between the anthropologist and the informants over time. She deals with what she is given and studies the tribe. Eleanor Smith Bowen is the nom de plume for Laura Bohanna.