«Boundaries between populations are not solidly defined lines». Attraversamenti geografici, mappature linguistiche e sconfinamenti disciplinari in Franz Boas

Abstract

The personal and intellectual biography of Franz Boas testifies to a tireless scientific research and public commitment dedicated to the study of cultures and to the "human manifestations of mental life". Moving from Germany with a background in physics, geography and natural sciences, he arrived in the United States opening the field to cultural anthropology as a discipline, becoming one of the pioneers in ethnolinguistic and ethnomusicological studies. We will therefore try to outline a mapping of these Boasian disciplinary encroachments, showing how they are connected to his geographic crossings, from the first journey through the Canadian ice of Baffin Island (1883-1884), up to the field research carried out in British Columbia from 1885 to 1930.