The Anthropologist

doi:10.1017/9781009554732.011

Chapter 9 - The Anthropologist

Mayans, Shamans, Junkies

from Part II - Identities

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 July 2026

David Stephen Calonne

Edited by

Oliver Harris ,

Davis Schneiderman and

Alex Wermer-Colan

Show author details

Oliver Harris: Affiliation:
Keele University
Davis Schneiderman: Affiliation:
Lake Forest College
Alex Wermer-Colan: Affiliation:
Temple University

Book contents

Get access

Summary

This chapter explores William Burroughs’ lifelong engagement with anthropology, from his early academic studies at Harvard and Columbia to his immersive depictions of indigenous and subcultural worlds. David Stephen Calonne charts Burroughs’ fascination with shamanism, Mayan hieroglyphics, animal totems, and visionary experience, arguing that his literary project is rooted in an outsider anthropological impulse that spans both ancient cultures and modern subcultures. Burroughs’ friendship with figures like Hal Chase and his involvement with institutions such as the Sahagún Anthropology Club informed works like The Soft Machine, Ah Pook Is Here, and Junky, which often merge ethnographic observation with mystical speculation. The chapter situates Burroughs alongside figures like Marcel Mauss, Georges Bataille, and Carlos Castaneda, and highlights the influence of his writings on contemporary anthropologists such as Michael Taussig. Ultimately, Burroughs emerges as an amateur but radical anthropologist, reimagining the potentials of cultural knowledge and visionary consciousness outside the confines of academic orthodoxy.

Keywords

William S. Burroughs anthropology shamanism Mayan codices ethnobotany ayahuasca Carlos Castaneda nagual Michael Taussig indigenous knowledge junkie culture

Information

Type: Chapter
Information: William Burroughs in Context , pp. 124 - 137

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009554732.011 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2026

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Works Cited

“Ayahuasca and Shamanism: Michael Taussig interviewed by Peter Lamborn Wilson.” Brooklyn: Exit 19 Upstate Monographs/Automedia, 2002.Google Scholar

Bataille, Georges. Visions of Excess: Selected Writings, 1927–1939. Ed. Stoekl, Allan. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1985.Google Scholar

Bogoras, Waldemar. Chukchee Mythology. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1910.Google Scholar

Burroughs, William S. The Adding Machine: Selected Essays. New York. Grove, 2013.Google Scholar

Burroughs, William S. Junky: The Definitive Text of “Junk.” Ed. Harris, Oliver. New York: Grove, 2012.Google Scholar

Burroughs, William S. Queer. Ed. Harris, Oliver. New York: Penguin, 2010.Google Scholar

Harris, Oliver “The Retreat Diaries.” In The Burroughs File. San Francisco: City Lights, 1984.Google Scholar

Burroughs, William, with Beiles, Sinclair, Corso, Gregory, and Gysin, Brion. Minutes to Go Redux. Ed. Harris, Oliver. Schönebeck: Moloko, 2020.Google Scholar

Calonne, David Stephen. The Beats in Mexico. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2022.Google Scholar

Calonne, David Stephen The Spiritual Imagination of the Beats. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2017.10.1017/9781108238830CrossRef Google Scholar

Campell, Howard. “Beat Mexico: Bohemia, Anthropology and ‘the Other.’” Critique of Anthropology, 23.2 (2003), 209–230.CrossRef Google Scholar

Christensen, Benjamin. [Film] Haxan: Witchcraft Through The Ages (1922) www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1mRCzh2Gzo.Google Scholar

Conversations with Gary Snyder. Ed. Calonne, David Stephen. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2017.Google Scholar

Conversations with William S. Burroughs. Ed. Hibbard, Allen. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1996.Google Scholar

Fargue, Paul La. “The Complicated Friendship of H. P. Lovecraft and Robert Barlow, One of His Biggest Fans.” The New Yorker (March 9, 2017).Google Scholar

Garcia, Edgar. Signs of the Americas: A Poetics of Pictography, Hieroglyphs, and Khipu. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2020.10.7208/chicago/9780226659169.001.0001CrossRef Google Scholar

Kerouac, Jack. On the Road. New York: Penguin, 2011.Google Scholar

McNeill, Malcolm. Observed While Falling: Bill Burroughs, Ah Pook, and Me. Seattle: Fantagraphic Books, 2012.Google Scholar

Miles, Barry. Call Me Burroughs: A Life. New York: Twelve, 2013.Google Scholar

Miller, Gerald Alva, Jr. Understanding William S. Burroughs. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2020.10.1353/book72227CrossRef Google Scholar

Miller, Mary and Taube, Karl. An Illustrated Dictionary of the Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1997.Google Scholar

Morgan, Ted. Literary Outlaw: The Life and Times of William S. Burroughs. New York: W. W. Norton, 2012.Google Scholar

Oppitz, Michael. Schamanen im Blinden Land: Ein Bilderbuch aus dem Himalaya. Frankfurt: Syndikat, 1981.Google Scholar

Patel, Shankari. “My Mom, the Beatniks, and Anthropology” (August 10, 2013), http://feministaikidoka.blogspot.com/2013/08/my-mom-beatniks-and-anthropology.html.Google Scholar

Stevens, Matthew Levi. The Magical Universe of William S. Burroughs. Oxford: Mandrake, 2014.Google Scholar

Stevens, Michael. The Road to Interzone: Reading William S. Burroughs Reading. Archer City: Suicide Press, 2009.Google Scholar

Taussig, Michael. Defacement: Public Secrecy and the Labor of the Negative. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1999.10.1515/9781503617131CrossRef Google Scholar

Taussig, Michael “What Color is the Sacred?” Critical inquiry, 33.1 (Autumn 2006), 28–51.CrossRef Google Scholar

Taussig, Michael “Would a Shaman Help?” Critical Inquiry, 47.S2 (Winter 2011), 33–36.10.1086/711430CrossRef Google Scholar

Taylor, Steven. Ed. Don’t Hide the Madness: William S. Burroughs in Conversation with Allen Ginsberg. New York: Three Rooms Press, 2018.Google Scholar

Waldman, Anne. “The Burroughs Effect.” In Cutting Up the Century, eds. Hawkins, Joan and Wermer-Colan, Alex. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2019: 408–416.Google Scholar

Accessibility standard: WCAG 2.1 AA

Why this information is here

This section outlines the accessibility features of this content - including support for screen readers, full keyboard navigation and high-contrast display options. This may not be relevant for you.

Accessibility Information

The HTML of this chapter complies with version 2.1 of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), covering newer accessibility requirements and improved user experiences and achieves the intermediate (AA) level of WCAG compliance, covering a wider range of accessibility requirements.

Content Navigation

Table of contents navigation
Allows you to navigate directly to chapters, sections, or non‐text items through a linked table of contents, reducing the need for extensive scrolling.

Index navigation
Provides an interactive index, letting you go straight to where a term or subject appears in the text without manual searching.

Reading Order & Textual Equivalents

Single logical reading order
You will encounter all content (including footnotes, captions, etc.) in a clear, sequential flow, making it easier to follow with assistive tools like screen readers.

Visual Accessibility

Use of colour is not sole means of conveying information
You will still understand key ideas or prompts without relying solely on colour, which is especially helpful if you have colour vision deficiencies.

Structural and Technical Features

ARIA roles provided
You gain clarity from ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) roles and attributes, as they help assistive technologies interpret how each part of the content functions.