The Anthropologists

Asya and Manu live "without a shared native tongue, without religion, without the web of family and its obligations to keep us in place.” How does the lack of traditional anchors or ties shape their relationship and identity? How does it both liberate and challenge them?

Discuss Asya and Manu's relationship with their elderly neighbor Tereza. How does the novel explore the notion of "found family"? Contrast this relationship with the more traditional family relationships depicted in the novel (Tereza with her daughter; Asya and Manu with their families back home).

Have you ever lived in another country as an expat? Or even in a new city where you had few connections? How did your experience compare to Asya and Manu's?

The novel explores what it means to be "foreign" – not just to a place, but to traditional life trajectories and expectations. In what ways do Asya and Manu subvert traditional expectations? In what ways do they adhere to them?

Anya worries that "we weren't living by the correct set of rules, that we should be making our lives sturdy." How does this concern propel her and Manu? Do you think this is a universal feeling for younger adults figuring out how to live and be in the world?

The apartment viewings are titled "Future Selves" throughout the novel. How do these scenes reflect the couple's anxieties about adulthood and belonging? What do their reactions to different spaces reveal?

Other sections of the book are titled after elements of anthropological field work (e.g., "Principles of Kinship"). How did this structure and naming convention add to the novel?

Why do you think Savaş titled her novel "The Anthropologists"? How does the title relate to both Asya's work, and the work of the author herself?

Asya's park documentary project becomes a meditation on everyday life. How does her choice to film this local space reflect larger themes in the novel about finding meaning in the mundane?

"The Anthropologists" is light on plot, instead lingering in the details of everyday life. Did you enjoy this style of writing or did you wish for more action?