charles l. briggs is the alan dundes distinguished professor in folklore at berkeley. he focuses on linguistic and medical anthropology, social theory, modernity, citizenship and the state, race, and violence. he has studied the tension between modernity and traditionality as socio-political processes in performance, focusing on jokes, proverbs, legends, myths, anecdotes, gossip, curing songs, and ritual wailing, along with how constructions of language and tradition have shaped the politics of modernity. his original research focus centered on the "mexicano" population of his home state of new mexico in the us. from then on he has focused his attention on the warao, an amerindian people of delta amacuro state in venezuela. current projects focus on revolutionary health care in venezuela; how the state is “communicated” through the press particularly through health issues in cuba, venezuela, and the united states; and how violence is projected in legal, media, and medical institutions (venezuela).