NON-TRANSPARENT ETHNOGRAPHIES AND THE ART OF INTERPRETATION. RAMBLES AROUND ANTHROPOLOGICAL NARRATIVES

• Authors: Rydlewski M.
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

Narrative, conceived as particular type of texts appearing in a given time is the main concept through which the author looks at the contemporary cultural anthropology. He also points out the connection of narratives and methodological 'non-transparent' character of the anthropologist. The article outlines the context of the transition of structuralism into poststructuralism with Roland Barthes as the main hero. The author compares the modern textualists to Plato who has separated a word from the thing itself, rhetoric from epistemology similar to that of classical ethnographer. Being conscious of subjectivism of the language, modern anthropology can be placed on the side of the Sophists. The author also points out the consciousness of the ethnographic constructivism of the text as well as the fact that the image of culture constructed by the anthropologist is not free from faith in the power of theoretical system, the scholar's own imagination and romantic entanglement of the European. What the author offers here are the anthropological rambles around anthropological narratives. They refer to the project of the 'non-transparent anthropology', i.e. making the scholar's presence noticeable both in what makes up the research process and in the text itself. The author refers to the 'art of interpretation' elevating the combination of two kinds of experience: that of art and of science. Noteworthy for the ethnographic researches and studies are two notions: 'sensitivity' and 'imagination'. The article contains consideration of the anatomy of anthropological soul and, as the author put it, 'infection with subjectivism' as well as literary character of anthropology being an instance of reflexiveness. Reference to the Nietschean concept of deconstruction of one's own writing can be found too, as well as desire of becoming an author and using style as tool for the defense of the bastion of one's personality. Like Clifford Geertz and Paul Willis the author appreciates experiment as one of the ways of presentation. Like Barthes he emphasizes the important role of narrative as analytic tool in field research. He also stresses that culture can be conceived as set of texts.

Keywords

EN

NARRATIVE AND CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY

Discipline

• ANTHROPOLOGY: ANTHROPOLOGY

• Publisher: Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Etnografia Polska
• Year: 2006
• Volume: 50
• Issue: 1-2
• Pages: 35-49
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Rydlewski M.

• M. Rydlewski, c/o Uniwersytet Warszawski, Instytut Etnologii i Antropologii Kulturowej, ul. Zurawia 4, 00-503 Warszawa, Poland

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

07PLAAAA03246714