Four senses in the Trobriand Islands – the body and writing of an ethnographer / Cztery zmysły na Trobriandach – ciało i zapis etnografa
Journal Title: Etnografia. Praktyki. Teorie. Doświadczenia / Ethnography. Practices, Theories, Experiences - Year 2015, Vol 1, Issue 1
Abstract
In this article I discuss Bronislaw Malinowski’s ethnography in the context of the socalled “sensual turn” in anthropology. I assume that although Malinowski was not a theoretician of the senses, he consciously practiced the “sensual” anthropological narrative later proposed by Paul Stoller. The main purpose of my article is to ask a question which exceeds a refl ection on the classics of anthropology. The question is: what are the anthropologist’s bodily practices and how are they related to various, especially written, forms of representation of field experience? The data for my analysis was sourced from Malinowski’s monographs, his personal diary and his fieldnotes, which serve to reveal not only the specifics of Malinowski’s narrative but also what is hidden behind the scenes of his field experience: bodily practices and the specificity of the anthropological sensorium. I also aim to show a variety of tensions inherent in the sensual organization; tensions that are associated with certain cultural practices as well as, among others, the literary genres used by anthropologists.
Authors and Affiliations
Marta Rakoczy
Keywords
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- EP ID EP687947
- DOI https://doi.org/10.4467/254395379EPT.15.007.6472
- Views 123
- Downloads 0
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