Beyond Writing Culture: Current Intersections of Epistemologies and Representational Practices

Description

Two decades after the publication of Clifford and Marcus' volume Writing Culture, this collection provides a fresh and diverse reassessment of the debates that this pioneering volume unleashed. At the same time, Beyond Writing Culture moves the debate on by embracing the more fundamental challenge as to how to conceptualise the intricate relationship between epistemology and representational practices rather than maintaining the original narrow focus on textual analysis. It thus offers a thought-provoking tapestry of new ideas relevant for scholars not only concerned with 'the ethnographic Other', but with representation in general. Contents Preface Acknowledgements 1. Prologue: Opening Doors Beyond Writing Culture • Olaf Zenker and Karsten Kumoll 2. Textualization, Mystification and the Power of the Frame • Vincent Crapanzano 3. Reading James Clifford: On Ethnographic Allegory • Steffen Strohmenger 4. Indigenous Research and the Politics of Representation: Notes on the Cultural Theory of Marshall Sahlins • Karsten Kumoll 5. From the Spirit’s Point of View: Ethnography, Total Truth and Speakership • Thomas G. Kirsch 6. Interlogue: ‘Writing Cultures’ and the Quest for Knowledge • Rozita Dimova 7. Language Matters: Reflexive Notes on Representing the Irish Language Revival in Catholic West Belfast • Olaf Zenker 8. Ethnographic Cognition and Writing Culture • Christophe Heintz 9. Hard Truths: Addressing a Crisis in Ethnography • Stephen P. Reyna 10. The Migration of the ‘Culture’ Concept from Anthropology to Sociology at the Fin de siècle • John H. Zammito 11. Epilogue: How Do Paradigm Shifts Work in Anthropology? On the Relationship of Theory and Experience • Günther Schlee Notes on Contributors Index