The anthropologist as member of the ensemble: Anthropological experiments with theatre makers

Caroline Gatt

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

Abstract

What do anthropologists make? One conventional response to this question would be text. Equally, however, anthropologists also construct narratives and images (Herzfeld 2007: 107). Another response, more in vogue, is that anthropologists produce anthropological knowledge. Much attention has been given to the production of such knowledge, specifically during fieldwork. Coleman and Collins, for instance, suggest (2006: 12) ‘performing the field’ as a concept that liberates fieldwork from bounded spatial assumptions. Marcus (2009: 525) proposes to replace ‘rapport’ with ‘theatres of complicit reflexivity’ as a more equitable trope for fieldwork. Nevertheless, the form that anthropological knowledge takes for the purposes of evaluation remains firmly rooted in text: dissertations, books, and articles. Even conference presentations are mostly ‘read’, rather than performed.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationAnthropology, Theatre, and Development
Subtitle of host publicationThe Transformative Potential of Performance
EditorsA. Flynn, J. Tinius
PublisherPalgrave Macmillan
Pages334-356
Number of pages23
ISBN (Print)978-1-137-35059-6
Publication statusPublished - 2015

Publication series

NameAnthropology: Change and Development

Keywords

  • theatre
  • reflexivity
  • anthropological craft

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