Description
Berghahn Books Out of the Study and Into the Field Ethnographic Theory and Practice in French Anthropology 2010 Edition by Robert Parkin, Anne de Sales
Outside France, French anthropology is conventionally seen as being dominated by grand theory produced by writers who have done little or no fieldwork themselves, and who may not even count as anthropologists in terms of the institutional structures of French academia. This applies to figures from Durkheim to Derrida, Mauss to Foucault, though there are partial exceptions, such as Levi-Strauss and Bourdieu. It has led to a contrast being made, especially perhaps in the Anglo-Saxon world, between French theory relying on rational inference, and British empiricism based on induction and generally skeptical of theory. While there are contrasts between the two traditions, this is essentially a false view. It is this aspect of French anthropology that this collection addresses, in the belief that the neglect of many of these figures outside France is seriously distorting our view of the French tradition of anthropology overall. At the same time, the collection will provide a positive view of the French tradition of ethnography, stressing its combination of technical competence and the sympathies of its practitioners for its various ethnographic subjects. Table of contents :- List of illustrationsList of authors discussed in this volumePrefaceIntroduction: Ethnographic practice and theory in FranceRobert Parkin and Anne de SalesChapter 1. 'Keeping your eyes open': Arnold van Gennep and the autonomy of the folkloristicGiordano CharutyChapter 2. Canonical ethnography: Hanoteau and Letourneux on Kabyle communal lawPeter ParkesChapter 3. Postcards at the service of the Imaginary: Jean Rouch, shared anthropology and the cine-trancePaul HenleyChapter 4. Eric de Dampierre and the art of fieldworkMargaret BucknerChapter 5. What sort of anthropologist was Paul Rivet?Laura RivalChapter 6. Alfred Metraux: empiricist and romanticistPeter RiviereChapter 7. Roger Bastide or the 'darknesses of alterity'Stefania Chapter 8. The art and craft of ethnography: Lucien Bernot, 1919-1993Gerard ToffinChapter 9. Andre-Georges Haudricourt: a thorough materialistAlban BensaChapter 10. Louis Dumont: from museology to structuralism via IndiaRobert ParkinChapter 11. Will the real Maurice Leenhardt please stand up? Four anthropologists in search of an ancestorJeremy MacClancyNotes on ContributorsIndex