Monday, November 26, 2007

Ethnography

It is interesting that the need for ethnographic retrospective and investigative research come up at this time. I have recently talked with film anthropologists and ethnographers, in NYC, who have told me how initially in their examination or studies they had to go back and do numerous research on how to go about learning and translating the nuances of a culture. “Ethnography”, serves as a guide or brief description of how to carry out Ethnographic study and also the different processes ethnographers go through in order to immerse themselves, investigate, and transcribe information regarding cultures that is explicable and diverse. “Anthropologists depend almost exclusively on ethnography to make broad generalizations about human beings”, as their goal is to often immerse themselves, access, and render their findings into some form of documentation. (67) As stated in the previous essay there continue to be many modifications and perspectives concerning ethnography; however, it is always fruitful to take a retrospective look at the foundations of modern anthropology and how its foremost participants such as Bronislaw Malinowski made their way.
MANY ETHNOGRAPHERS BEFORE THE ADVENT OF MODERN ANTHROPOLOGY SOUGHT TO BRING BACK A SKIM VIEW OF WHAT THEY OBSERVED BY SIMPLIFYING ASPECTS OF THE OBSERVED CULTURE. HOWEVER, A SMALL FEW DID BEGIN TO VERE FROM THAT NARROW POINT OF VIEW.MALINOWSKI, AN ENGLISH ANTHROPOLOGIST WAS THE FIRST TO REALLY EMPHASYZE THE RECORDING, STRUCTURE, AND ORGANIZATION THROUGH “CONCRETE DOCUMENTATION” WHICH SERVED TO IMPACT ETHNOGRAPHY. (69) ONE SUCH METHOD WAS THE PROCESS OF DOING EXTENSIVE FIELDWORK OR “LONG TERM PARTICIPATORY FIELDWORK”, WHICH CAN SERVE TO DISPEL PREVIOUS ASSUMPTIONS MADE BY THE ETHNOGRAPHER AND EVENTUALLY THE WORLD. THIS KIND OF EXTENSIVE FIELDWORK REQUIRES THAT AN ETHNOGRAPHER BE AN OBSERVER AS WELL AS ACTIVELY INTERVIEWING, SOMETIMES COLLABORATING, AND TAKING NOTES OF ALL INFORMATION. THE REQUIREMENTS ARE PATIENCE AND TIME DEPENDING ON CIRCUMSTANCES. FOR NOT ONLY IS INITIAL CULTURE SHOCK EXPECTED, BUT ALSO “MANY ANTHROPOLOGISTS MUST GAIN PERMISSION TO DO THEIR RESEARCH FROM EITHER GOVERNMENTS, ORGANIZATIONS, LOCAL COMMUNITIES, OR GROUP LEADERS.” (77) “FOR THIS REASON ETHNOGRAPHERS MAY HAVE TO WAIT YEARS FOR PERMISSION TO CONDUCT THEIR STUDIES.” (77) SO, THIS IS UNDERSTANDABLY AN IMMENSE UNDERTAKING, NOT TO MENTION VENTURING OUT OF AN ESTABLISHED COMFORT ZONE. HOWEVER, WITH ALL OF ITS NEGATIVES, THERE ARE GOOD REASONS FOR SUCH TRIALS, OR AS MALINOWSKI PUTS IT, BY “GRASPING THE OUTLOOK OF OTHERS, WITH REVERENCE AND REAL UNDERSTANDING…WE CANNOT BUT HELP WIDENING OUR OWN.” (75)
WRITING WHICH IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF ETHNOGRAPHY HAS EVOLVED EVEN FROM MALINOWSKI’S BELIEF THAT THE CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE CAN BE SQUARELY DEFINED. THOUGH MODERN ETHNOGRAPHY DID HAVE ITS BEGINNING AS STRAIGHTFORWARD DATA, SOCIAL SCIENTISTS HAVE TAKEN HIS MODEL AND DEVELOPED OR BROKEN IT DOWN INTO MORE EXPERIMENTAL FORMS. FIRST, WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT NOT ALL CULTURES AFFILIATE THEMSELVES WITH OR USE THE WRITTEN TEXT AS A MAJOR EXPRESSIVE FORM, WHICH IS INDICATIVE OF THE “EURO- AMERICAN TRADITION OF WRITING.” (87) AS A RESULT, “ETHNOGRAPHERS BEGAN TO WONDER HOW PEOPLE EXPLAINED THEIR OWN CULTURE IN THEIR OWN MINDS, IN THEIR OWN TERMS.”(87) AN EXAMPLE OF THIS IS, SYMBOLIC ANTHROPOLOGY, WHICH SOUGHT TO EXPLAIN HOW CULTURE WAS UNDERSTOOD SYMBOLICALLY, THROUGH “CULTURAL METAPHORS, KEY SYMBOLS, OR PUBLIC RITUALS” (90) THROUGH ACCEPTING THIS, ETHNOGRAPHERS OR ETHNOSCIENTISTS BEGAN TO LOOK INTO HOW LANGUAGE, SYMBOLS, OR ACTIONS WERE USED AND FROM THERE UNDERSTAND AND SHOW “HOW THOSE PEOPLE DEFINE THE WORLD” AS OPPOSE TO COMPARING CULTURES.
THOUGH ETHNOGRAPHY HAS GREATLY EVOLVED, IT HAS TAKEN AND BORROWED FROM PREVIOUS FORMS. EXPERIMENTAL ETHNOGRAPHY USES SYMBOLIC ANTHROPOLOGY AS WELL AS UNDERSTANDS THAT “ WE ALWAYS APPROACH ETHNOGRAPHY THROUGH OUR OWN EXPERIENCE”(92). THIS CONCEPT DEVIATES FROM MALINOWSKI’S BELIEF OF AN UNBIASED SORT OF STUDY; HOWEVER, HIS INTENSIVE METHOD OF STUDY, PARTICIPATION, AND DOCUMENTATION IS STILL VERY MUCH ALIVE. NOT ONLY THAT, BUT HIS STRONG BELIEF THAT WE ARE TO CONTINUOUSLY CHALLENGE AND QUESTION OUR OWN VIEW OF OURSELVES, A TIMELESS IDEA THAT IS A UNIVERSAL STANDARD BY WHICH PEOPLE SHOULD AND CAN LIVE BY.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Studying People

Ethnography As Politics

WE ARE TELLING OUR OWN STORIES, RICH AND ALWAYS ALIVE. “ETHNOGRAPHY AND POLITICS” SEEKS TO QUESTION ANTHROPOLOGISTS AND ETHNOGRAPHERS WHO STUDY AND TRANSLATE CULTURES. IN THE BEGINNING THIS TEXT, THERE WAS A STATEMENT MADE THAT IN THE PAST “ANTHROPOLOGY WAS A POLITICALLY NEUTRAL QUEST FOR OBJECTIVE KNOWLEDGE” HOWEVER TODAY THE MAIN CONSENSUS HAS BEEN THAT“ ANTHROPOGY (IN FACT) IS POLITICS.”(88) IN THE PAST, MOST ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH WAS DONE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF A WESTERN, LIBERAL, OR CONSERVATIVE,OR TO BE MORE UP FRONT,A WHITE OR CAUCASION MALE'S PERSPECTIVE. WHETHER THE AIM WAS TO GLEAM INTO “THE OTHER WAY OF LIFE”, EXOTICIZE, PROVE HIERARCHY IN THE WORLD, OR TO JUST UNDERSTAND DIFFERENT CULTURES THESE WERE THE SOLE OBJECTIVES UNDERGIRDING THEIR ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDIES. WHOEVER IS TELLING OR TRANSLATING THE INFORMATION, WHETHER OR NOT THE INDIVIDUAL IS BROWN, WHITE, OR BLACK, THE STUDY IS GUARENTEED TO BE SLANTED. THE IDEA IS TO HAVE A WIDE RANGE OF SLANTED OPINIONS OR PERSPECTIVES SO THAT WE ARE ABLE TO CONNECT AND TELL OF DIFFERENT EXPERIENCES WHILE TELLING INHERENT TRUTHS OF CULTURAL OBSERVED. THE SOONER WE COME TO THIS CONCLUSION, THE BETTER OFF WE’LL BE. ACCORDING TO MAGUBANE AND FARRIS, TWO ANTHROPOLOGISTS, “FREEDOM AND EQUALITY CANNOT EMERGE UNTIL ANTHROPOLOGY BORN OF THE RATIONALIST AND LIBERAL INTELLECTUAL TRADITION IS DESTROYED.”(88)
LUCKILY,WHAT IS HAPPENING NOW IS THAT PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT AND LIKE CULTURAL BACKGROUNDS ARE TELLING OF CULTURE, COMMUNITY, AND EXISTENCE FROM THEIR OWN PERSPECTIVES, AS ETHNOGRAPHERS.
OF COURSE, BY THE TRANSITIONING OUT OF THE OLDER IDEA OF ETHNOGRAPHY, WHICH IS MORE CALCULATED OR IS SEEMINGLY EXPERIENCED MORE OBJECTIVELY WILL STIR THOSE WHO CALL THEMSELVES PREEMINENT FIGURES OR CLASSIC ANTHROPOLOGISTS. HOWEVER, CURRENT TRENDS, WHICH SET THE TONE FOR THE FUTURE LANDSCAPE, ARE AFFECTING THE MAKEUP OF ETHNOGRAPHY DRASTICALLY. WITH THE EMERGENCE OF THE INTERNET, DIGITAL MEDIA, AND PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF DOCUMENTATIVE DATA A NEW ANTHROPOLOGIST HAS ARISEN.
A POINT THAT MAY HAVE BEEN OVERLOOKED IN THE TEXT WAS THAT HAD MORE INFORMATION AND NECESSARY EQUIPMENTS BEEN MORE ACCESSIBLE TO “OFFSET THE EUROCENTRIC AND COLONIAL CHARACTER OF THE DISCIPLINE’S METHODOLOGY, PERSONNEL, AND TRAINING PROGRAMS” THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE PRODUCTION OF “NATIVE” OR “INDIGENOUS” ANTHROPOLOGY. (88). FOR EXAMPLE, THE INTERNET ALLOWS INFORMATION THAT ONCE WAS OUT OF REACH NOW AVAILABLE RIGHT AT, YES, OUR FINGERTIPS. ‘HOW DO WE RESEARCH ETHNOGRAPHIC DATA, ANALYZE IT, DOCUMENT, AND TRANSCRIBE THIS INFORMATION?’ ARE ALL QUESTIONS THAT CAN BE ANSWERED, OVER THE WORLD WIDE WEB. DIGITAL MEDIA ALLOWS FOR A MORE DEMOCRATIC WAY OF “RENDERING SENSITIVE AND INSIGHTFUL ETHNOGRAPHIC ACCOUNTS”(89). WITH THE ADVENT OF DIGITAL MEDIA, THE CONCEPT OF THE DOCUMENTARY WAS POPULARIZED. THERE IS A STRONG WANT FROM PEOPLE TO KNOW THE TRUTH. AS A RESULT MORE NON-FICTIONALIZED ACCOUNTS OF PEOPLE, PLACES, AND CULTURE HAVE BEEN MADE AND WATCHED THAN EVER BEFORE WHICH AGAIN IS “CONTRIBUTING TO THE DECOLONIZATION OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE AND AUTHORITY.” (89) I AM DEFINITELY SAYING THAT WHERE IF THESE TOOLS HAD NOT BEEN AROUND THE NUMBER OF DIVERSE PEOPLE MAKING AND CONSUMING THIS INFORMATION WOULD NOT BE AS PREVALENT BUT THERE IS STILL EVEN IN THESE “NATIVE/ INDIGENOUS” GROUPS INDIVIDUALS WHO MAY NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THESE TOOLS. THIS PUTS INTO CONTEMPLATION THE FORMIDABLE QUESTION OF WHETHER CLASS, RATHER THAN GENDER, RACE, OR SEXUALITY REPRESENTS THE NEW DOUBLE CONSCIOUSNESS THAT DU BOIS, WHO IS ALSO MENTIONED IN THE TEXT, HOLDS AS A TRAIT STRICTLY RESERVED FOR THOSE OF A DARKER TONE. AGAIN THIS MAKES ME WONDER WHETHER ANTHROPOLOGY HAS TRANSFORMED FROM BEING POLITICS INTO “A POLITICALLY NEUTRAL QUEST” JUST YET (88)
IT IS SAID, “SOME OF THE MOST THOUGHTFUL AND CONSTRUCTIVE ALTERNATIVES WITHIN U.S ANTHROPOLOGY HAS EMERGED FROM BLACKS AS WELL AS WOMEN-PARTICULARLY FEMNINISTS”. (88, 89)
A GOOD EXAMPLE OF THIS IS JOHNETTA COLE, A PAST OR PRESENT PRESIDENT OF SPELMAN COLLEGE WHO WENT IN THE 70S TO DOCUMENT AND UNDERSTAND THE POLITICAL AND SOCIAL CLIMATE OF JAMAICA AND ITS UNDERCLASS POPULATION.AS A RESULT OF THE BATTLE FOR POLITICAL SUPREMACY BY THE PNP (SOCIALISTS) AND THE JLP (LABORITES/CAPITALISTS) GANGS AFFILIATED WITH POLITICAL IDEOLOGY OF EITHER GROUP WERE THE TOOLS THROUGH WHICH VIOLENCE WORKED THROUGH KINGSTON. ALTHOUGH IT WAS A DANGEROUS SITUATION FOR ANY PERSON, SHE FOUND, AS AN AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN, THAT SHE WAS ABLE TO RELATE IN MANY WAYS TO THE JAMAICAN RESIDENTS OF “OCEANVIEW” ON MANY LEVELS. BEFORE THERE IS CONCLUSION HERE, THE ASSUMPTION THAT HER JOURNEY WAS WITHOUT PAINS CONSIDERING HER RACE WOULD BE TRITE, FOR “TO BE EFFECTIVE THE ETHNOGRAPHER IS OFTEN COMPELLED TO MANEUVER IN A COMPLEX POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT”. (95) COLE REMEMBERS “ I WAS AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD ON A DAILY BASIS, INTENSIVELY MINGLING WITH SOCIALIST, LABORITES, PTA MEMBERS, AND STREET GANGS.” WHICH IS OF COURSE PART OF THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL PROCESS ITSELF. (97) ALONG WITH ASSUAGING JUDGMENTS ACCORDING TO HER SKIN COLOR, GENDER, AND PRIMARY LOCUS COLE WAS STILL ABLE TO FIND COMMONALITIES BETWEEN HER HOME, FAMILY, RELIGION, AND COMMUNITY AND JAMAICAN CULTURE. UPON LEAVING SHE WAS PRESENTED WITH A PAINTING BY HER JAMAICAN BORN ASSISTANCE WHICH “ CONSISTED OF MYSELF AND A GIANT SIZED JAMAICAN FLAG WHICH REFLECTED HIS ACCEPTANCE OF ME AS A SISTER FROM THE SAME ANCESTRAL MOTHER-AFRICA.” (104)
THIS SYMBOLIZES NOT SO MUCH AN ANALYZING OR TAKING OF CULTURE FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER BUT A SORT OR SHARING AND UNDERSTANDING OF CULTURES IN ETHNOGRAPHY TODAY. IN ALL, THIS SIGNALS A TRANSFORMATION OF HOW WE IN WESTERN SOCIETY USE AND OBJECTIFY CULTURES. I THINK WE WILL COME TO UNDERSTAND BETTER THE NUANCES OF PEOPLE AND PLACES AND CONTINUE IN HOW MAGUBANE AND FARRIS PUT IT, “ A NEW GLOBAL ORDER COMMITTED TO SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE, SOLIDARITY, AND LIBERATION” (88)

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Win!Win!Win!
Today my gud pEOPLES, animals, and cannibals.
I am Dreamin of Winning the lottery!!!!!!
Dreamin of trains criss crossing the U.S.of A
connecting the South to the North
and maybe the East to the West.
Oh, There should be a revival!
Kickin up Dirt and Shoes and Stankin Feet
Think. Great migration
They were building the highways
Making byways for sweaty men.hairless babies. For People
To Dance. To Prance. Oh shit!Oh Shit! Here we go!
What We could do! The mess we would get into.
Lottery. Lottery
Just to find my way. Our Way Out. Out of THAT "mess"
jus to be ri bak again
I dream that dreams have no limitation and even
this dream is minuscule to what really can be fathomed.
Oh...jus oh
Criss Crossin me
Got the lottery.

K.A

Monday, November 12, 2007

Adverntures oF pcFP

Dremas of Spoken: T.J Anderson


NightFlights:Memphis10


American Somali: Women

About Me

I am a filmmaker as well as a constant student. Though I attend Hollins University in Roanoke Virginia, I travel often as a contributor of "The People Could Fly Project". I am changing the shape of the world as a Liver born and bred in Memphis, Tn and Greenville, Ms. If you would like my assistance on any projects, films,videos,etc. please email me. Kalimah.Abioto@gmail.com