The Encounter Never Ends offers a thoughtful meditation on the
relationship between fieldwork and anthropological knowledge
through the analysis of Tamil ritual practice in a South Indian
village. Isabelle Clark-Deces revisits field notes taken more than
fifteen years earlier, and reveals what she intended when she took
the notes, what she came to understand and record, and why she
proceeded to ignore her ethnography until recently. Returning to
these notes with fresh eyes and matured experience, Clark-Deces
gains insight into Tamil rural society that complicates
anthropological analyses of the Indian village. She realizes that
the village she lived in was neither a community nor a system but
rather a loose hodgepodge of caste groups and advises that the
social order is not necessarily the best place to start looking for
important insights into the ways in which cultures construe ritual
action. Drawing on the recent work of Don Handelman to discuss the
two Tamil ritual complexes recovered from her field notes, a
drought removal ritual and a post-funeral ceremony, the author
shows how they articulate complex notions regarding knowledge,
reflexivity, and action. Throughout, the author shares her own
story, including the mixture of frustration and fascination she
felt while conducting fieldwork, illustrating how extraordinarily
difficult ethnographic description is.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
(4)
