
Out of the Study and Into the Field
Ethnographic Theory and Practice in French Anthropology
Berghahn Books (Publisher)
1st Edition
Published on 1. June 2010
Book
Hardback
300 pages
978-1-84545-695-5 (ISBN)
Description
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.
Reviews / Votes
"This volume is fascinating and, in my view, particularly interesting in that it offers a considerable contribution to the history (even ethno-history) of anthropology." ? L'HommeMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
Library binding
Illustrations
17 Illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
599 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-84545-695-5 (9781845456955)
DOI
10.3167/9781845456955
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Robert Parkin | Anne de Sales
Out of the Study and Into the Field
Ethnographic Theory and Practice in French Anthropology
E-Book
06/2010
Berghahn Books
€111.99
Available for download
Persons
Robert Parkin is a Departmental Lecturer in Social Anthropology at the University of Oxford. In 2002 he delivered five lectures on the French school of anthropology at the opening ceremony of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle, Germany, since published as part of Fredrik Barth et al., One Discipline, Four Ways (Chicago UP, 2005). His other principal interests are in kinship, religion, and identity, and he has conducted field enquiries in Orissa (India), Poland, Italy, and Brussels.
Content
List of illustrations
List of authors discussed in this volume
Preface
Introduction: Ethnographic practice and theory in France
Robert Parkin and Anne de Sales
Chapter 1. 'Keeping your eyes open': Arnold van Gennep and the autonomy of the folkloristic
Giordano Charuty
Chapter 2. Canonical ethnography: Hanoteau and Letourneux on Kabyle communal law
Peter Parkes
Chapter 3. Postcards at the service of the Imaginary: Jean Rouch, shared anthropology and the cine-trance
Paul Henley
Chapter 4. Eric de Dampierre and the art of fieldwork
Margaret Buckner
Chapter 5. What sort of anthropologist was Paul Rivet?
Laura Rival
Chapter 6. Alfred Metraux: empiricist and romanticist
Peter Riviere
Chapter 7. Roger Bastide or the 'darknesses of alterity'
Stefania Capone
Chapter 8. The art and craft of ethnography: Lucien Bernot, 1919-1993
Gerard Toffin
Chapter 9. Andre-Georges Haudricourt: a thorough materialist
Alban Bensa
Chapter 10. Louis Dumont: from museology to structuralism via India
Robert Parkin
Chapter 11. Will the real Maurice Leenhardt please stand up? Four anthropologists in search of an ancestor
Jeremy MacClancy
Notes on Contributors
Index
List of authors discussed in this volume
Preface
Introduction: Ethnographic practice and theory in France
Robert Parkin and Anne de Sales
Chapter 1. 'Keeping your eyes open': Arnold van Gennep and the autonomy of the folkloristic
Giordano Charuty
Chapter 2. Canonical ethnography: Hanoteau and Letourneux on Kabyle communal law
Peter Parkes
Chapter 3. Postcards at the service of the Imaginary: Jean Rouch, shared anthropology and the cine-trance
Paul Henley
Chapter 4. Eric de Dampierre and the art of fieldwork
Margaret Buckner
Chapter 5. What sort of anthropologist was Paul Rivet?
Laura Rival
Chapter 6. Alfred Metraux: empiricist and romanticist
Peter Riviere
Chapter 7. Roger Bastide or the 'darknesses of alterity'
Stefania Capone
Chapter 8. The art and craft of ethnography: Lucien Bernot, 1919-1993
Gerard Toffin
Chapter 9. Andre-Georges Haudricourt: a thorough materialist
Alban Bensa
Chapter 10. Louis Dumont: from museology to structuralism via India
Robert Parkin
Chapter 11. Will the real Maurice Leenhardt please stand up? Four anthropologists in search of an ancestor
Jeremy MacClancy
Notes on Contributors
Index