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1

ANTHROPOLOGICAL SELF-REFLECTION ON THE TRANSLATION BETWEEN GENERATIONS

100%

Brocki M.

Lud

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2004

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tom 88

169-186

EN

Anthropology, as a systematic critical reflection on popular ways of understanding mechanisms of life, should, according to James Boon, attempt to make more native what is alien and more alien what is native. To do that, it must be equipped with critical distance and irony, ability of critical self-conscious thinking not only about the 'objects' of its research but also about the tools used to describe and interpret them. As a result of this approach we have distrust of 'universalia' and, consequently, of comparisons between cultures and generalisations based on these comparisons. Knowledge shared by anthropologists is also a form of 'local knowledge' - this is important modification compared to the beliefs of anthropologists from before the 'critical breakthrough' on what anthropology is and what its tasks are. The 'New Polish Ethnology' rightly pointed to the special status of linguistic data in the research practice of ethnology, emphasizing that the classificational and descriptive character of the natural language helped to reconstruct cultural classification patterns and social functions of the phenomena studied, which directed the scholars' attention to informality and everyday language, which the author considers an important feature of the entire 'anthropological trend' in Poland. Creative treatment of the notions of 'text', 'myth' is also an original 'fulfilled project', which has retained its significance. However, theoretical thinking is not sufficient to understand the world. Therefore, the 'field' is an indispensable part of anthropological experience and approach. The 'field' makes an ethnologist particularly sensitive to attempts at making 'local forms of knowledge', 'scientific meta language' or 'obviousness of one's own culture' instrumental. The idea of field research has been questioned for many years as a separate method. As a result, too far-reaching conclusions have been drawn - 'literature' started to replace the privileged 'field'. The fact that the object of ethnologists' interest and interpretation is a document ('fiction') for them, created by anthropologists themselves on the basis of available data, is obvious. However, it is not so obvious that the mode of representation saves ethnology of its problems. The author does not share the opinion that literature could replace ethnology and does not understand why we should believe that there is a 'naked' or a better truth of a literary text when we have just gotten rid of the illusion that there is a naked truth of facts. The fulfilment of the project of the anthropology of culture in Poland gave rise to one important feature of present-day works: Polish ethnology does not suffer from the 'provincionalism', taking a distance approach to the ideologized form of scientific knowledge. Making no attempt at the depreciation of its other merits, it is precisely the provincionalism that gives us hope that the 'next generation' will make its own original contribution to this history of our field of research.

2

THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF CULTURE IN POLAND: THE NEXT GENERATION?

80%

Kuligowski W.

Lud

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2004

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tom 88

143-167

EN

The basic aim of the article is to analyse and assess the scholarly achievements of the youngest generation of the anthropologists of culture in Poland. The very notion of 'anthropology of culture' relates to a group of scholars active at the beginning of the 1980s. This group, very critical about the conditions of Polish ethnology at the time, formulated a new research programme that opened itself to new trends in the research of culture in the West. Today its representatives are recognized scholars and their works have become part of the local canon. Therefore, the direction in which the youngest scholars have gone, their attitude to tradition and their research areas seem to be of great interest. In author's opinion, the most important research areas, which co-create the picture of the new generation of Polish anthropology of culture, include: visual anthropology, analyses of popular culture, anthropology inspired by feminism, research into the phenomenon of globalization and the Internet. This means that anthropologists try to study what is new in culture, what emerges and what takes shape before their own eyes. Such key categories as a stranger, another, field research, poetics, style are redefined. It should be emphasized that young scholars have not formed any separate group that could be compared to that formed by their predecessors - this explains the question mark in the title. A wide range of their interests, personal passions, their own masters give an interesting multitude of scholarly approaches, unparallel in Polish anthropology until today.

3

GENDER, RELIGION, POLITICS - ABOUT MY ANTHROPOLOGY

80%

Koscianska A.

Lud

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2004

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tom 88

203-218

EN

In the first part of the article the authoress presents the theoretical context of her research - the development of the anthropological reflection on cultural gender. In the second part she discusses the method and preliminary results. Research was conducted among members of two woman-led millenaristic religious movements - Brahma Kumaris and the Legion of Small Knights. The process of conversion/involvement in the movement is perceived as reconstruction of the gender identity. At the same time, it can be analysed as a form of non-verbal cultural criticism. Consequently, studies into cultural gender and religion are part of the general trend of anthropological studies into resistance.

4

MY LOOK AT ETHNOGRAPHY

80%

Sikora S.

Lud

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2004

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tom 88

187-202

EN

The text is a free peregrination trying to answer some questions on ethnology of today and author's 'place' in it. He makes an attempt at expressing his own position on ethnology. Assuming that ethnology is a science with limits that are difficult to be determined, he believes that it should be also open to other languages of the discourse. Writing about his favourite authors (R. Barthes, J. Cliffiord, C. Geertz, K. Hastrup) the author focuses on the problem of the presence of fiction in the language of ethnologists. He also describes a certain evolution of fiction in ethnology. Addressing the issue of field studies, he acknowledges their importance, although he does not claim that they are necessary. An extensive part of the article deals with visual anthropology (which is the main area of his interest), its extent and some translational suggestions.