85493 - SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY

Conoscenze e abilità da conseguire

The course aims at providing students abilities in cultural analysis with special reference to the making and representation of cultural diversity. The course aims at improving students participation, providing the gain of a specialistic terminology and of a critical attitude toward social and cultural facts.

Contenuti

The course introduces students to basic theories and research methods in Social Anthropology, with special reference to ethnographic fieldwork and analysis of cultural dimension. In its focus on the details of everyday activities across a number of communities, it is meant to provide a bridge between social anthropology and ethnography through the introduction of concepts and analytical techniques that privilege observation, participation, recording and transcription of spontaneous interaction. Topics include theory, practices of ethnography, memory, time, travel and mobility, imagination, the power of communication, agency and aspiration with a special focus on the impacts of social media diffusion in contemporary societies.

Students are expected to arrive on time, attend all lectures, and complete all reading as scheduled on the syllabus, i.e., prior to the class meeting. The class participation grade is based on participation in discussions as well as on attendance in both lectures and study questions.

Testi/Bibliografia

Attending students can select the texts (papers) indicated at Point a) or the text (collected volume) indicated at Point b).

Point a):

1. Malinowski B., Introduction, in Malinowski B., 1922, Argonauts of the Western Pacific, New York, E. P. Dutton. Reprinted 1961, Prospect Heights, Ill., Waveland Press.

2. Radcliffe Brown A. R., 1940, On Joking Relationships, Africa: Journal of The International African Institute, vol. 13, 3: 195-210.

3. Evans-Pritchard E. E., 1950, Anthropology: Past and Present, The Marret Lecture, in Man, 50: 118-125.

4. Gluckman M., 1940, Analysis of a Social Situation in Modern Zululand, in Bantu Studies, 14: 1-30.

5. Barth F., Introduction, in Barth F., 1969, Ethnic Groups and Boundaries, Wavelands Press Inc., Long Grove.

6. Matera V., We are all contemporaries. Time and Cultural Anthropology, in Gonzales Falcon I. (ed.), Understanding Cultural Diversity: Perceptions, Opportunities and Challenges, Nova Publisher, New York, 2018: 1-22.

7. Matera V., 2013, Ethnography: experiences, representations, practices for studying cultural diversity, in AAM, 15: 9-19.

8. Fillitz T., 2013, Spatialising the Field. Conceptualising fields and interconnections in the context of contemporary art in Africa, in Matera V. (ed.), De-constructing the field, AAM, 13: 103-112.

9. Miller D., 2016, How the World Changes Social Media, UCL Press, London.

Point b):

Matera V. & Biscaldi A., 2020, Eds., Ethnography. A theoretically Oriented Practice. Palgrave - Macmillan.

Non-attending students, in addition to the texts indicated previously (Point a, or Point b), can select in place of the lessons one of the following texts:

- Barth, Fredrik, ed. 1969, Ethnic Groups and Boundaries. Boston: Little Brown.

- Clifford, James, 1988, The Predicament of Culture: Twentieth Century Ethnography, Literature and Art. Berkeley: University of California Press.

- Clifford, James and George Marcus, eds. 1986 Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography. Berkeley: University of California Press.

- Hannerz, U. (1992). Cultural complexity: Studies in the social organization of meaning. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

- Herzfeld, M. (2001). Anthropology: Theoretical practice in culture and society. Oxford: Blackwell. Paris, UNESCO.

- Hymes, Dell, ed. 1972 Reinventing Anthropology. New York: Pantheon.

- Kuipers, J. (1997). Language, identity and marginality in Indonesia. The changing nature of ritual speech on the island of Sumba. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

- Leach, E. (1959). Political systems of highland Burma. London: The Athlone Press.

- Lévi-Strauss, C. (1973). Tristes tropiques. London: Penguin Books.

- Wagner, Roy 1975 The Invention of Culture. Engelwood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall.

Metodi didattici

Lectures, discussions, tests based on study questions.

Modalità di verifica e valutazione dell'apprendimento

· Attending students:

· Weekly in-class short tests (oral and/or written); Final Test (last week of classes); Final short essay and oral presentation.

· Modalities concerning the final short essay will be discussed in class.

Non attending students have to prepare an oral exam studying the books listed on the syllabus.

Orario di ricevimento

Consulta il sito web di Vincenzo Matera