Beyond Writing Culture

Olaf Zenker is Junior Professor at the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Freie Universität Berlin. He received his PhD from the Martin Luther University and the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle/Saale, Germany, and obtained his habilitation from the University of Bern, Switzerland. His publications include the co-edited volume Irish/ness Is All Around Us: Language Revivalism and the Culture of Ethnic Identity in Northern Ireland (Berghahn Books, 2013).

“…an excellent recent example [of less ideologically driven analyses of Writing Culture]… this volume is the only one … that presents a serious, sustained analysis of the intersections between epistemology and representational practice…More so than the edited volumes on this topic that preceded it, Beyond Writing Culture attempts to strike a balance between acknowledging the contribution of Writing Culture and trying to learn from its mistakes.”  ·  Collaborative Anthropologies“This volume represents the collection of a number of arguments presently raging in the halls of academia regarding the future of ethnography. By returning to Writing Culture over two decades after its first appearance, Zenker and Kumoll attest to the persistence of the landmark book’s ideas. While not an introduction to Writing Culture, this book is highly recommended to scholars interested in the current state of anthropology and the future potential of ethnographic work to move ‘beyond’ Writing Culture without abandoning its important contribution altogether.”  ·  Anthropology and Education Quarterly“This is a book that will attract a great deal of attention among anthropologists and social scientists in general. It is a great advance on earlier critiques of Writing Culture (1986) that have emerged at intervals, a large number of them cited by the contributors. Its strength lies particularly in its transdisciplinary perspectives and the clarity of both critique and new representations. The prologue is a tour de force.”  ·  Joan Vincent, Professor Emerita, Barnard College/Columbia University

• AcknowledgmentsChapter 1. Prologue: Opening Doors Beyond Writing CultureOlaf Zenker and Karsten KumollChapter 2. Textualization, Mystification and the Power of the FrameVincent CrapanzanoChapter 3. Reading James Clifford: On Ethnographic AllegorySteffen StrohmengerChapter 4. Indigenous Research and the Politics of Representation: Notes on the Cultural Theory of Marshall SahlinsKarsten KumollChapter 5. From the Spirit’s Point of View: Ethnography, Total Truth and SpeakershipThomas G. KirschChapter 6. Interlogue: ‘Writing Cultures’ and the Quest for KnowledgeRozita DimovaChapter 7. Language Matters: Reflexive Notes on Representing the Irish Language Revival in Catholic West BelfastOlaf ZenkerChapter 8. Ethnographic Cognition and Writing CultureChristophe HeintzChapter 9. Hard Truths: Addressing a Crisis in EthnographyStephen P. ReynaChapter 10. The Migration of the ‘Culture’ Concept from Anthropology to Sociology at the Fin de siècleJohn H. ZammitoChapter 11. Epilogue: How Do Paradigm Shifts Work in Anthropology? On the Relationship of Theory and ExperienceGünther Schlee Notes on ContributorsIndex