Dimitrios Theodossopoulos
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781526100832
- eISBN:
- 9781526114969
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9781526100832.003.0009
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
The concluding chapter brings together some of the theoretical concepts introduced earlier in the book in a unified analysis. It employs the notion of indigenous disemia to describe the simultaneity ...
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The concluding chapter brings together some of the theoretical concepts introduced earlier in the book in a unified analysis. It employs the notion of indigenous disemia to describe the simultaneity of indigenous-and-modern elements in the identity of the Emberá. It also employes the notion of ‘ethnographic nostalgia’ as a vehicle to problematise the authentic and the exotic, as these are conceived in relation to Emberá representation. Every new ethnography, it is argued, structures nostalgia and authenticity—not merely via the authority generated by the writing process—but also by extending the bibliographical ‘record’ a bit deeper into the past. The resulting feeling of incompleteness—the realisation that we cannot really contain change in our writing—inspires ethnographic nostalgia, but also facilitates its demise. How can we prioritise the narrative we record—one authenticity—over the many that unravel in incomplete form in front of our eyes? Nostalgia, exoticisation, and the search for a singular indigenous authenticity are the ghosts that haunt our efforts to understand social change. But without them, and without the exotic recognition they have provoked—the challenge of new knowledge—we would not have had the opportunity to contest previous conventional views—including our own. Ethnographic nostalgia—however irredeemable it may be—has provided the ethnographer with the opportunity to recognise and contest the exotic.Less
The concluding chapter brings together some of the theoretical concepts introduced earlier in the book in a unified analysis. It employs the notion of indigenous disemia to describe the simultaneity of indigenous-and-modern elements in the identity of the Emberá. It also employes the notion of ‘ethnographic nostalgia’ as a vehicle to problematise the authentic and the exotic, as these are conceived in relation to Emberá representation. Every new ethnography, it is argued, structures nostalgia and authenticity—not merely via the authority generated by the writing process—but also by extending the bibliographical ‘record’ a bit deeper into the past. The resulting feeling of incompleteness—the realisation that we cannot really contain change in our writing—inspires ethnographic nostalgia, but also facilitates its demise. How can we prioritise the narrative we record—one authenticity—over the many that unravel in incomplete form in front of our eyes? Nostalgia, exoticisation, and the search for a singular indigenous authenticity are the ghosts that haunt our efforts to understand social change. But without them, and without the exotic recognition they have provoked—the challenge of new knowledge—we would not have had the opportunity to contest previous conventional views—including our own. Ethnographic nostalgia—however irredeemable it may be—has provided the ethnographer with the opportunity to recognise and contest the exotic.
Dimitrios Theodossopoulos
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781526100832
- eISBN:
- 9781526114969
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9781526100832.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
Exoticisation Undressed is an innovative ethnography that makes visible the many layers through which our understandings of indigenous cultures are filtered and their inherent power to distort and ...
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Exoticisation Undressed is an innovative ethnography that makes visible the many layers through which our understandings of indigenous cultures are filtered and their inherent power to distort and refract understanding. The book focuses in detail on the clothing practices of the Emberá in Panama, an Amerindian ethnic group, who have gained national and international visibility through their engagement with indigenous tourism. The very act of gaining visibility while wearing indigenous attire has encouraged among some Emberá communities a closer identification with an indigenous identity and a more confident representational awareness. The clothes that the Emberá wear are not simply used to convey messages, but also become constitutive of their intended messages. By wearing indigenous-and-modern clothes, the Emberá—who are often seen by outsiders as shadows of a vanishing world—reclaim their place as citizens of a contemporary nation. The analysis presented in the book makes visible ‘ethnographic nostalgia’, the distorting view that the present seems to emerge through the pages of a previous ethnography—a mirage: for example, the Emberá carrying out their daily chores dressed as their grandparents. Ethnographic nostalgia distorts social reality by superimposing an interpretation of underlying cultural patterns over intentional or purposeful action. Through reflexive engagement, Exoticisation Undressed exposes the workings of ethnographic nostalgia and the Western quest for a singular, primordial authenticity, unravelling instead new layers of complexity that reverse and subvert exoticisation.Less
Exoticisation Undressed is an innovative ethnography that makes visible the many layers through which our understandings of indigenous cultures are filtered and their inherent power to distort and refract understanding. The book focuses in detail on the clothing practices of the Emberá in Panama, an Amerindian ethnic group, who have gained national and international visibility through their engagement with indigenous tourism. The very act of gaining visibility while wearing indigenous attire has encouraged among some Emberá communities a closer identification with an indigenous identity and a more confident representational awareness. The clothes that the Emberá wear are not simply used to convey messages, but also become constitutive of their intended messages. By wearing indigenous-and-modern clothes, the Emberá—who are often seen by outsiders as shadows of a vanishing world—reclaim their place as citizens of a contemporary nation. The analysis presented in the book makes visible ‘ethnographic nostalgia’, the distorting view that the present seems to emerge through the pages of a previous ethnography—a mirage: for example, the Emberá carrying out their daily chores dressed as their grandparents. Ethnographic nostalgia distorts social reality by superimposing an interpretation of underlying cultural patterns over intentional or purposeful action. Through reflexive engagement, Exoticisation Undressed exposes the workings of ethnographic nostalgia and the Western quest for a singular, primordial authenticity, unravelling instead new layers of complexity that reverse and subvert exoticisation.
Dimitrios Theodossopoulos
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781526100832
- eISBN:
- 9781526114969
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9781526100832.003.0007
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
The chapter focuses more closely on the dress choices in Parara Puru and the indigenous-and-modern clothes of its inhabitants. It demonstrates that is misleading to assume that Emberá dress codes ...
More
The chapter focuses more closely on the dress choices in Parara Puru and the indigenous-and-modern clothes of its inhabitants. It demonstrates that is misleading to assume that Emberá dress codes follow a unidirectional and deculturating progression from indigenous tradition towards Westernising modernity. In communities that entertain tourists, such as Parara Puru, dress choices shift in the course of the day, or in the course of an individual’s lifetime, moving closer to, or further away from, indigenous aesthetics and practices. To convey the fluidity and complexity of local dress codes, the chapter explores dress combinations that bring together ‘modern’ and ‘indigenous’ elements, as well as the adaptation of some traditional clothing items, to accommodate conventional non-indigenous modesty. Attention is paid to the spontaneous, often accidental, re-emergence of old, informal dress styles during non-representational moments in daily life (e.g. after the tourists have departed), during which the Emberá of Parara Puru look as though they have re-emerged from the pages of old books. At this point, the author exposes reflexively his ethnographic nostalgia—evident in his pleasure in seeing cultural patterns from the past re-emerging in the cultural practices of the present.Less
The chapter focuses more closely on the dress choices in Parara Puru and the indigenous-and-modern clothes of its inhabitants. It demonstrates that is misleading to assume that Emberá dress codes follow a unidirectional and deculturating progression from indigenous tradition towards Westernising modernity. In communities that entertain tourists, such as Parara Puru, dress choices shift in the course of the day, or in the course of an individual’s lifetime, moving closer to, or further away from, indigenous aesthetics and practices. To convey the fluidity and complexity of local dress codes, the chapter explores dress combinations that bring together ‘modern’ and ‘indigenous’ elements, as well as the adaptation of some traditional clothing items, to accommodate conventional non-indigenous modesty. Attention is paid to the spontaneous, often accidental, re-emergence of old, informal dress styles during non-representational moments in daily life (e.g. after the tourists have departed), during which the Emberá of Parara Puru look as though they have re-emerged from the pages of old books. At this point, the author exposes reflexively his ethnographic nostalgia—evident in his pleasure in seeing cultural patterns from the past re-emerging in the cultural practices of the present.
