The platform ‘Forms of Ethnography - Ethnography as Form’, is SAI’s forum to share work and reflection, and explore the possibilities of ethnography, across regional and theoretical-methodological diversity. ‘Form’ concerns not only textual format and textual style – though the written text is our starting point - but may also include non-textual forms such as images, film, exhibitions, book design, drawing, performance, conceptual art, dance, sound and interdisciplinary collaborative practice. The approach is deliberately eclectic and does not aim to serve any particular scholarly orientation or fashion. The purpose of such experimentation is not merely to enrich anthropology and enhance its potential to communicate with different groups, but also to reflect on and engage with the political and ethical challenges of our discipline.
Across anthropology, there is a (re-)surging interest in form. Anthropological writing takes more varied, sometimes experimental or literary forms, and some anthropologists combine visual and textual means, performance, exhibitions, music and art collaboration, political activism, and practice-based experiential activities. Many call for engagements with visual arts and literature as well as cooperative authorship, scholarly and political collaborations, and activisms. Such explorations beyond the traditional styles of single-authored ethnographic text reflect an interest in political aesthetics, as well as the relationship between ethnographic fieldwork and writing. This engagement echoes, but also extends beyond, familiar themes from post "writing culture" anthropological ‘reflexivity’ debates: questioning for example representation and positionality, subjectivity, and the place of theory in relation to description and narration, and the relations between conventional ethnography, autoethnography and ethnography at home.
The current attention to ethnographic form sometimes draws upon different ‘turns’ in our discipline, such as affect theory, new materialism, visual anthropology, Science and Technology Studies (STS), anthropology beyond the human, and decolonial critique, but may also generate original, new ideas. And, importantly, it seeks for new ways of writing and communicating beyond disciplinary expectations and fashions, and reach audiences beyond the discipline and academia. We believe that by paying attention to how we share what really matters to us in our ethnography – and to reflect together on the challenge of form - will help to move beyond the confines of our diverse and separate theoretical and ideological frames.
Organisation
‘Forms of ethnography’ is open and shifting in composition, aiming to include as many colleagues as possible and to bring the diversity of experiences and interests at SAI together. Everybody at SAI is invited to propose seminars, workshops, excursions or other activities under the ‘forms of ethnography‘– heading, and invite colleagues from around UiO to join.
We welcome good ideas for activities to jointly develop the forms - and the formal diversity and experimental courage - of our ethnographic work. The forum is administered by Marianne Lien, Wenzel Geissler and Alessandro Rippa but not formally led by them. Events, such as seminars, workshops, writing retreats, joint excursions etc. can be proposed and organised by any staff members after consultation with the forum administrators (for the purpose of practical organisation). Events should be open for all members of the Department of Social Anthropology (SAI) and friends around UiO, and will be announced on this website. The forum has no funding of its own, so organisers are encouraged to draw on project funding or create low-cost opportunities. Please bring your particular formal curiosities to the group and organize related events, broadening scope and creating collective ownership.