ANT-1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Ethnography
Document Summary
Originally anthropology focused on foreign, simple, de-industrialized society, whereas sociology focused on home and complex industrialized society. Now distinguished more by methodology scope and theoretical approach than by subject matter. Being aware of your particular background and not letting that get in the way when you observe another culture. Includes the ethnographer"s given attributes such as race, nationality, and gender, which are fixed culturally or ascribed. Francis is an anthropologist (head of cape town anthropology department) Starts article with the parable/analogy of the blind man and the elephant: all touch different parts of same animal and they think different things. We have prejudice, subjectivity and approach something from different angle. The elephant in this case is africa and people constructing knowledge about africa. People in a particular position constructing knowledge about a thing that they only have one perspective on: we label things racially, geographically and culturally; lacking in reflectivity.
