Anthropologists who have lost their senses write ethnographies that are often disconnected from the worlds they seek to portray. For most anthropologists, Stoller contends, tasteless theories are more important than the savory sauces of ethnographic life. That they have lost the smells, sounds, and tastes of the places they study is unfortunate for them, for their subjects, and for the discipline itself.
"The Taste of Ethnographic Things" describes how, through long-term participation in the lives of the Songhay of Niger, Stoller eventually came to his senses. Taken together, the...
Anthropologists who have lost their senses write ethnographies that are often disconnected from the worlds they seek to portray. For most anthropol...
Among the Songhay of Mali and Niger, who consider the stomach the seat of personality, learning is understood not in terms of mental activity but in bodily terms. Songhay bards study history by "eating the words of the ancestors," and sorcerers learn their art by ingesting particular substances, by testing their flesh with knives, by mastering pain and illness. In Sensuous Scholarship Paul Stoller challenges contemporary social theorists and cultural critics who--using the notion of embodiment to critique Eurocentric and phallocentric predispositions in scholarly thought--consider the...
Among the Songhay of Mali and Niger, who consider the stomach the seat of personality, learning is understood not in terms of mental activity but in b...
It is the anthropologist s fate to always be between things: countries, languages, cultures, even realities. But rather than lament this, anthropologist Paul Stoller here celebrates the creative power of the between, showing how it can transform us, changing our conceptions of who we are, what we know, and how we live in the world. Beginning with his early days with the Peace Corps in Africa and culminating with a recent bout with cancer, The Power of the Between is an evocative account of the circuitous path Stoller s life has taken, offering a fascinating depiction of how a career...
It is the anthropologist s fate to always be between things: countries, languages, cultures, even realities. But rather than lament this, anthropologi...
This book emerges from the author's 35 years of research and thought about the Songhay people of Niger. This ethnographic novel follows the life of Omar Dia, the oldest son of a West African sorcerer. When his father falls ill and dies, the great sorcerer vomits a small metal chain onto his chest. Following the path of his ancestors, Omar swallows the chain, becoming his father's successor, which means that he takes on the sorcerer's burden. The book also describes how custodians of traditional knowledge are creatively adapting to the forces of globalization--all in a highly accessible...
This book emerges from the author's 35 years of research and thought about the Songhay people of Niger. This ethnographic novel follows the life of Om...
In this collection of selected blog essays, Stoller models good writing while sharing his insights on politics, higher education, social science, media, and well-being.
In this collection of selected blog essays, Stoller models good writing while sharing his insights on politics, higher education, social science, medi...
In this collection of selected blog essays, Stoller models good writing while sharing his insights on politics, higher education, social science, media, and well-being.
In this collection of selected blog essays, Stoller models good writing while sharing his insights on politics, higher education, social science, medi...
