Crumpled Paper Boat: Experiments in Ethnographic Writing (School of Advanced Research Advanced Seminar Series)

Crumpled Paper Boat is a book of experimental ventures in ethnographic writing, an exploration of the possibilities of a literary anthropology. These original essays from notable writers in the field blur the boundaries between ethnography and genres such as poetry, fiction, memoir, and cinema. They address topics as diverse as ritual expression in Cuba and madness in a Moroccan city, the HIV epidemic in South Africa and roadkill in suburban America. Essays alternate with methodological reflections on fundamental problems of writerly heritage, craft, and responsibility in anthropology. Crumpled Paper Boat engages writing as a creative process of encounter, a way of making and unmaking worlds, and a material practice no less participatory and dynamic than fieldwork itself. These talented writers show how inventive, appealing, and intellectually adventurous prose can allow us to enter more profoundly into the lives and worlds of others, breaking with conventional notions of representation and subjectivity. They argue that such experimentation is essential to anthropology’s role in the contemporary world, and one of our most powerful means of engaging it. Contributors. Daniella Gandolfo, Angela Garcia, Tobias Hecht, Michael Jackson, Adrie Kusserow, Stuart McLean, Todd Ramón Ochoa, Anand Pandian, Stefania Pandolfo, Lisa Stevenson, Kathleen Stewart A School for Advanced Research Advanced Seminar 'Crumpled Paper Boat' is an exploration of the possibilities and limits of a literary anthropology that bends the conventions of ethnographic voice and form to engage with writing as a material practice rather than a transparent representational medium. Crumpled Paper Boat is a book of experimental ventures in ethnographic writing, an exploration of the possibilities of a literary anthropology. These original essays from notable writers in the field blur the boundaries between ethnography and genres such as poetry, fiction, memoir, and cinema. They address topics as diverse as ritual expression in Cuba and madness in a Moroccan city, the HIV epidemic in South Africa and roadkill in suburban America. Essays alternate with methodological reflections on fundamental problems of writerly heritage, craft, and responsibility in anthropology. Crumpled Paper Boat engages writing as a creative process of encounter, a way of making and unmaking worlds, and a material practice no less participatory and dynamic than fieldwork itself. These talented writers show how inventive, appealing, and intellectually adventurous prose can allow us to enter more profoundly into the lives and worlds of others, breaking with conventional notions of representation and subjectivity. They argue that such experimentation is essential to anthropology's role in the contemporary world, and one of our most powerful means of engaging it. Contributors. Daniella Gandolfo, Angela Garcia, Tobias Hecht, Michael Jackson, Adrie Kusserow, Stuart McLean, Todd Ramn Ochoa, Anand Pandian, Stefania Pandolfo, Lisa Stevenson, Kathleen Stewart A School for Advanced Research Advanced Seminar Acknowledgments vii Prologue / Anand Pandian and Stuart McLean 1 Introduction: Archipelagos, a Voyage in Writing / Paper Boat Collective 11 1. The Ambivalent Archive / Angela Garcia 29 2. Writing with Care / Michael Jackson 45 3. After the Fact: The Question of Fidelity in Ethnographic Writing / Michael Jackson 48 4. Walking and Writing / Anand Pandian 68 5. Anthropoetry / Adrie Kusserow 71 6. Poetry, Uncertainty, and Opacity / Michael Jackson 91 7. Ta'bir: Ethnography of the Imaginal / Stefania Pandolfo 94 8. Writing through Intercessors / Stuart McLean 116 9. Desire in Cinema / Anand Pandian 119 10. Flows and Interruptions, or, So Much for Full Stops / Stuart McLean 126 11. Denial: A Visit in Four Ethnographic Fictions / Tobias Hecht 130 12. Ethnography and Fiction / Anand Pandian 145 13. SEA / Stuart McLean 148 14. Writing Otherwise / Lisa Stevenson 168 15. Origami Conjecture for a Bembé / Todd Ramón Ochoa 172 16. Ethnographic Excess / Daniella Gandolfo and Todd Ramón Ochoa 185 17. Conversations with a Hunter / Daniella Gandolfo 189 18. On Writing and Surviving / Lisa Stevenson 207 19. A Proper Message / Lisa Stevenson 209 20. Fidelity and Invention / Angela Garcia 222 Epilogue / Kathleen Stewart 225 Bibliography 231 Contributors 241 Index 243 Introduction: Archipelagos, A Voyage In Writing / Paper Boat Collective -- Ambivalent Archive / Angela Garcia -- Writing With Care / Michael Jackson -- After The Fact : The Question Of Fidelity In Ethnographic Writing / Michael Jackson -- Walking And Writing / Anand Pandian -- Anthropoetry / Adrie Kusserow -- Poetry, Uncertainty, And Opacity / Michael Jackson -- Taʻbīr : Ethnography Of The Imaginal / Stefania Pandolfo -- Writing Through Intercessors / Stuart Mclean -- Desire In Cinema / Anand Pandian -- Flows And Interruptions, Or, So Much For Full Stops / Stuart Mclean -- Denial : A Visit In Four Ethnographic Fictions / Tobias Hecht -- Ethnography And Fiction / Anand Pandian -- Sea / Stuart Mclean -- Writing Otherwise / Lisa Stevenson -- Origami Conjecture For A Bembé / Todd Ramón Ochoa -- Ethnographic Excess / Daniella Gandolfo And Todd Ramón Ochoa -- Conversations With A Hunter / Daniella Gandolfo -- On Writing And Surviving / Lisa Stevenson -- A Proper Message / Lisa Stevenson -- Fidelity And Invention / Angela Garcia. Anand Pandian And Stuart Mclean, Editors. A School For Advanced Research Advanced Seminar -- Title Page. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Crumpled Paper Boat is a book of experimental ventures in ethnographic writing, an exploration of the possibilities of a literary anthropology. These original essays from notable writers in the field blur the boundaries between ethnography and genres such as poetry, fiction, memoir, and cinema. They address topics as diverse as ritual expression in Cuba and madness in a Moroccan city, the HIV epidemic in South Africa and roadkill in suburban America. Essays alternate with methodological reflections on fundamental problems of writerly heritage, craft, and responsibility in anthropology. Crumpled Paper Boat engages writing as a creative process of encounter, a way of making and unmaking worlds, and a material practice no less participatory and dynamic than fieldwork itself. These talented writers show how inventive, appealing, and intellectually adventurous prose can allow us to enter more profoundly into the lives and world of others, breaking with conventional notions of representation and subjectivity. They argue that such experimentation is essential to anthropology's role in the contemporary world, and one of our most powerful means of engaging it. Book jacket