Tamil movie fans typically manifest themselves in public space during movie releases and other special occasions. All over Tamil Nadu their fan club organizations put up billboards and posters,... Show moreTamil movie fans typically manifest themselves in public space during movie releases and other special occasions. All over Tamil Nadu their fan club organizations put up billboards and posters, paint murals, and generate a plethora of images in different media. With this ‘fandom on display’ fans pursue aspirations of power that seem to go beyond the fan clubs’ cinematic roots. This ethnography explores these diverse ambitions by looking at the images that fans produce, disseminate and consume. Images, Roos Gerritsen argues, are crucial for fans in engaging with their star, but they also assist in putting forward their own personas and hence they underpin individual needs, personal career aspirations, and desires for power. A second important focus of this dissertation is organized around fan images in Tamil Nadu’s wider mediascape and public sphere. It concentrates on the role of urban space in the dissemination of political imaginations and aspirations that are embedded in neoliberal, global imaginaries of “world class”. The dissertation shows how such imaginations are slowly changing the ways in which fans use public spaces, watch films and engage in socio-political networks. In this last part of her dissertation, Gerritsen shows how public space and the images it contains become the canvas on which these clashing and shifting discourses are played out. Show less
This thesis studies Venetian painting in its golden age, the sixteenth century, from an unconventional, anthropological point of view. Paintings of masters like Titian are demonstrated to have... Show moreThis thesis studies Venetian painting in its golden age, the sixteenth century, from an unconventional, anthropological point of view. Paintings of masters like Titian are demonstrated to have had social lives. Together with human beings they were embedded in social networks in which humans and paintings interacted; this happened to such an extent that paintings indeed became person-like. These interactions could take many forms; examples that are analysed include the miraculous image that is believed to supernaturally heal the faithful; images that suffer from violence (iconoclasm); and the veneration of female portraits that became substitutes for their absent sitters. Making use of a wide variety of sources, such as chronicles, letters, poetry, treatises, and legal documents, this study argues that the remarkable agency of these paintings was the result of a highly complex interplay of forces; religious, political, social, cultural and artistic factors all carried weight. One of its major conclusions is that the role of the artist, the one who physically produced the work, was relatively unimportant for the way these paintings functioned. Using a framework that is both anthropologically and historically informed, this thesis offers a new model for the study of pre-modern European art that is less biased by conceptions of art in the modern West. Show less
Long-Lived Sociality is an ethnographic account of the lives of older persons in Kerala. Through its detailed account of these highly educated, middle and upper class individuals, it challenges... Show moreLong-Lived Sociality is an ethnographic account of the lives of older persons in Kerala. Through its detailed account of these highly educated, middle and upper class individuals, it challenges many popular and academic stereotypical notions of the old. Contrary to such preconceptions for instance, their lives turn out to be interdependent, not at all stagnant, extremely mobile and as far as possible actively shaped by the older persons themselves. Cultural notions about sociality are furthermore explored to understand how meaning is given to social and care relationships with others. These relations are informed by strong expectations and a discourse that stresses the importance of duties. This discourse makes it possible for older persons to explicitly demand care when needed. The investigation of the possibilities and limitations of this discourse provides insights into the older persons__ appreciation of their social lives and their overall wellbeing. Show less
New Edge. Technology and Spirituality in the San Francisco Bay Area is a study of the way that technologists, artists, writers and entrepreneurs in the San Francisco Bay Area negotiate the events... Show moreNew Edge. Technology and Spirituality in the San Francisco Bay Area is a study of the way that technologists, artists, writers and entrepreneurs in the San Francisco Bay Area negotiate the events that have characterized this region since World War II: the rise of the computer industry and of New Age spirituality. The book argues that some of these negotiations have led to a New Edge culture, consisting of high-tech New Agers seeking to produce ways of being, acting and thinking that transcend the modernist assumption that technoscience and spirituality exclude each other. As the chapters progress it becomes clear that the assumed tension between technology and spirituality does not New Edge life sufficiently. New Edge has grown in relation to several other paradoxes that inform everyday life in one of the most high-technological regions in the world. Tracing New Edge back to the 1960s counterculture, this dissertation explores how New Edgers negotiate life in a society that calls itself secular but also believes in ultimate truth, that is both in and out of control, that invites passive consumption as well as active engagement, and that celebrates communal living as much as an individualistic ‘Do It Yourself’ ethic. Show less
This book examines design proposals that show symbolic handling of the 9/11 attack on New York, the disaster symbolism of the ship washed ashore by the tsunami in Banda Aceh, and the design of the... Show moreThis book examines design proposals that show symbolic handling of the 9/11 attack on New York, the disaster symbolism of the ship washed ashore by the tsunami in Banda Aceh, and the design of the symbol of the city of Cape Town derived from a remnant of Dutch colonial architecture, or the mass pilgrimage to Elvis’s Graceland in Memphis. Cities Full of Symbols develops urban symbolic ecology and hypercity approaches into a new perspective on social cohesion. Approaches of architects, anthropologists, sociologists, social geographers and historians converge to make this a book for anyone interested in urban life, policymaking and city branding. Show less
This study is rooted in the places where daily struggles to make a living in the environment coincide and collide with efforts to save nature and/or the environment through the delineation of... Show moreThis study is rooted in the places where daily struggles to make a living in the environment coincide and collide with efforts to save nature and/or the environment through the delineation of protected areas. In this dissertation the author explores the intertwining of the causes of environmentalism and indigenous peoples rights. She looks into whether this interface lends itself well to both environmentalist causes and indigenous aspirations. It is critical to understand both elements of this dynamic: indigenous peoples, their link with the conservation of biodiversity and their relationship with the implementors/advocates of nature conservation; and the impact of the latter actors and their green vision on indigenous communities and their environments. In this light, this dissertation, in a combination of chapters and published papers, describes and analyzes the ways in which indigenous peoples and environmentalists interact, and the repercussions of these interactions. Show less
Greek whisky is a historical ethnography of alcohol consumption that explores several facets of contemporary Greek culture. The focus of the study is on the “social life” of Scotch whisky in Greece... Show moreGreek whisky is a historical ethnography of alcohol consumption that explores several facets of contemporary Greek culture. The focus of the study is on the “social life” of Scotch whisky in Greece and more specifically on three distinct trajectories of the beverage. The analysis of the mediascapes of the Greek cultural industry, the Athenian nightlife and entertainment and the North Aegean island drinking habits, aims in the examination of the localization process of Scotch in these spaces. While several studies in Greece have focused on the consumption of Greek-produced alcoholic beverages, imported beverages—and especially Scotch whisky—have been neglected. By “following the thing” the study seeks to link several key concepts such as popular culture, consumption and style. In opposition to views of global cultural homogenization as monoculture, the author argues that consumption as cultural appropriation is a process of meaning creation by consumers, multinational corporations and the cultural industry. Furthermore the localization of a commodity is not only understood as an act of consumption and a form of making oneself ‘at home’ as a result of the impersonal realm of commodity production. Localization is a major arena of negotiation of gender and group styles and more importantly a tactical practice. Show less
This study discusses the question of how refugee women in the Netherlands, as indi-viduals and as members of a family and a group, act in response to their experiences of sexual violence, and why... Show moreThis study discusses the question of how refugee women in the Netherlands, as indi-viduals and as members of a family and a group, act in response to their experiences of sexual violence, and why they regard silence as the best coping strategy. The women who participated in the research have different backgrounds: cultural, social, geographi-cal, and religious, as well as with respect to the kind of political conflict they fled from. But in spite of this, this research shows that all the women considered remaining silent about their experiences the best coping strategy. The emphasis in this study is on the subjective experiences of the women, and it shows that the way the women deal with their experiences is embedded in very complex and dynamic interactions occurring in and between different important contexts for them, such as the family, the social group, their culture of origin, and the Netherlands. In all this, the intra-psychic condition of the women is also of great impor-tance. Although the women suffer from their experiences, they do not talk about the cause of their suffering, because they think that if their secret became public it would de-stroy the connectedness with loved ones. Show less
Connecting and Correcting is a case study of Sami healers in Porsanger, Finnmark, Norway, and focuses on two Coastal Sami healers, their worldview and healing practices. The cultural and historic... Show moreConnecting and Correcting is a case study of Sami healers in Porsanger, Finnmark, Norway, and focuses on two Coastal Sami healers, their worldview and healing practices. The cultural and historic context of Sami healing practices is explored, most notably Sami folk beliefs, the Laestadian branch of Lutheranism, and the changes in the discourse on the noaidi, a Sami term that is often translated as __shaman__. Healers today may be connected historically to the noaidi of the past, but they cannot be identified with the noaidi. The healers are Christian and conceive of their healing gift as a special connection to God. This gift resembles important Laestadian concepts. In Laestadianism the __congregation of the reborn__ holds the Keys to Heaven, which are the binding and unbinding keys received from the Savior. Having inherited the gift the healer can diagnose; bodily experiences, visions and/or thoughts are their guide. The leading principle for Sami healers, their __inside__ knowledge, is that a __correct connection__ is required. The local discourse concerning healers active during the twentieth century, shows that expectations are quite consistent, most notably healers can prophesize and render immobile. These were features already recorded by Schefferus (1674) and Laestadius (1843). Show less
This dissertation describes Thangmi, a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in eastern Nepal, primarily in the districts of Dolakha and Sindhupalcok, as well as in Darjeeling district of West Bengal,... Show moreThis dissertation describes Thangmi, a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in eastern Nepal, primarily in the districts of Dolakha and Sindhupalcok, as well as in Darjeeling district of West Bengal, India. The grammar focuses on the Dolakha (Eastern) dialect of the language, although contrastive examples and specific features of the Sindhupalcok (Western) dialect are also discussed. While the Thangmi ethnic group number around 40,000, speakers of the language do not amount to more than 20,000. In terms of genetic affiliation, Thangmi appears to be closely related to Newar and Baram, which together form the ‘Newaric’ linguistic grouping. Thangmi is also related to the so-called ‘complex pronominalised’ Kiranti languages, which together with Newaric form the Mahakiranti group within Tibeto-Burman. The Thangmi refer to themselves as Thangmi, while shamans who are the sole religious practitioners in the community call themselves Thani. In Nepali the Thangmi community and their language continue to be referred to as Thami. This 862-page book contains a grammatical analysis of the Thangmi language, forty-five analysed texts with interlinear morpheme glosses and translations, a trilingual Thangmi-English-Nepali lexicon, a graphic representation of Thangmi kinship terminology and a comprehensive bibliography. The linguistic description is based on fieldwork conducted between 1997 and 2004 on a series of trips to Nepal and India. The grammar of Thangmi, which makes up the first third of the book, is divided into seven chapters. Chapter One deals with the changing historical classifications of Thangmi within the Tibeto-Burman language family, and particular attention is paid to lexical correspondences with Newar. Chapter Two offers an introduction to Thangmi culture and society, and addresses earlier research and scholarship on the Thangmi and their language. Thangmi toponyms, ethnonyms, clan names, kinship terms, mythology and history are all discussed in this chapter. Chapter Three deals with the Thangmi sound system and phonology, while Chapter Four addresses morphophonology. The fifth chapter focuses on nominal morphology, word classes and derivation. Thangmi nominals are characterised by a large number of postpositions. There is no grammatical gender in Thangmi and adjectives do not agree with the nominals they modify. A particularly interesting feature of Thangmi is the complexity of the verbal agreement system which is the subject of Chapters Six and Seven. Chapter Six offers a detailed morphological analysis of Thangmi simplex forms which are intransitive, transitive or reflexive verbal strings showing agreement with one or more actants and containing a tense morpheme. Complex verbal forms, including periphrastic constructions, imperative forms and other modals make up Chapter Seven. Gerunds along with the two intransitive verbs which correspond to the English verb ‘to be’ are also discussed in this final chapter. In common with other Tibeto-Burman languages, with the exception of Chinese and Karen, Thangmi exhibits SOV word order. Show less
In the mountains of northwest China, crowds of people gather at remote temples every summer. The normally grim and deserted landscape becomes a backdrop for elaborate feasting, chanting and... Show moreIn the mountains of northwest China, crowds of people gather at remote temples every summer. The normally grim and deserted landscape becomes a backdrop for elaborate feasting, chanting and sacrificing. While the mood is festive, the meetings take place in a region which has seen centuries of violent conflict between Muslims and Buddhists, Han-Chinese and Tibetans. Inter-ethnic relationships remain uneasy, but during the temple festivals people from different backgrounds accept the challenge of competing with one another on a very different kind of battlefield: that of love. Show less
Charles Darwin had no doubts about the origins of music - it was a kind of mating call, a primitive language of the emotions from an early stage of evolution. While his ideas about music and... Show moreCharles Darwin had no doubts about the origins of music - it was a kind of mating call, a primitive language of the emotions from an early stage of evolution. While his ideas about music and evolution have often been alluded to, Darwin never really paid much attention to music. His contemporary Herbert Spencer, who was much more conversant with music, saw it differently - music had evolved from language, in particular speech laden with emotion. Show less
On 26 October 1947 the state of Jammu and Kashmir acceded to the Indian Union, infuriating Pakistan and spawning one of the world's longest unresolved conflicts: Kashmir. India and Pakistan's half... Show moreOn 26 October 1947 the state of Jammu and Kashmir acceded to the Indian Union, infuriating Pakistan and spawning one of the world's longest unresolved conflicts: Kashmir. India and Pakistan's half-century of perpetual conflict has been punctuated by four full-scale wars waged over the Line of Control, forcing villagers to hinterland refugee camps that have fundamentally changed the structure of the families living in them. Show less
Do the performing arts play a role in sexual selection? How does music influence mating practices in different cultures? an the performing arts create social settings where sexual relationships... Show moreDo the performing arts play a role in sexual selection? How does music influence mating practices in different cultures? an the performing arts create social settings where sexual relationships germinate and grow - even where sex is a disruptive force, an arena for competition and conflict? And if so, where does this power of the performing arts come from? Show less
Gandrung is a beloved entertainment for ritual celebrations in rural Banyuwangi in easternmost Java. In this genre - a variety of one known throughout western Indonesia - a professional female... Show moreGandrung is a beloved entertainment for ritual celebrations in rural Banyuwangi in easternmost Java. In this genre - a variety of one known throughout western Indonesia - a professional female singer-dancer, the gandrung (who gives the genre its name) dances with male guests, accompanied by a small ensemble of drums, violins, gongs, and a triangle. It is not always easy for a gandrung to entice guests onto the dance floor, since their dancing, like hers, requires artistry and poise while their movements will be watched critically by spectators, who may include their own wives and children. Show less
'I just want to be thought of as special', says a mildly intoxicated woman in her late 20s as she is taped for an NTV special on Tokyo's host clubs. Her face fuzzed out for privacy, she leans... Show more'I just want to be thought of as special', says a mildly intoxicated woman in her late 20s as she is taped for an NTV special on Tokyo's host clubs. Her face fuzzed out for privacy, she leans toward her male host and looks at him, perhaps with shy, yet impish, eyes. The host returns her gaze with an ambiguous smile. Maybe he likes her.... Show less
Nighttime. The shimmering air is filled with the scent of sweet perfume as the dim figures of visitors are seen in the shadows. Inside, the room is hung with draperies and chandeliers. Velvet... Show moreNighttime. The shimmering air is filled with the scent of sweet perfume as the dim figures of visitors are seen in the shadows. Inside, the room is hung with draperies and chandeliers. Velvet cushions litter the floor while customers lie back, perhaps smoking a water pipe, listening to the sweet voices of the mujarewali. Women sing, mostly seated, subtly moving their bodies as the graceful gestures of their hands and suggestive looks from beneath their veils cast a spell on the male audience. Sometimes eyes meet and wordless messages are sent. Their outcome is easy to guess.... Show less
When anthropologists Clifford and Hildred Geertz arrived in a small village on Bali in the late 1950s, they were outsiders. It was, Clifford Geertz wrote, 'as though we were not there. For them,... Show moreWhen anthropologists Clifford and Hildred Geertz arrived in a small village on Bali in the late 1950s, they were outsiders. It was, Clifford Geertz wrote, 'as though we were not there. For them, and to a degree for ourselves, we were non-persons, specters, invisible men' (1973:412). Things changed ten days later when they visited their first cockfight. Show less
Wildman refers to a widespread image whose ontological status is unclear. We don't really know what wildmen are, whether or not they exist, or in what sense they could exist. Are they purely... Show moreWildman refers to a widespread image whose ontological status is unclear. We don't really know what wildmen are, whether or not they exist, or in what sense they could exist. Are they purely imaginary categories (as cultural anthropologists, historians and other practitioners of the humanities have usually supposed) or do they have a substantial grounding in empirical, or zoological, reality? What is their relation to beings that anthropologists usually call spirits, which have typically been conceived as the very opposite of the empirical? This is the abridged introductory lecture to the IIAS masterclass 'Images of the Wildman in Southeast Asia'. Show less
