共时与深描:论小型社会物的民族志书写方法论
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G04

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文化和旅游部文化艺术研究项目“中国西南边地风俗器物的民族志研究”(24DA001)


Coevalness and thick description: A methodology for writing ethnographies of artifacts in small-scale societies
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    摘要:

    人类学小型社会的人工制品具有特殊的文化表征意义,例如并置在华丽仪式场所的舞者面具、祖先雕像、头饰和华丽权杖,因此这些物成为人类学者研究的关键文化文本。那么,人类学者应如何书写非西方小型社会物的民族志?这是一个关于非西方物的叙事观与方法论问题。人类学对物的研究被称为“物的民族志”,也称“物志”(ethnography of object)。传统物的民族志追求对客观真理的书写,而后现代时期则追求“写文化”。在人类学中,非西方物的民族志书写往往追踪物所承载的历史、意义和象征。物的民族志不仅是物的客观真理的书写,更是关于地方性知识的深描(thick description)。人类学者将物作为文化文本,探讨物与社会结构、宗教信仰和美学观念的层层关联,并关注物的社会生命史及物在跨文化语境中的意义,通过深描探讨物质文化背后所表征的象征意义。共时观(coevalness)是一种后结构主义的人类学时间观,主张文明不因时间阶段而呈高低之分,原始与文明的概念处于“共时”平等的意义。共时性叙事观体现了人类学对进化论的反思,不仅从动态视角研究非西方艺术,还关注人工制品的社会生命史,表达了对他者文化的理解与尊重。因此,本研究基于后现代结构人类学取向,形成一种互相构建的共时与深描方法论,作为适配非西方社会物的民族志书写方法,并将这种物的民族志方法总结为“共时深描”方法论。一方面通过“深描”通往文化文本的纵向多层研究,另一方面,通过“共时”观通往文化文本的横向结构研究,通过物的纵横结构关系形成立体的民族志。这种纵向与横向呈立体多维的文本写作范式,为写文化提供了一种新的文本写作实验方法。“共时深描”作为一种物的实验民族志方法论,为研究非西方物的民族志提供了合适的方法论。这种方法基于人类学时间观,为民族志书写提供了一种实验书写的可能性。“共时深描”方法论作为一种小型社会物的民族志,“共时深描”不仅为小型社会物的民族志提供了一种文化研究方法,也体现了当代人类学思想史中物叙事的思潮。

    Abstract:

    The artifacts of small-scale societies hold special cultural significance, such as dancer masks, ancestor sculptures, headdresses, and ornate staffs, which displayed in elaborate ritual contexts. These objects become key cultural study texts for anthropologists. How should anthropologists write ethnographies of non-Western small-scale society for artifacts? This is a kind of narrative perspectives and methodologies which regarding non-Western objects. The study of objects in anthropology is termed ethnography of objects. Traditional approaches aim for objective truth, while postmodernism seeks to write culture. In anthropology, ethnography of non-Western objects is aimed to trace the history, meaning, and symbolism carried by these artifacts. It not only writes the objective truth of objects but also provides a thick description of local knowledge. Anthropologists treat objects as cultural texts, exploring their connections to social structures, religious beliefs, and aesthetic concepts, and examining their social life and meanings in cross-cultural contexts. Coevalness is a post-structuralist view of time in anthropology, posits that civilizations are not hierarchically ranked by time periods, viewing primitive and civilized concepts as coeval and equal. This narrative perspective reflects a critique of evolutionism, and emphasizing dynamic studies of non-Western art and the social life of artifacts, also demonstrating an understanding and respect for other cultures. This research proposes an inter-constructive methodology of coevalness and thick description, suitable for ethnographic writing on non-Western artifacts, termed coeval thick description. This method enables a multidimensional ethnography through vertical and horizontal studies, providing a new experimental writing approach for cultural texts. As an experimental ethnographic methodology, coeval thick description not only offers a cultural research methodology for small-scale society artifacts, but also reflects contemporary anthropological thought on object narratives.

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罗易扉.共时与深描:论小型社会物的民族志书写方法论[J].重庆大学学报社会科学版,2024,30(6):164-174. DOI:10.11835/j. issn.1008-5831. rw.2024.12.003

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