Janet wrote: "I was going to mention ethnography, as well, but I've never thought of it as a form of magic. Could you expand on that, please? It's a fascinating concept!."
In James Clifford's groundbreaking collection _Writing Culture_ (1986), Stephen Tyler, in an essay entitled "Postmodern Ethnography," wrote about ethnography as an act of evocation or invocation, whereby the author attempts to conjure for the reader a particularly ineffable experience -- what s/he has experienced through fieldwork. He also attempted to delineate what a postmodern ethnography would look like. No one to date has really been able to comprehend, let alone produce, what he describes, but I believe it comes close to a ritual or dramatic production (there's that connection between ritual and theater again!).
In any case, as work of fiction (in the sense of something created by an author, NOT something false!) that attempts to conjure a different reality is, as far as I am concerned, an act of magic. So ethnography is a magical act, and ethnographers are magicians of a sort. In fact one of the earliest ethnographers, Bronislaw Malinowski, was himself aware of this power when he wrote his famous essay, "The Ethnographer's Magic."
For more on this, see the introduction ("The Ethnography of Magic and th Magic of Ethnography") in my book _Witching Culture: Folklore and Neo-Paganism in America_ (U Pennsylvania Press, 2004).
Best,
Sabina
Sabina Magliocco
Professor and Chair
Department of Anthropology
California State University - Northridge
18111 Nordhoff St.
Northridge, CA 91330-8244
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From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of janet ifimust [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Saturday, December 20, 2008 5:31 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] Theater and Magic(k)
2008/12/20 Sabina Magliocco <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
Morgan wrote: "In fact this process of switching subjective/objective is
essential to magic (as I know it)."
It is also essential to ethnography, which is why I argue that ethnography is in fact a form of magic.
Who says there's no magic in the academy? ;-)
No one how has ever seen a number of remarkable speakers could argue that, I think - well, I wouldn't. :) (That is, if one accepts glamour as a part of magic - which is another debate entirely. But I've certainly seen it used in the academy, certainly unconsciously).
I was going to mention ethnography, as well, but I've never thought of it as a form of magic. Could you expand on that, please? It's a fascinating concept!.
--
Dr. Janet Goodall
Research Fellow
Institute of Education
University of Warwick
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/wie/aboutus/
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