Abstract
In the present contribution, I wish to continue the comparison between semiotic work on texts and anthropological work on the field posed by Algirdas J. Greimas, taking some of its postulates to their extreme consequences. Greimas mentions some of the classic problems inherent in fieldwork, namely (1) the diversity or otherness of the object of study, (2) the positioning of the researcher in the field (empathy or hypocrisy, naivety or fiction? ), (3) the difference between the knowledge of the anthropologist and the knowledge of the natives, and finally (4) the discovery of ethnographic data capable of deeply shaking our certainties and our models. The article explores these problems, through an ethnography among ascetics from the Katsuragi Shugen tradition, in central Japan.
| Translated title of the contribution | Ethnography and Semiotics: On Deities, Ascetics, Stones, and Other Recalcitrant Subjects |
|---|---|
| Original language | Italian |
| Title of host publication | Il metodo semiotico |
| Editors | Guido Ferraro, Riccardo Finocchi, Anna Maria Lorusso |
| Place of Publication | Rome |
| Publisher | Edizioni Nuova Cultura |
| Pages | 93-129 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-88-3365-130-9 |
| Publication status | Published - 2018 |
UCC Futures
- Future Humanities Institute
Keywords
- Semiotics
- Anthropology
- Ethnography
- Recalcitrance
- Asceticism
- Japan
- Katsuragi Shugen
- Pilgrimage