The Unsaid, the Unheard, the Unseen in Ethnography: The Political Limit of the Knowledge

  • Alessandro Deiana University of Cagliari
Keywords: Ethnography, Knowledge, Politics, Sensitive Topics, Far Right

Abstract

The article develops the theme of the sensorial border as a politic limit with which ethnographer is to deal when the access in the experiential sphere of those who intend to study involves ethical dilemmas. In particular faces the possibility that the ethnographic knowledge is not always to be understood as the overcoming of the given limits to make new contributions to knowledge, but rather as epistemological desertion in front of the risk of being a tool both of what normally is opposed, and of a cognitive device consistent with the dominant social taxonomy. To illustrate this hypothesis is taken into account the current of ethnographic research on sensitive topics and in particular will be discussed critically some researches on fascist and racist organizations.

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Author Biography

Alessandro Deiana, University of Cagliari

Doctor of Philosophy in Methodologies of Anthropological Research, at Siena University with the dissertation Folklore Effect. Uses and Meaning of the Tradition in the Sardinian Contemporary Folklore Scene. He carries out ethnographic research in Sardinia about groups, associations and individuals active in the organized folklore movement. His interests also cover the historical and theoretical issues related to the folklore and popular culture, as well as on political and epistemological aspects of anthropological practices.

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Published
2015-07-13
How to Cite
Deiana, A. (2015). The Unsaid, the Unheard, the Unseen in Ethnography: The Political Limit of the Knowledge. Medea, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.13125/medea-1856