Debating Authenticity: Concepts of Modernity in Anthropological Perspective

Published by Berghahn Books 2012

Debating Authenticity

Concepts of Modernity in Anthropological Perspective

Edited by: Thomas Fillitz and A. Jamie Saris

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780857454973

Overview
Contents

About this book

The longing for authenticity, on an individual or collective level, connects the search for external expressions to internal orientations. What is largely referred to as production of authenticity is a reformulation of cultural values and norms within the ongoing process of modernity, impacted by globalization and contemporary transnational cultural flows. This collection interrogates the notion of authenticity from an anthropological point of view and considers authenticity in terms of how meaning is produced in and through discourses about authenticity. Incorporating case studies from four continents, the topics reach from art and colonialism to exoticism-primitivism, film, ritual and wilderness. Some contributors emphasise the dichotomy between the academic use of the term and the one deployed in public spaces and political projects. All, however, consider authenticity as something that can only be understood ethnographically, and not as a simple characteristic or category used to distinguish some behaviors, experiences or material things from other less authentic versions.

Author / Editor information

Thomas Fillitz is Associate Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Vienna. He has been a visiting professor at the Université des Sciences et Technologies Lille-1 (2001, 2003), at the Université Lumière Lyon-2 (2008), and at Université Paris Descartes (2011).

A. Jamie Saris is Senior Lecturer at the Department of Anthropology at the National University of Ireland-Maynooth and Co-Chair of the Combat Diseases of Poverty Consortium. He has been working more than fifteen years in medical and psychological anthropology in Ireland, North America and Africa.

Thomas Fillitz is Associate Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Vienna. He has been a visiting professor at the Université des Sciences et Technologies Lille-1 (2001, 2003), at the Université Lumière Lyon-2 (2008), and at Université Paris Descartes (2011).

Reviews

"Debating Authenticity is an authentic representation of the state of play in contemporary anthropology." · American Anthropologist

“Debating Authenticity presents the reader with a rich collection of ethnographic case studies, unpacking the complexity of the concept in various social settings across the globe.” · The Australian Journal of Anthropology

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
List of Figures Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgements Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Introduction. Authenticity Aujourd’hui Thomas Fillitz and A. Jamie Saris Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part I. Authenticity and Authenticating
1. Revisiting ‘Culture, Genuine and Spurious’: Reflections on Icons and Politics in Ireland A. Jamie Saris Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	27
2. Deceptive Tentacles of the Authenticating Mind: On Authenticity and Some Other Notions That are Good for Absolutely Nothing Rajko Muršič Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	46
Part II. Moral Discourses of Authenticity
3. Authentic Wilderness: The Production and Experience of Nature in America Lawrence J. Taylor Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	63
4. The Moral Economy of Authenticity and the Invention of Traditions in Franche-Comté (France) Jean-Pierre Warnier Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	78
5. ‘Oh, That’s So Typical!’ Discussing Some Spanish ‘Authentic’ Essential Traits Jorge Grau Rebollo Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	91
Part III. Authenticity: Popular and Academic Discourses
6. Is Form Really Primary or, What Makes Things Authentic? Sociality and Materiality in Afro-Brazilian Ritual and Performance Inger Sjørslev Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	111
7. A Cultural Search for Authenticity: Questioning Primitivism and Exotic Art Paul van der Grijp Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	128
8. Wooden Pillars and Mural Paintings in the Saudi South-west: Notes on Continuity, Authenticity and Artistic Change in Regional Traditions Andre Gingrich Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	142
9. True to Life: Authenticity and the Photographic Image Marcus Banks Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	160
Part IV. Entangled Spaces of Authenticity
10. Questions of Authenticity and Legitimacy in the Work of Henri Gaden (1867–1939) Roy Dilley Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	175
11. Constructing Culture through Shared Location, Bricolage and Exchange: The Case of Gypsies and Roma Judith Okely Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	196
12. Cultural Regimes of Authenticity and Contemporary Art of Africa Thomas Fillitz Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	211
Notes on Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	226
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	229

Language: English
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 258
Keywords: Theory and Methodology

eBook

Published: December 1, 2012
ISBN: 9780857454973