Anthropologically speaking: #readingtips

Social sciences graduate programs often involve a series of cross-disciplinary courses. Philosophy, linguistics, political economy... often anthropology . A cousin of sociology, anthropology is increasingly gaining ground in degree programs not specifically focused on M-DEA01. It may be helpful to suggest some readings that, combining transdisciplinary classics and new research perspectives, can further stimulate students and enthusiasts.

Starting from the classics

Many scholars are so important to the social sciences that defining them in a single category is not only reductive but, in some cases, insulting. This is even more true if there is a kinship, a teacher-student relationship, and so on. An interesting case is that of Emile Durkheim and Marcel Mauss. A 1976 paperback text entitled "Sociology and Anthropology" includes three essays with intersecting themes.

• The first of Durkheim On the definition of religious phenomena and individual and collective representations;
• the second of Durkheim e mouse, on some primitive forms of classification;
• the third of mouse on the seasonal variations of Eskimo society;

Ethnography of everyday life

Understanding the present is a more daunting challenge than one might think. In the collective imagination, the anthropologist 's perspective is that of someone who experiences research firsthand, getting their hands dirty. Some short essays that can clarify this "permanently field researcher" approach are Marco Aime 's " Ethnography of Everyday Life: An Anthropological Look at Changing Italy and Its Gift in the Age of the Internet ."

In the first text, Italy appears as a fragmented society that consequently acts in a disorderly manner. This behavior prevents the emergence of a collective conscience. This also leads to the critical nature of the relationship between citizens and the state, an institution that in our country retains the typical traits of authoritarian regimes. This state of affairs is clearly evident when analyzing certain key moments in our public life, both institutionally and in everyday life. 

In their second text, Aime, together with Anna Cossetta , traces in the exchange offered by the internet some equivalents of the gift paradigm , in that "data" that travels rapidly from one computer to another. The text asks whether online exchanges can be new promoters of sociality. In practice, it asks whether their relational models have repercussions on the more traditional patterns and dynamics of the society we live in.

Eastern Perspectives

Anthropology , along with philosophy and archaeology, is the discipline that most readily addresses interculturality. Many scholars even believe it to be the roots of dialogue between the disciplines themselves. Indeed, it is not difficult to find texts on Russian and Oriental anthropology in general. Therefore, following an exotic and not at all Orientalist curiosity, an interesting text to read is The Languages ​​of Rite: Anthropological Perspectives on Japanese Religiosity by Giovanni Bulian . The book offers an anthropological interpretation of Japanese ritual culture by analyzing some of its ceremonial, ritual, and festive expressions in urban and rural areas. This approach places particular emphasis on distinctive elements of new forms of ritual culture. Both the peculiar syncretism and the cultural creativity of Japanese religiosity in developing new ritual practices in response to the problems and needs of contemporary society are highlighted.

Francesco D'Ambrosio