Some general questions about anthropology and theory

[theory9093]

I'm currently a PhD student in a very good religious studies department. Very generally, I do work in contemporary N. America/Europe, working with theorists who focus their attention on social and subjective plasticity, and performance theorists that focus on the body as it regards eroticism and subjective violence. While my theoretical interests are longstanding, I'm still working to situate them comfortably within a subfield, a professional identity. (And I'm still early in my program, so I've got time.) I've been thinking about beginning to focus more on ethnography/anthropology for reasons both personal and professional. 

How do ethnographers/anthropologists think about their relation to theory? (By theory, I mean something like various manifestations and transformations of the continental tradition.) Is anthropology/ethnography a relatively comfortable place from which to do serious theoretical work? (For example, Lit. departments seem to be a fairly natural fit for those types of interests.) What are the intellectual and pragmatic challenges/benefits of having a strong interest in both theory and ethnography? 

Thanks for listening. 

 

Edited September 21, 2016 by theory9093

[Ajtz'ihb]

How do ethnographers/anthropologists think about their relation to theory?

Too much. Anthropology has staggered through more "turns" in the past three decades than I care to list.

Is anthropology/ethnography a relatively comfortable place from which to do serious theoretical work?

If by "serious theoretical work" you mean "the continental tradition" as manifest in literary criticism, then yes. These days that probably describes a majority of cultural anthropologists, although its a very theoretically pluralistic discipline so you will also be exposed to a great many other theoretical perspectives if you delve deeply into anthropological literature.

Anthropology's great strength has always been its balance between theoretical pluralism and empirical observation, and many anthropologists tack comfortably back and forth between what you might call a "critical" identity and a "scientific" one. Fieldwork remains the nerve center of the discipline, so if you're looking to develop a professional identity as an anthropologist or ethnographer, you will need to do fieldwork.

Since you're already in a religious studies program, I suggest you delve into the large body of work on the anthropology of religion if you haven't already. Are you already pretty familiar with e.g. Turner, Douglas, Bloch, Geertz, (early) Graeber, etc.?

[theory9093]

Thanks for that response. I'm not familiar with Graeber, I'll check him out.