ETHNOLOGY I

The course is compulsory within the anthropological stream of the History Undergraduate Degree and offers an introduction to Cultural Anthropology focusing on the subject of ritual and performance. The course provides students with theoretical and methodological tools to know classic approaches in this field of studies Durkheim, Mauss, Douglas, Turner) and to be able to critically read them from the perspectives of more recent studies (Kapferer, Segalen, Feld, Tamisari). Particular attention will be give to develop a critical approach that allows students to identify the main anthropological debates and questions and discuss their developments and lines of analysis.

Attending face-to-face lectures together with the preparation of the material selected for the course will offer students:
1. to learn the main theoretical approaches in the study of ritual from an anthropological perspective
2. to apply theoretical notions to interpret different ethnographic studies in particular historical contexts
3. to develop a critical ability in presenting the contributions and the limits of different theoretical and methodological approaches in the study of ritual
4. to acquire the ability to reflect on the contribution of Anthropology to the study of ritual
5. to learn a technical anthropological terms and expressions
6. to acquire the ability to ask questions in class
7. to acquire the ability of presenting arguments in a synthetic manner in the final written examination

The course is addressed to second year students of the hitorical-anthropological stream in the undergraduate degree course in History and requires the knowledge of basic notions and prospective adopted by the anthropological discipline that are offered in the introductory course "Cultural Anthropology, introduction".

The course main themes are the following: The anthropological approach: informative and performative ethnography; anthropology of religion: Durkheim's approach and his critics from an interdisciplinary perspective; ritual structure and process: the rites of passage; anthropology of experience; the body as historical agent: risignification in colonial and postcolonial contexts with particular attention to cultural appropriation in Christian contexts; anthropology of performance: text and execution, ethnography os speaking, critique of tradition, with particular attention to dance in ritual and other everyday contexts.

EXAM PROGRAM
Attending students
1) articles and book chapters indicates below. This exam material is available in pdf format in MOODLE
2) ONE monograph to be chosen from the list "Testi facoltativi o Letture integrative" in "Testi di riferimento", please see section "Testi di riferimento".

Compulsory readings (available in pdf in pdf format in MOODLE)
Durkheim, Emile 1965 [1914] Il dualismo della natura umana e le sue condizioni sociali, in Educazione come socializzazione. Firenze: La Nuova Italia, pp. 3-19.
Douglas, Mary 1979 [1970] I due corpi, in I simboli naturali. Esplorazioni in cosmologia. Torino: Piccola biblioteca Einaudi, pp. 99-122.
Feld, Steven 2009 [1990] In forma di uccello: l'estetica kaluli, in Suono e sentimetno. Uccelli, lamento, poetica e canzone nell'esspressione kaluli, pp.229-250
Kapferer, Bruce.1986. Performance and the Structuring of Meaning and Experience, in The Anthropology of Experience, (a cura di) V.W Turner and E. Brumer, Urbana: University of Illinois Press, pp.188-203.
Magowan, Fiona 2001. Synchretism or Synchronocity? Remapping the Yolngu Feel of Place, in The Australian Journal of Anthropology 12:3, 275-290 (anche disponibile in pdf da scaricare dai materiali didattici).
Segalen, Martine 2002 [1998] Il problema dei riti di passaggio, in Riti e rituali contemporanei, Bologna, Il Mulino, pp.33-60.
Tamisari, Franca 2005. Writing Close to Dance. Reflexions on an Experiment", in Aesthetics and Experience in Music Performance, (a cura di) E. Mackinlay, D. Collins and S. Owens, Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Press, pp. 174-203, (anche disponibile in pdf da scaricare dai materiali didattici).
Tamisari Franca 2002 "Danza e intercorporalita: la lusinga e il pericolo dei
complimenti", in Antropologia delle senzazioni, (a cura di) Vincenzo Matera,
La ricerca folklorica 45: 89-99, (anche disponibile in pdf da scaricare dai materiali didattici).
Turner, Victor 2001 [1969] Liminalità e comunitas. Forma e attributi dei 'rites de passage', in Il processo rituale. Morcelliana, pp. 111-146.
UNA MONOGRAFIA A SCELTA DALLA LISTA "Testi facoltativi o letture integrative"

Optional and further readings
Comaroff, John, and Jean Comaroff 1992. Bodily Reform as Historical Practice. In Ethnography and the Historical Imagination. pp. 69-91. Boulder: Westview Press.
Douglas, Mary 1979 [1970] I simboli naturali. Esplorazioni in cosmologia. Torino: Piccola biblioteca Einaudi, pp. 99-122.
Fabian, Johannes1989. Power and Performance. Ethnographic Explorations Through Proverbial Wisdom and Theatre in Shaba, Zaire. The University of Wisconsin Press.
Feld, Steven 2009 1990 Suono e sentimetno. Uccelli, lamento, poetica e canzone nell'esspressione kaluli
Friedson, S. 1996. Dancing Prophets. Musical Experience in Tumbuka Healing. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Segalen, Martine 2002 [1998] Riti e rituali contemporanei, Bologna, Il Mulino
Turner, Victor 2001 [1969] Liminalità e comunitas. Forma e attributi dei 'rites de passage', in Il processo rituale. Morcelliana, pp. 111-146.
Bateson, G. 1988 Naven. Un rituale di travestimento in Nuova Guinea. Torino: Einaudi
Bloch, M. 2005 La politica dell'esperienza religiosa, Raffaello Cordina Editore, Milano.
Boas, F. 1999 Arte primitiva: forme simboli stili tecniche. Universale Bollati Boringhieri, Torino.
Feld. S. 2009 [1990]. Suono e sentimento. Uccelli, lamento, poetica e canzone nell'espressione kaluli.Il Saggiatore.
Hobsbawm Eric J., T. Ranger 1994 (1987). L'invenzione della tradizione, Einaudi, Torino
Tambiah, S. Rituali e Cultura. Il Mulino, Bologna
Scaldaferri, N e S. Allovio 2006 (a cura di) Performance, esecuzioni e contesti, Molimo. Quaderno di Antropologia culturale ed Etnomusicologia> vol. 1, CUEM, Milano
Spencer, Paul 1985 Society and the Dance. The Social Anthropology of Process and Performance. Cambridge University Press
Turner, V. 1972. Il processo rituale, Morcelliana, Brescia.
Turner, V. 1976. La foresta dei simboli. Aspetti del rituale dembu. Morcelliana, Brescia

Students are invited to pose questions during lectures. The written exam consists of four questions with open answer (five for non attending students) to choose from a list of seven/eight questions that cover all course topics. After the communication of the final mark, students are summoned to see and receive feedback on the written exam.

Assessment criteria:
1. Comprehension of notions and debates
2. Clarity of exposition
3. Bibliographic references to pertinent theoretical, ethnographic example
4. Ability in a critical reading of theoretical approaches

1. Face to face lectures (with use of ppt, audiovisual material, photographs)
2. Students are encouraged to participate actively asking questions at the beginning and at the end of each lecture
3. After the communication of the final course mark, students are invited to receive some comments on their class assignment
4. Compulsory readings are available in pdf format in MOODLE. During lectures further readings will be uploaded and be available in MOODLE.

Italian

Attendance is not compulsory but is highly recommended. All students are asked to read the lecturer's notices on her web page and in MOODLE

written