Taboo: Sex, Identity and Erotic Subjectivity in Anthropological Fieldwork [Paperback]

Don Kulick (Editor), Margaret Willson (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415088194 | ISBN-13: 978-0415088190 | Publication Date: November 15, 1995 | Edition: 1

Taboo looks at the ethnographer and sexuality in anthropological fieldwork and considers the many roles that sexuality plays in the anthropological production of knowledge and texts. How does the sexual identity that anthropologists have in their "home" society affect the kind of sexuality they are allowed to express in other cultures? How is the anthropologists' sexuality perceived by the people with whom he or she does research? How common is sexual violence and intimidation in the field and why is its existence virtually unmentioned in anthropology? These are but a few of the questions to be confronted, exploring from differing perspectives the depth of the influence this tabooed topic has on the entire practice and production of anthropology.
A long-overdue text for all students and lecturers of anthropology, many post-fieldwork readers will find a resonance of issues they have previously faced (or tried to avoid) and those who are still to undertake fieldwork will find articles that refer to other kinds of personal and professional experience as well as providing invaluable preparations for coping in the field.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Don Kulick is Associate Professor in the Department of Child Studies at Kinkopings University, Sweden. Margaret Willson is a Lecturer and Research Associate in the Department of Anthropology at Northern Washington University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (November 15, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415088194
• ISBN-13: 978-0415088190
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,030,978 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I Wanted to...., June 1, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Taboo: Sex, Identity and Erotic Subjectivity in Anthropological Fieldwork (Paperback)

This book tries to dissect one of the more interesting themes I've come across in texts on sex theory. Edited by Don Kulick, whose text on Brazilian travestis proves his dedication to inspecting gender and sexuality, and Margaret Wilson, this book attempts to place the ethnographer under the magnifying glass.

The attempt was to create a discourse on the way that an ethnographer's own sexuality and/or gender might affect their fieldwork, and how inherent biases might appear as a result. As Kulick points out, this is a subject that remains almost taboo in the field--something avoided as strenuously as possible by an increasingly large field of anthropologists who strike out under the flag of perfect (but impossible) objectivity.

Despite the good intentions of the editors, and true genius of their proposed topic, many of the contributors barely manage to have anything important to say. The book is erratic at best, and one could only wish that the editors had held each contributor to the same standard they took in their work.

Some of the essays are excellent. Blackwood's account of a lesbian affair in the field, and her subsequent marginalization in social settings, is excellent. Another anthropologist writes of her rape in the field; a contribution which touches on gender roles, violation, nationalism and cultural authenticity, and the problems with an anthropological administration that often limits women's access to the field when the work can be seen as "dangerous."

Others are truly horrific. Ralph Bolton's apparently pointless reconstruction of his many sexual encounters in Europe was never really destined for an academic resource. In his desire to relate his personal sexual experiences, he totally forgets the ethnographic spirit of the topic.

There is meat here, but the analytical edge is missing. It's like reading a semi-sordid dime-store novel in places, there's almost no emphasis on the construction or formation of any anthropology.

At times, the reader is thoroughly uncomfortable with the level of personal detail here...but this is exactly the point. We aren't used to our ethnographer's detailing themselves, their own eroticism, sexuality, and desires.