Ethnographic methodology, Alban Bensa, Philippe Descola, Achuar society, Ecuadorian Amazon, juste distance, anthropology, social sciences
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Abstract
Alban Bensa's article illustrates the ethnographic methodology using Philippe Descola's monograph on the Achuar society in the Ecuadorian Amazon.
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[...] On this point, his views join those developed by other epistemologists. In history, Marc Bloch had already highlighted the inescapable nature of interpretation in the work of the historian. According to him, documents reveal no meaning in themselves and require the intervention of the researcher to give them a meaning. In the same way, Clifford Geertz insisted on the necessary hermeneutic dimension of anthropology. For him, ethnology must be concerned with deciphering the structures of meaning at work in the observed societies. [...]
[...] From ethnographic relation. In search of the just distance - Alban Bensa (1995) Introduction The article 'De la relation ethnographique. À la recherche de la juste distance' was published in 1995 in the Enquête journal under the pen of Alban Bensa. As a social and historical anthropologist, Alban Bensa is particularly interested in the methodological questions raised by the practice of field research. In this article, the author relies on Philippe Descola's monograph on the Achuar society of the Ecuadorian Amazon (Descola, 1993) to reflect on the conditions for the emergence of an ethnographic research relationship. [...]
[...] (2024). Apologie for History or the Historian's Craft. Geertz, C. (1998). Thick Description (A. Mary, Trans.). Enquête. Archives of the Enquête Review Art. 6. Lézé, S. (2005). Daniel Céfaï. [...]
[...] The Field Enquiry. L'Homme. French Review of Anthropology, 175-176, Art. 175-176. Olivier de Sardan, J.-P. (1995). The Field Policy. Enquête. Archives of the Enquête Review Art. 1. [...]
[...] It is through this means that Descola was able to access the deep meaning of the Achuar social functioning. According to Bensa, Philippe Descola's monograph on the Achuar society exemplifies the ideal methodological posture of 'juste distance'. In parallel to this strong personal involvement, Descola maintained a reflective and detached approach that provided the necessary distance for analysis. He systematically questioned the observed practices in order to uncover the underlying logics. Thanks to this combination of proximity involvement and analytical distancing, Descola was able to grasp the Achuar from a double internal and external perspective. [...]
