Abstract
The present study is an extensive 22-months field research in Wadi Rum Desert, Jordan. The case of Bedouin Zalabieh adds another voice to the diverse anthropological research in Middle East. Fieldwork is a complicated and challenging process where the anthropologist experiences a rite of passage through interaction with his/her informants. He/she is transformed from a subject who conducts fieldwork to an object of his/her own self striving for redefinition. Incorporating the habitus of the Others, he/she becomes an Other. At the end of the fieldwork, he/she is confronted with multiple Others. With reference to Bedouin Customary Law, through a “thick description” I try to focus on the habitus of my informants as something that cannot be completely understood by the anthropologist, just because it belongs to a preconscious state. A dialog between cultures, rites, concepts, and behaviors is essential for the redefinition of the self during the research as well as thereafter. Through the distinctive habitus of people, we coexist and share our lives while unconsciously constructing new selves. While we study others, we become objects to be studied; this entails an interactive study on each other. In addition, focusing on the conflict between spouses, I emphasize the new forms of practices and actions created by the interaction and coexistence of the anthropologist and his/her informants. The silent conflict between spouses undermines men’s supposed power over women. Exploiting my presence, the spouses challenged the existing cultural assumption as well as my femininity. Since everything is always a mutual definition and redefinition, deontologicaly, instead of the term “study” (a community) I prefer the term “mediate” that can vacillate between the discipline of anthropology and the informants
References
- Al Abadi, A.U. (1988). Al-Qada and Al-Ashair Al Urduniyya (Law among the Jordanian Tribes), Amman.
- Bailey, C. (2009). Bedouin Law from Sinai and the Negev, Yale University Press.
- Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. London, Routledge.
- Bourdieu, P. (2007). Outline of a Theory of Practice, reprint 21st, transl. R. Nice, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
- Cohen, A. (1992). Post-Fieldwork Fieldwork. Journal of Anthropological Research,48(4):339-354, Coleman, Simon and Peter Collins eds.
- Fernandez, J. (1980). Reflection in Looking into Mirror, Semiotica, 30(1–2), 27–39.
- Gluckman, M. (1956, 1973). Custom and Conflict in Africa. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
- Golde, P. (1986). Introduction In: Women in the Field: Anthropological Experiences. 2nd edn. Peggy Golde ed. pp: 1–55. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- Gregory, J. (1984). The Myth of the Male Ethnographer and the Woman’s World. American Anthropologist 86(2): 316–327.
- Hastrup, K. (1992b). Writing Ethnograph: State of the Art, Pp:116–33 in Anthropology and Autobiography (ed. by J. Okely and H. Callaway). London. Routledge.
- Kennett, A. (2011, 1925), Bedouin justice. Laws and Customs Amongst the Egyptian Bedouin, Cambridge University Press
- Marinaki, K. (2014).Τα Παιδιά του Wadi Rum. Έμφυλες Αναπαραστάσεις και Πρακτικές Κοινωνικότητας. Παν. Μακεδονία Αδημοσίευτη Διδ. Διατριβή (The Children of Wadi Rum. Gender Representations and Socializing Practices. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation in Greek).
- Marinaki, K. (2017). Εννοιολογήσεις Παιδικής Ηλικίας. Ευρωπαϊκές και Τοπικές. (Childhood concepts. European and Local in Greek]) Ανακοίνωση στο 4ο Συνέδριο Νέος Παιδαγωγός http://neospaidagogos.gr
- Mentor, M. (2008). Feud Narratives: Contemporary deployments of kanun in Shala Valley northern Albania, Anthropological Notebooks, 14(2), 87–107.
- Navarro, Z. (2006). In Search of Cultural Intepretation of Power, IDS Bulletin 37(6): 11–22.
- Ottenberg, S. (1990). Thirty Years of Fieldnotes: Changing Relationships to the Text. Pp;139-60 in Fieldnotes: The Makings of Anthropology, (ed. by R. Sanjek). Ithaca, N.Y: Cornell University Press.
- Powdermaker, H. (1967). Stranger and Friend: The Way of an Anthropologist. London: Secker and Warburg. Reed-Danahay, Deborah, E. ed.
- Rabinow, P., 2007 [1977], Reflection in Fieldwork in Morocco, Thirtieth Anniversary edition, Berkeley, University of California Press.
- Ross, M. H. (1993). The Culture of Conflict. Interpretations and Interests in Comparative Perspective. New Haven: New York University Press.
- Simmel, G. (1955). Conflict and the Web of Group Affiliations. trans. K.H. Wolff. Glencoe, Il: The Free Press.
- Stewart, F. (1987). Tribal Law in the Arab World: A Review of the Literature, International Journal of Middle East Studies 19 (4), 474–480.
- Tedlock, B. (1991). From Participant Observation to the Observation of Participation. The Emergence of Narrative Ethnography. Journal of Anthropological Research 47(1): 69–94
- Wacquant, L. (2005) Habitus. International Encyclopedia of Economic Sociology. J. Becket and Z. Milan. London, Routledge.
- Wagner, R. (1981). The Invention of Culture, University of Chicago Press.
- Wagner, R. (1986). Symbols that Stand for Themselves, University of Chicago Press.
Abstract
References
- Al Abadi, A.U. (1988). Al-Qada and Al-Ashair Al Urduniyya (Law among the Jordanian Tribes), Amman.
- Bailey, C. (2009). Bedouin Law from Sinai and the Negev, Yale University Press.
- Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. London, Routledge.
- Bourdieu, P. (2007). Outline of a Theory of Practice, reprint 21st, transl. R. Nice, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
- Cohen, A. (1992). Post-Fieldwork Fieldwork. Journal of Anthropological Research,48(4):339-354, Coleman, Simon and Peter Collins eds.
- Fernandez, J. (1980). Reflection in Looking into Mirror, Semiotica, 30(1–2), 27–39.
- Gluckman, M. (1956, 1973). Custom and Conflict in Africa. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
- Golde, P. (1986). Introduction In: Women in the Field: Anthropological Experiences. 2nd edn. Peggy Golde ed. pp: 1–55. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- Gregory, J. (1984). The Myth of the Male Ethnographer and the Woman’s World. American Anthropologist 86(2): 316–327.
- Hastrup, K. (1992b). Writing Ethnograph: State of the Art, Pp:116–33 in Anthropology and Autobiography (ed. by J. Okely and H. Callaway). London. Routledge.
- Kennett, A. (2011, 1925), Bedouin justice. Laws and Customs Amongst the Egyptian Bedouin, Cambridge University Press
- Marinaki, K. (2014).Τα Παιδιά του Wadi Rum. Έμφυλες Αναπαραστάσεις και Πρακτικές Κοινωνικότητας. Παν. Μακεδονία Αδημοσίευτη Διδ. Διατριβή (The Children of Wadi Rum. Gender Representations and Socializing Practices. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation in Greek).
- Marinaki, K. (2017). Εννοιολογήσεις Παιδικής Ηλικίας. Ευρωπαϊκές και Τοπικές. (Childhood concepts. European and Local in Greek]) Ανακοίνωση στο 4ο Συνέδριο Νέος Παιδαγωγός http://neospaidagogos.gr
- Mentor, M. (2008). Feud Narratives: Contemporary deployments of kanun in Shala Valley northern Albania, Anthropological Notebooks, 14(2), 87–107.
- Navarro, Z. (2006). In Search of Cultural Intepretation of Power, IDS Bulletin 37(6): 11–22.
- Ottenberg, S. (1990). Thirty Years of Fieldnotes: Changing Relationships to the Text. Pp;139-60 in Fieldnotes: The Makings of Anthropology, (ed. by R. Sanjek). Ithaca, N.Y: Cornell University Press.
- Powdermaker, H. (1967). Stranger and Friend: The Way of an Anthropologist. London: Secker and Warburg. Reed-Danahay, Deborah, E. ed.
- Rabinow, P., 2007 [1977], Reflection in Fieldwork in Morocco, Thirtieth Anniversary edition, Berkeley, University of California Press.
- Ross, M. H. (1993). The Culture of Conflict. Interpretations and Interests in Comparative Perspective. New Haven: New York University Press.
- Simmel, G. (1955). Conflict and the Web of Group Affiliations. trans. K.H. Wolff. Glencoe, Il: The Free Press.
- Stewart, F. (1987). Tribal Law in the Arab World: A Review of the Literature, International Journal of Middle East Studies 19 (4), 474–480.
- Tedlock, B. (1991). From Participant Observation to the Observation of Participation. The Emergence of Narrative Ethnography. Journal of Anthropological Research 47(1): 69–94
- Wacquant, L. (2005) Habitus. International Encyclopedia of Economic Sociology. J. Becket and Z. Milan. London, Routledge.
- Wagner, R. (1981). The Invention of Culture, University of Chicago Press.
- Wagner, R. (1986). Symbols that Stand for Themselves, University of Chicago Press.
Details
| Primary Language | English |
|---|---|
| Subjects | Sociology |
| Journal Section | Review |
| Authors | |
| Publication Date | September 20, 2020 |
| Published in Issue | Year 2020 Issue: 1 |
