Fredrik Barth, the Baktaman, and Bolivip
The Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Bergen is happy to announce the upcoming seminar of our Spring 2015 Department Seminars with Tony Crook (University of St. Andrews).
Hovedinnhold
Due to the strictures of secrecy, the Mountain Ok region of central New Guinea became known as an enigmatic 'black hole' for anthropological research. Fredrik Barth's pioneering research led to a body of well-known works such as the monograph Ritual and Knowledge among the Baktaman (1975), and the regional comparison Cosmologies in the Making (1987). Beyond this, Barth's characterisation of Mountain Ok society and concern with secrecy, have exercised an important and paradigmatic influence on both the ethnography of this region and, on wider theories of secrecy and knowledge.
Alongside a discussion of Barth's Baktaman work and these wider influences, this seminar will also present an ethnographic analysis from the neighbouring village of Bolivip, and a discussion of the difficulties and assumptions around anthropological knowledge that Barth's work engaged.
All interested are welcome!