Phenomenology in Anthropology

This volume explores what phenomenology adds to the enterprise of anthropology, drawing on and contributing to a burgeoning field of social science research inspired by the phenomenological tradition in philosophy. Essays by leading scholars ground their discussions of theory and method in richly detailed ethnographic case studies. The contributors broaden the application of phenomenology in anthropology beyond the areas in which it has been most influential—studies of sensory perception, emotion, bodiliness, and intersubjectivity—into new areas of inquiry such as martial arts, sports, dance, music, and political discourse.

Introduction: Phenomenology's Methodological Invitation Kalpana Ram and Christopher Houston
1. Moods and Method: Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty on Emotion and Understanding Kalpana Ram
2. Toward a Cultural Phenomenology of Body-World Relations Thomas J. Csordas
3. Sacred Suffering: A Phenomenological Anthropological Perspective C. Jason Throop
4. Being 'Sita': Physical Affects in the North Indian Dance of kathak Monica Dalidowicz
5. Beneath the Horizon: The Organic Body's Role in Athletic Experience Greg Downey
6. Unmeasured Music and Silence Ian Bedford
7. Experiencing Self-Abstraction: Studio Production and Vocal Consciousness Daniel Fisher
8. Being-in-the-Covenant: Reflections on the Crisis of Historicism in North Malaita, Solomon Islands Jaap Timmer
9. Seared with Reality: Phenomenology through Photography, in Nepal Robert Desjarlais
10. Writing Affect, Love and Desire into Ethnography L.L. Wynn
11. Senses of Magic: Anthropology, Art, and Christianity in the Vula'a Lifeworld Deborah Van Heekeren
12. Neither Things in Themselves nor Only for Someone: Anthropology, Phenomenology and Poetry Christopher Houston
Afterword Michael Jackson