A Delicate Science: A Critique of an Exclusively Emic Anthropology
Anthropology & Humanism June 1, 1996 DOI: 10.1525/ahu.1996.21.1.31 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Ethnography Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Afro-Brazilian possession ritual practitioners |
| Citations | 6 |
| Key findings | Argues that spirit possession in Afro-Brazilian rituals operates as a dynamic process of "negotiated reality," in which practitioners themselves sometimes accuse one another of "faked possession." Contends that anthropologists should neither dismiss indigenous perspectives nor accept officially presented "emic" accounts at face value, and that a "delicate science" combining etic and emic inquiry is needed. |
Abstract
The increasing recognition of indigenous perspectives regarding religious practices such as shamanism and spirit possession offers a welcome respite from the excesses of scientific skepticism. Anthropologists may, however, become dogmatic in the opposite direction through accepting and even promoting at face value the officially presented "emic" view. At times, ritual practitioners themselves accuse one another of "faked possession" or exhibit other indications of a complex "native psychology." The Afro‐Brazilian possession rituals I have studied suggest the workings of a dynamic process of "negotiated reality." Must researchers with a genuine respect for the spirit world therefore eschew any psychocultural, sociological, or other looking‐in‐from‐the‐outside (etic) forms of inquiry? The ethnographic study of religions, like these spiritual traditions themselves, calls for the practice of a "delicate science" of anthropological exploration.