Irina Papuc | University College London (original) (raw)
Drafts by Irina Papuc
In 1968, Napoleon Chagnon published his best-selling ethnography The Fierce People , which est... more In 1968, Napoleon Chagnon published his best-selling ethnography The Fierce People , which established the Yanomami as a violent people in the public eye for decades to come. Indeed, in 1976, Time described the Yanomami as a " rather horrifying " culture which can only be described in terms of animal behaviour akin to baboons [Time 1976: 37], and over the coming decades, horror films like Canibal Holocausto would continue to fuel public imagination, declaring the Yanomami people as lovers of sadistic orgies [Ramos 1987: 296]. These examples mark but fragments in a convoluted puzzle, and at its centre lies one of anthropology's most divisive debates, the Fierce People controversy. The controversy began with Chagnon's book, and later with his infamous Science article, where he presented the argument that the Yanomami who kill the most do so out of evolutionary reasons to gain reproductive advantage. The arguments of this debate extend beyond the Yanomami, to general treatment of Amerindian groups and the public's interpretation of their " violent " behaviour.
With Europe no longer at the center of the world , decolonizing anthropology is as relevant as e... more With Europe no longer at the center of the world , decolonizing anthropology is as relevant as ever. Europe’s postcolonial fall in today’s globalization opens up possibilities - and presents opportunities - for critical reflection. To colonize is to exploit, to assert one’s power over another. Much like energy is neither created nor destroyed, power systems pass from generation to generation, and exploitation is a perpetual, morphing part of the human condition. Thus, the act of decolonizing anthropology does not just apply to the study of indigenous groups, ‘minorities,’ or other traditionally labelled ‘Other’ groups, but extends to what Mbembe calls the ‘subaltern humanity’ borne from a production of indifference pervasive in light of rapid technological and politico-economic global change [4].
In this essay we explore this fluid predator-prey logic, in its various theoretical and ethnographic manifestations, as well as some of the methodological attempts to dissolve it.
This paper presents two interconnected arguments:
1. decolonizing concepts and methods amounts to having an increased awareness of perpetual systems of power, and
2. while completely ‘decolonizing’ anthropology is not possible, the act of striving for it certainly is, and propels anthropologists closer towards gaining an ‘epistemological footing’ with the Other, what some have dubbed the ‘New New World.’
I illustrate these arguments by reviewing ethnographic case studies regarding images of ‘African tribes,’ the ‘Orient,’ and ‘Arabia,’ and demonstrating that many of these colonizing concepts remain pervasive, in varying forms, in ethnography to this day.
MSci Dissertation, 2018
This dissertation seeks to answer the question: “what does female strength training in Brazil rev... more This dissertation seeks to answer the question: “what does female strength training in Brazil reveal about gender and beauty?” Through a critical reading of the history of female strength training, it is argued that while female strength training, in particular weight training and bodybuilding, presents a threat to a traditional understanding of gender and what it means to be ‘feminine,’ the subversive nature of female gender identity within the sport is overshadowed by a hegemonic feminine and masculine framework, which propagates a normalised feminine ideal. Gender as performance was studied by way of three fronts: 1. via a textural and descriptive analysis covering strength training and bodybuilding social media profiles, 2. participant-observation in a Brazilian bodybuilding gym, and 3. analysing reactions of the bodybuilding culture by non-bodybuilding Brazilian informants. Conceptualisations of gender and beauty were treated as socially constructed performances that reveal themselves through temporary micro-actions and the epiphanies and reactions that come forth as a result of those micro-actions. We find that in a given micro-action performance, one can take on traditionally defined male or female gender attributes, or a combination of both. The analysis at once specific to female bodybuilding offers us a chance to explore larger questions about what it means to be feminine and masculine, and how those attributes correspond with personhood and identity.
Keywords: feminist theory, gender studies, bodybuilding, strength training
I will explore symbolic treatments of the electoral process, in the theories, ethnographies, and ... more I will explore symbolic treatments of the electoral process, in the theories, ethnographies, and methods of McLeod, Banerjee, Coles, Herzfeld, Abélès, and Paley, and present the argument that 1) within democracies, traditional authority is largely equivalent to contemporary authority 2) elections are ritualistic 3) electoral rituals are liminal processes that reassert authority through the construction of an idealised social reality fuelled by a plethora of micro-encounters.
Papers by Irina Papuc
!PRO 326 is a student initiated inter-professional project that has focused on identifying ineffi... more !PRO 326 is a student initiated inter-professional project that has focused on identifying inefficient and unsustainable aspects of the current landscape management practices at the IIT Main Campus, and providing some solutions to these problems. The IPRO is the product of the ...
In 1968, Napoleon Chagnon published his best-selling ethnography The Fierce People , which est... more In 1968, Napoleon Chagnon published his best-selling ethnography The Fierce People , which established the Yanomami as a violent people in the public eye for decades to come. Indeed, in 1976, Time described the Yanomami as a " rather horrifying " culture which can only be described in terms of animal behaviour akin to baboons [Time 1976: 37], and over the coming decades, horror films like Canibal Holocausto would continue to fuel public imagination, declaring the Yanomami people as lovers of sadistic orgies [Ramos 1987: 296]. These examples mark but fragments in a convoluted puzzle, and at its centre lies one of anthropology's most divisive debates, the Fierce People controversy. The controversy began with Chagnon's book, and later with his infamous Science article, where he presented the argument that the Yanomami who kill the most do so out of evolutionary reasons to gain reproductive advantage. The arguments of this debate extend beyond the Yanomami, to general treatment of Amerindian groups and the public's interpretation of their " violent " behaviour.
With Europe no longer at the center of the world , decolonizing anthropology is as relevant as e... more With Europe no longer at the center of the world , decolonizing anthropology is as relevant as ever. Europe’s postcolonial fall in today’s globalization opens up possibilities - and presents opportunities - for critical reflection. To colonize is to exploit, to assert one’s power over another. Much like energy is neither created nor destroyed, power systems pass from generation to generation, and exploitation is a perpetual, morphing part of the human condition. Thus, the act of decolonizing anthropology does not just apply to the study of indigenous groups, ‘minorities,’ or other traditionally labelled ‘Other’ groups, but extends to what Mbembe calls the ‘subaltern humanity’ borne from a production of indifference pervasive in light of rapid technological and politico-economic global change [4].
In this essay we explore this fluid predator-prey logic, in its various theoretical and ethnographic manifestations, as well as some of the methodological attempts to dissolve it.
This paper presents two interconnected arguments:
1. decolonizing concepts and methods amounts to having an increased awareness of perpetual systems of power, and
2. while completely ‘decolonizing’ anthropology is not possible, the act of striving for it certainly is, and propels anthropologists closer towards gaining an ‘epistemological footing’ with the Other, what some have dubbed the ‘New New World.’
I illustrate these arguments by reviewing ethnographic case studies regarding images of ‘African tribes,’ the ‘Orient,’ and ‘Arabia,’ and demonstrating that many of these colonizing concepts remain pervasive, in varying forms, in ethnography to this day.
MSci Dissertation, 2018
This dissertation seeks to answer the question: “what does female strength training in Brazil rev... more This dissertation seeks to answer the question: “what does female strength training in Brazil reveal about gender and beauty?” Through a critical reading of the history of female strength training, it is argued that while female strength training, in particular weight training and bodybuilding, presents a threat to a traditional understanding of gender and what it means to be ‘feminine,’ the subversive nature of female gender identity within the sport is overshadowed by a hegemonic feminine and masculine framework, which propagates a normalised feminine ideal. Gender as performance was studied by way of three fronts: 1. via a textural and descriptive analysis covering strength training and bodybuilding social media profiles, 2. participant-observation in a Brazilian bodybuilding gym, and 3. analysing reactions of the bodybuilding culture by non-bodybuilding Brazilian informants. Conceptualisations of gender and beauty were treated as socially constructed performances that reveal themselves through temporary micro-actions and the epiphanies and reactions that come forth as a result of those micro-actions. We find that in a given micro-action performance, one can take on traditionally defined male or female gender attributes, or a combination of both. The analysis at once specific to female bodybuilding offers us a chance to explore larger questions about what it means to be feminine and masculine, and how those attributes correspond with personhood and identity.
Keywords: feminist theory, gender studies, bodybuilding, strength training
I will explore symbolic treatments of the electoral process, in the theories, ethnographies, and ... more I will explore symbolic treatments of the electoral process, in the theories, ethnographies, and methods of McLeod, Banerjee, Coles, Herzfeld, Abélès, and Paley, and present the argument that 1) within democracies, traditional authority is largely equivalent to contemporary authority 2) elections are ritualistic 3) electoral rituals are liminal processes that reassert authority through the construction of an idealised social reality fuelled by a plethora of micro-encounters.
!PRO 326 is a student initiated inter-professional project that has focused on identifying ineffi... more !PRO 326 is a student initiated inter-professional project that has focused on identifying inefficient and unsustainable aspects of the current landscape management practices at the IIT Main Campus, and providing some solutions to these problems. The IPRO is the product of the ...