DIVERSIPEDEIVERSIPEDE

UAAU AGAS

Volume 1, Number 2

May 2012

Journal of the University of Alberta Anthropolog y Student Associations “Powered by diversity.”

Published by the University of Alberta Anthropology Undergraduates (UAAU) and the Association of Graduate Anthropology Students (AGAS)

ISSN 1927-971X (Print) ISSN 1927-9728 (Online)

Editor Gabriel Yanicki

Web Editor Nicole Eckert-Lyngstad

Publication Committee Megan Caldwell and Aileen Reilly

Review Board Amanda Abbott, Megan Caldwell, Cory Cookson, Nicole Eckert-Lyngstad, Reid Graham, Brent Hammer, Catherine Kmita, Todd Kristensen, Mathew Levitt, Sean Lynch, Car- men Norris, Nora Pedersen, Aileen Reilly, Catherine Scheelar, Jo-Anne Schenk, Hannah Schmidt, Hilary Sparkes, and Rene Studer-Halbach

Faculty Advisor Dr. Marko Zivcovic

Cover illustration Justina Smith, www.justlittleart.com

Cover design elements adapted from W. Popp and O. Standke, Marches célèbres / transcrites pour violon et piano (violoncelle et piano ou fl ûte et piano) (Braunschweig: H. Litolff, 18--?) and used as public domain under Canadian copyright law IVERSIPEDE Journal of the University of Alberta D Anthropolog y Student Associations Volume 1 May 2012 Number 2

GET THAT CAMERA OUTTA MY FACE: ETHICS IN DOCUMENTARY MEDIA Matthew Hayes n 2011, I completed a fi lm project for a most documentary fi lms struggle to simply Igraduate seminar on ethnographic meth- break even at the box offi ce (if they make it odology. The exercise involved three hours there in the fi rst place), I think this focus is of observant participation (Tedlock 1991; see misplaced. Instead, I argue that more focus also Castañeda 2006, 95-96), during which I should be put back upon the participants of set up my camera on a tripod in three differ- a fi lm study: the subjects in front of the cam- ent locations for an hour in each, in front of era. This idea is in no way radical. It should a sign that read: “If you wish to be in a fi lm, be a fi rst principle of carrying out social re- please stand here.” An arrow pointed down search: do no harm, and ensure the welfare to the spot directly in front of the lens. I of your subjects. However, I also think it is waited to see what would happen, and the re- very rarely carried out to its fullest these days. sults, frankly, surprised me.1 What were most The important point here is that the issues unexpected were the particular ethical con- I raise in this paper do not apply solely to siderations that arose. Among others, the op- visual anthropology or the practice of using portunity for self-presentation (MacDougall visual methods. They apply to all social sci- 1992, 97); the signifi cance of ethnographic entifi c research, regardless of the scope (see refusal (Simpson 2007); and the (largely un- Grimshaw 2011, 257). It is simply that, as I fulfi lled) promise of reciprocity (Jackson have noticed since I began using fi lm, visual 2005,169-170; Mauss 1990 [1950]). methods tend to make explicit many of the This exercise led me to rethink my pri- issues inherent in all social scientifi c research. orities when using visual methods to conduct The issues I encountered while con- research. I argue that, particularly in main- ducting the above-mentioned exercise made stream public consciousness, a major focus me aware of what exactly I was hoping of the fi lmmaker while making and editing would happen: I wanted streams of people a fi lm is placed on how well it will screen lining up to sing and dance in front of my with the audience, and perhaps how much camera. I wanted action! As Simpson (2003, revenue it will produce (see Winston 2000). 105) writes: “Anthropology is a practice of While this often coheres with the fact that desire.” I desired for these things to happen,

1 The concept was inspired by the last scene in David and Judith MacDougall’s Photo Wallahs (1991). The seminar was taught by my supervisor Dara Culhane. The fi nished fi lm based on the exercise can be viewed here: http://vimeo. com/24566964. Graduate student, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Simon Fraser University Author contact: [email protected]

DIVERSIPEDE, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 1-11, 2012 1 DIVERSIPEDE VOL. 1, NO. 2, 2012 to prove to myself (and to prove a previous gists. Most of the fi lmmakers who produced theory I held), that people in fact love being the body of work from which major aspects on camera. I was hoping this was true and of visual anthropology developed were out- was disappointed at times when this action side of the discipline altogether. Indeed, did not occur. However, this disappointment many of the most radical innovations and was useful (Simpson 2007, 78). I realized that advancements in the discipline have come my goal should never have been to wish for from either outsiders or “rebels” within the dancing monkeys; this was unethical. At the fi eld, such as Jean Rouch and John Marshall expense of the agency of my imagined par- (MacDougall 1998, 67). ticipants, I was too focused on the fi nished Flaherty and his fi lms have caused product and what kind of entertainment a great deal of debate over the years since the viewer would see in the fi nished fi lm. I their release (see Pink 2006, 24). Before his should have initially placed my emphasis on death in 1951, he had made, in addition to ensuring that I do no harm to my partici- Nanook, two lesser-known documentaries pants, focusing on what they wanted from the of similar quality: Moana (1926) and Man of exercise, not what I wanted (see MacDougall Aran (1934). The debate about these fi lms 1994). Thankfully, I do not believe I caused often concerns the fact that everything, or any harm. At least, no one angrily told me to nearly everything, in his fi lms was staged (see get my camera out of his or her face. But this Pink 2006, 23; Banks 2001, 148). The people holds an important lesson, which I outline in are real and the places in which he shot are this paper. I trace a history of documentary real, but all the scenes were planned out and fi lm in order to highlight from where some scripted ahead of time. These “fabrications” of this attitude of privileging the audience were largely due to the technology available at has come, and where fi lmmaking perhaps the time: hand-crank powered cameras with should have gone instead. Priorities need to no capacity for recording sound. These early shift. I think by doing so social researchers, fi lm cameras had to be continually mounted including myself, can make more ethical use on tripods because they were so heavy and of documentary media. awkward. This early technology did not allow FLAHERTY’S RECONSTRUCTIONS the fi lmmaker to go mobile with the camera I begin almost at the very beginning, and follow the action like we can today with with an example from Robert Flaherty. In lighter, handheld camcorders. As was the 1922 he produced the world’s fi rst commer- standard at the time (see Winston 2000, 20), cially successful feature-length documentary Flaherty thus had no choice but to recon- fi lm, Nanook of the North (see Ruby 2000, 67). struct and dramatize the scenes for his fi lm, Flaherty was neither an anthropologist, nor simply because the camera was not mobile was he in any way trained as a fi lmmaker. He and fl exible enough to do otherwise. was actually an American mining prospector Two examples may suffi ce here to in- who was conducting research in Northern dicate the lengths that Flaherty at times had Quebec for his employer prior to making the to go to in order to get his shot. There is a fi lm (Grimshaw 2001, 47; Ruby 2000, 7). He scene in Nanook in which the title character ended up building relationships there with goes ice fi shing and while holding his line, the people who later featured in Nanook (one is thrown around on the ground by the seal of whom was his indigenous wife!). Flaherty’s that is apparently fi ghting for its life under path to a fi lmmaking career seems somewhat the ice. The subsequent documentary fi lm typical of many ethnographic fi lmmakers. It Nanook Revisited (Massot 1990) reveals that seems that only recently have fi lmmakers of Flaherty actually had two holes cut in the ice, this type actually been trained as anthropolo- with a fi shing line threaded from one hole 2 MATTHEW HAYES ETHICS IN DOCUMENTARY MEDIA underneath to the other. While Nanook was I argue quite the opposite of critics like pulling on the line from one end, two men Antonio. I think that anyone who criticizes were pulling on it from the other, causing his a documentary for telling lies or not telling titanic struggle and the ensuing hilarity of the truth because it has, for example, used the scene. A more infamous scene from the reconstruction or has not let the action un- fi lm is that of Nanook (whose real name was fold as it “normally” would, or has not used Allakariallak) and his family preparing for the “natural” light, retains a misguided view of night in an igloo. We see them get undressed, what documentary is in practice, and how it settling comfortably into their blankets. The started. I think these critics do not fully un- igloo was actually built about three times as derstand what documentary is for and how a large as it normally would have been, and it documentary fi lm is produced (see Winston was halved (Barbash and Taylor 1997, 25). 2000). Fieldwork and the use of visual meth- Rather than being a full dome, only half of ods involve selection. It inevitably occurs, as it was built, in order to let in enough light for you cannot record everything and you can- the camera to record. Flaherty had attempted not report on everything when the project to fi lm in a regular sized igloo, but it proved is complete, whether in a book, article, fi lm, too dark and cramped to produce any foot- photo essay, memoir, etc. There is a bit of a age that he deemed viewable. So he had Na- paradox here, an irony. Every documentary nook build half of a giant igloo instead. fi lm is a subjective interpretation of the fi lm- Many have criticized Flaherty for this maker’s view of the world. This has been approach. The American fi lmmaker Emile acknowledged now in academic circles, but de Antonio has remarked: “The charm and is ironically the very realization that caused power of [Flaherty’s] camera are marred by so much criticism of documentary fi lm not distortions, lies, and inaccuracies which pan- long after its invention (MacDougall 2006, 228; also see Malinowski 1967, 22). This real- der to a fake romantic, fake nature-boy view ization is also why I believe so many people of society” (cited in Barbash and Taylor 1997, have criticized Flaherty’s fi lms, and why the 25). It has been said that Flaherty’s fi lms were general public can sometimes take offence lies because he used reconstruction, because with documentaries that reconstruct events, he set up the scenes he fi lmed as in a fi ction and therefore apparently “lie” to them (Win- fi lm, and because he did not actually fi lm his ston 2000). participants like a documentarian “should”. He also at fi rst did not reveal to his audience SCIENTIFIC ORIGINS the way in which he created the fi lm, leaving Here I backtrack a bit, because I want them to believe what they were seeing was to emphasize the use that fi lm and photog- “authentic” Inuit life. Many of those criticiz- raphy were initially put to in the social sci- ing Flaherty and his fi lms say that he misled ences. This was a scientifi c, positivistic use. his audience and did not in fact portray the The camera was thought of simply as a good “truth”. Because of the staged scenes, the recording device, a machine that could pro- documentary was in fact a fi ction and did not duce objective pictures of observable phe- represent what a documentary should be: it nomena, which one could later look back to did not show real life; it did not show the for confi rmation of what occurred that day, truth. Thus, the criticism against Flaherty at that time, in that place. The camera could and his fi lms, against reconstruction and the be used to record unmediated “reality”. The manipulation of footage in documentary me- underlying idea was that a camera was a mir- dia, rests on ontological and epistemological ror held up to the world. This underlying idea assumptions about what documentary is and did not recognize that the person holding the how it produces knowledge. mirror holds it in a very specifi c way that af- 3 DIVERSIPEDE VOL. 1, NO. 2, 2012 fects what the mirror shows. Especially in research right up until her death (e.g. Mead public perceptions of documentary media, 2003 [1974]) and indeed, this notion still per- this notion of the camera portraying “real sists today. These assumptions of objectiv- life” still exists, despite the evidence we now ity stand in stark contrast to Flaherty’s own cite against it. uses of the camera. He had no qualms about The fi rst signifi cant use of a camera manipulating—some would pronounce it in this positivistic sense was in 1877 by the “tampering”—with his subjects and the sub- Englishman Edward Muybridge, who was sequent footage. Flaherty put into practice working in San Francisco at the time of his an entirely different set of ontological and experiment (MacDougall 1998, 126, 138). He epistemological principles. He knew the cam- used photography in an attempt to solve the era was as fallible as any individual human’s most frustrating scientifi c question of the vision and so he accordingly exemplifi ed a day: did a horse have all four hooves off the more subjective and participatory approach ground at once while galloping? After being to fi lmmaking, one that is largely unacknowl- commissioned to solve this riddle, he set up edged as the predecessor of much later at- on a racetrack a series of cameras rigged to tempts (Pink 2006, 24; Ruby 2000, 83). tripwires, which the galloping horse activated NEW TECHNOLOGY, NEW PRACTICE as it moved along (Gray 2010, 4). This se- ries of photos clearly displayed the answer to To jump ahead: in the 1960s in America, the riddle: the horse did indeed have all four this notion of the camera recording unmedi- hooves off the ground at once! So the cam- ated reality gained strength. It is believed the era became useful as a scientifi c measure of camera can record “truth”, even while it is body movement and the natural world, reso- handheld and mobile. Brian Winston (2000, nating with early anthropology’s fascination 21-22), a British documentary theorist and with physical (read: racial) traits. journalist, traces to this decade what he con- Fifty years later, Margaret Mead, work- siders to be a major turning point in the prac- ing with her third husband Gregory Bateson, tice of producing visual media. This turning produced a monumental photographic study point arose as a direct result of new technol- of Balinese body techniques entitled Balinese ogy: smaller, lighter, handheld camcorders Character (1942). As a result, Mead conclud- and, even more importantly, the capacity for ed that one could produce objective images recording synchronous sound. All of a sud- of individuals if one simply left a camera den, documentary fi lmmakers could go out running (see Bateson and Mead 1976). Yet onto the street and record both video and Mead’s assumption reveals a fundamental audio of their subjects without having to cre- misunderstanding of how cameras work.2 ate soundtracks in the studio in postproduc- She forgot that there was nothing objective tion. They could record people’s voices as it about choosing to leave the camera run- happened. As a result, two major movements ning untouched while it was pointed at, for developed: cinéma vérité and direct cinema. instance, a group of children, rather than a The defi nitions of these movements group of adults. Someone was still pointing I fi nd most satisfactory are found in Brian the camera and making selections based on Winston’s book Lies, Damn Lies and Docu- a subjective interpretation of what was hap- mentaries (2000, 169 note 2), which provides pening in front of the lens. However, Mead a cursory indication of the subject matter. maintained confi dence in the use of the Cinéma vérité is a refl exive mode of fi lm- camera as an objective aid to social scientifi c making whereby the process of fi lmmak-

2 What Grimshaw (2011, 248) calls her “simple-minded scientism”. 4 MATTHEW HAYES ETHICS IN DOCUMENTARY MEDIA

ing itself is made apparent to the audience. unfolded, without a script. As a result, many Films of this type may include footage of fi lmmakers could now record intimate mo- the cameraman and audio recorder (Loizos ments in peoples’ lives, apparently without 1997, 94), the fi lmmakers themselves asking interference. One could crouch in the corner people questions, and most importantly dec- of a bedroom and fi lm undisturbed, such as laration (explicit or otherwise) of the use of what Canadian fi lmmaker Allan King (1969) refl exive principles in the making of the fi lm seemingly accomplished with A Married Cou- from the start (MacDougall 1998, 89-91; see ple (see also Druick 2010). All of a sudden, also Strathern 1987).3 These types of fi lms the camera was a mirror, projecting unmedi- attempt to include some of the elements that ated, scientifi c reality, at least for some. Oth- you would need to see in order to understand ers felt differently. Especially in Europe, as a how the fi lm was made. Cinéma vérité goes result of the prolifi c ethnographic fi lmmaker even further at times by making the very act Jean Rouch, the more dominant feeling was of fi lmmaking the subject of the fi lm itself, that an observational approach was misguid- rather than just a part of the fi lm seen along- ed and unethical, as the very act of fi lming side a different subject. The classic exemplar changed behaviour. Having a camera in the of this is the fi lm by Edgar Morin and Jean room meant the scene was not unmediated, Rouch: Chronique d’un été (1960). Others in- but that the camera was probably the main clude many of the Yanomamö fi lms by Tim- event in the fi rst place. In some ways this othy Asch and Napoleon Chagnon, such as latter movement tends to carry on the pio- neering work of Flaherty, who from the start The Ax Fight (1975). practiced a participatory approach, albeit be- Direct cinema, on the other hand, is hind the scenes, by showing Nanook the daily quite distinctly American. This latter ap- rushes and eliciting his feedback and sugges- proach is observational: a fi lmmaker using it tions for the next day’s fi lming (Barbash and may claim to be a fl y-on-the-wall, privileging Taylor 1997, 24; Pink 2006, 24). Refl exivity the action unfolding before the camera, while and participation have always been as much a attempting to maintain distance from this part of anthropological fi lmmaking (and eth- action (Winston 2000, 169 note 2). Direct nography in general!) as observation, even if cinema presumes that one can actually fi lm it is not widely recognized. As the fi lm critic something without interfering or affecting James Hoberman rhetorically asks: “Who is 4 whatever it is being fi lmed. Thus it tends to more self-conscious than an anthropologist carry on the positivistic goal of objectivity in with a movie camera?” (cited in Barbash and fi lmmaking arising in the work of Muybridge Taylor 1997). and other early practitioners. Several exam- ples include Robert Gardner’s Forest of Bliss WHAT THE MAINSTREAM LOOKS LIKE (1985), set in Benares, India, and the better- I have attempted to trace a brief and known works by Albert and David Maysles, specifi c history of documentary fi lm suited such as Salesman (1969), and Frederick Wise- to the purposes of this paper. I now present man’s Hospital (1970). three “mainstream” examples that illustrate Whereas earlier fi lmmakers like Flaherty some of the concrete ethical dilemmas that had to set up all shots with the camera on those using visual methods have encountered a tripod, the fi lmmakers of the 1960s could and which indicate what I consider to be take the camera in their hands and on their more ethical priorities in fi lmmaking. Canon- shoulders into the fi eld and record action as it ical ethnographic fi lms can be diffi cult to ac-

3 Jay Ruby, in this regard, distinguishes between “fi lms about anthropology” and “anthropological fi lms” (1975:109). 4 For a humourously cynical portrayal of this belief, see Weinberger (1994, 3-4). 5 DIVERSIPEDE VOL. 1, NO. 2, 2012 cess and so I hope these more popular fi lms aspect of the relationship. It is safe to say will resonate with contemporary audiences. I that the fi lm raises perhaps the most funda- use the term “mainstream” loosely, to refer mental question when using visual methods: to fi lms that have had either theatrical distri- is it ethical to even use them at all? It may be bution and accessibly-priced DVD releases, the case that they are entirely inappropriate, and/or have had a successful run through particularly if the subject of the fi lm has past the popular fi lm festival circuit. experience, negative or otherwise, with visual Winnebago Man methods, such as Rebney did in several ca- pacities. This dilemma may involve scrapping The fi rst is Ben Steinbauer’s Winnebago a project altogether. Man (2009). The fi lm is about Jack Rebney, Considering Rebney’s past, the question a Winnebago salesman, who is what some is: should Steinbauer have made the fi lm at would call the “hero” of a viral video fea- all? A criticism could be leveled that this deci- turing outtakes of his quite energetic and sion is the difference between producing an enraged profanities used while shooting an admittedly hilarious portrait of “the angriest industrial sales video. The fi lm raises signifi - man in the world” and shifting the priority to cant interest over refl exivity in the relation- an ethical consideration of the man and his ship between the fi lmmaker and the subject. past, present and future. I would argue that Steinbauer features in the fi lm as much as Steinbauer was justifi ed in making the fi lm, Rebney, if not more. The fi lm is just as much not because of the hilarity it produced, but about the fi lmmaker’s personal experience because of the relationship he seems to have dealing with Rebney as it is about the Win- developed along the way. Winnebago Man is an nebago salesman. What is particularly inter- esting is that the fi lm raises the ethical dilem- excellent example of how the theory laid out ma that Steinbauer encounters over exposing above becomes translated into actual practice this man to even more publicity through the and ethics on the ground. The representation making of this documentary. After leaving of Rebney, or any subject in a documentary his job as a Winnebago spokesman, Rebney, fi lm, photograph, or written monograph, also a former corporate news producer, se- is inextricable from ethical practices. When cluded himself in a cabin in Northern Cali- producing the image or written word, what fornia and cut virtually all ties with his past type of relationship are you representing? and what he considers morally depraved Are you adopting an approach that fetishizes civilization. It took Steinbauer some time to the subject and creates a world for them in track Rebney down and the fi lmmaker seems which the fi lmmaker does not exist? In this to understand the irony in making one last case, the fi lm portrays an individual that has fi lm about him and his infamy. This is partic- no interaction with the fi lmmaking crew and ularly signifi cant considering the trailer and thus creates the illusion that the subject can- the fi lm both feature Rebney stating to Stein- not exercise his or her agency when mov- bauer and his fi lmmaking crew: “If you don’t ing through his or her surroundings. Or, like it, pack up. Get the fuck out.” Indeed, do you take a more refl exive, participatory the fi lm begins with the quote and works it approach? Steinbauer opted for the latter, into the climax. In terms of the polarization wherein he made no pretensions that he was of observational and refl exive fi lmmaking,5 invisible and made it clear from the begin- it is fascinating that the fi lm documents this ning that Rebney was not a passive subject part of the fi lmmaking process as an integral moving through the world, but one actively

5 David MacDougall, however, has argued against this polarization, writing that observation is, and always has been, not the opposite of, but a component of a participatory, refl exive approach (2003 [1994]: 128-130). 6 MATTHEW HAYES ETHICS IN DOCUMENTARY MEDIA interrogating his surroundings, which includ- fi lming the man as if the camera was invis- ed, fi rst and foremost, the fi lmmaking crew. ible, intangible, and unaffecting. The sub- In other words, style is inextricable from the- jectivity of this situation, even if it was not ory (Howes 2003, 27); both have a signifi cant explicitly relayed to the audience, indicates impact on how one’s subject is represented a specifi c underlying epistemological stance: to the world. truth is not objective. It must be created, and Gates of Heaven the camera is an integral component of this construction. This truth is constructed with Errol Morris’ fi lm Gates of Heaven the participation of the subject, acknowl- (1987) provides a second example that edging that he or she is a living, breathing, makes a strong case for the construction of agentic human being that does in fact inter- documentary footage bordering on fi ction- act with his or her surroundings, rather than alization, similar to the kind Flaherty prac- a passive creature one can fi lm and explain ticed. There is one scene in particular that without being seen. has caused some controversy, known as the “trophy room”. In it, a man sits behind his Herzog and Ecstatic Truth desk, surrounded by an inordinate amount Werner Herzog is famous for blurring of trophies, as he ruminates on the signifi - the boundary between fact and fi ction in his cant meaning they hold for him, their inspira- fi lms. As he has said, “I have never made a tion for his work, and how he came to have them. In the more recent documentary fi lm distinction between my feature fi lms and Capturing Reality (Ferrari, 2008), a National my ‘documentaries’. For me, they are all just Film Board venture, Morris admits that the fi lms” (Cronin 2002, 95). Instead, Herzog of- trophy room was entirely constructed; it did ten makes the interesting distinction between not exist at all. Morris and his crew found fact and truth. In his “Minnesota Declaration” the trophies in a dusty attic, brought them of 1999, a manifesto for documentary fi lm- into a studio and created a set in which they makers, he declares that cinéma vérité “is de- placed the man. This is not unlike Flaherty’s void of vérité. It reaches a merely superfi cial creation of the halved igloo. This type of truth, the truth of accountants.” This is not “reenactment” involves creating a world for to say that Herzog is not in favor of refl exiv- one’s subjects and fi lming how they react to ity and participatory fi lmmaking. He features it: an intense provocation, designed to elicit prominently in all of his fi lms, clearly inter- something more than (potentially) superfi - acting with his subjects. Rather, he thinks cial observation. Morris has remarked that, that it is an illusion that we may access truth when making a fi lm, truth is not discovered; simply by revealing how we are implicated in it is constructed (see Bloom 2010). His re- creating the fi lm. We must go beyond this, he mark clearly denounces a purely observa- thinks, and turn to fi ctionalization in order to tional approach that attempts to uncover a arrive at a deeper meaning, an essence, as he truth already embedded in society. Rather, it is fond of calling it. This is not unlike Jean acknowledges that truths are processual, co- Rouch’s (2003, 6) own statement that “fi ction constructed, and they must be wrung from is the only way to penetrate reality.” Herzog the cloth of social relations. calls this deeper meaning “ecstatic truth”, Morris seemed to succeed in bringing and it is practiced not just in fi lmmaking, out of the man sitting in the trophy room but also even in mainstream academia. This something deep inside him: who he wanted notion of truth necessarily involves manipu- to be, or who he thought he really was. For lating footage (or data). Yet, even if you are Morris, it seems this is an even greater truth writing an academic paper, this is what you than he would have achieved otherwise, by are doing. Writing involves synthesizing ma- 7 DIVERSIPEDE VOL. 1, NO. 2, 2012 terial and manipulating it in a certain way in ing him to relive for the camera some of his order to bring it together and offer a fresh feelings of terror and isolation. In addition, perspective, or to argue a point that would at the end of the fi lm, Dieter “recalls” com- not necessarily be apparent if you simply left ing home after his torture and having to be everything the way it was. put to bed in the cockpit of a fi ghter jet every So it goes with documentary media. Bri- night, packed into a cradle of pillows. He re- an Winston, in particular, has written on the marks that this was the only place he felt safe diffi culty of implementing a strategy such at night. What is interesting is that this entire as Herzog proposes, because in fi lms this scene is completely fabricated. Dengler was idea is often manifested in reenactments or never put to bed in a cockpit cradle. Like the in changes to the chronology of the events trophy room in Gates of Heaven, this situation fi lmed in order to make a point or shed light did not exist. In Herzog’s accounting terms, on something that otherwise would not have it did not happen. However, Herzog says this been apparent (see Winston 2000, 36). Yet, if is beside the point. His fi lms are about draw- you take as the basic premise that documen- ing out an essence, and what better way to il- tary media portrays a subjective interpreta- lustrate the feelings and tribulations Dengler tion of events, and is not, and never could suffered than by creating a world in which have been, striving for an objective represen- these emotions surface for us to grasp? Oth- tation of unmediated reality (what accoun- erwise, we may never come close to under- tants are after, in Herzog’s mind), then many standing what he went through. of the criticisms against such strategies lose EXPERIENCE, NOT OBJECT footing. Much of the uproar over reenact- The above examples contain elements ment of the kind Flaherty utilized is based of a more subjective, participatory approach, on a vestigial epistemological understanding not just to fi lmmaking, but to social scientifi c of fi lm: the assumption that the camera is a research in general. They privilege a method- mirror that does not lie. But we know now ology inextricable from an ontological and this is not quite accurate, as Winston (2000, epistemological position that assumes knowl- 166) remarks: “The camera can most assur- edge is co-constructed in a process of doing edly lie. Indeed, it can do no more than tell a social relations; that people are not passive truth; the truth is beyond it.” beings that one can observe while remaining Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1998), one of unseen oneself, but are instead agentic indi- Herzog’s earlier documentary fi lms, provides viduals that interact with their surroundings several cases in point that illustrate his con- in a meaningful way. As a result, I argue that cept of the ecstatic truth. The fi lm is a bio- the priority of a documentary fi lm, photo- graphical tale about Dieter Dengler, a Ger- graph, or written essay should rest more with man soldier who was shot down over Laos the participant of the study than with the in 1966 while fl ying for the U.S. Navy. After audience. This is not to say the audience is being taken prisoner, forced by his captors to unimportant; it plays a signifi cant role itself, run for days on end to evade enemy fi re, then but this role, as Vivian Sobchack elucidates, chained inside a bamboo prison, Dengler can be quite diffi cult to discern. escaped and lived to tell his tale to Herzog. Sobchack (1999, 249) writes that docu- Dengler reenacts portions of this harrowing mentary fi lm in particular should be inter- experience in the fi lm, directed by Herzog, preted as an experience rather than an object. in order to evoke a feeling. Herzog hired A documentary fi lm, in this sense, is not a Laotian actors to play Dengler’s captors, thing, but a learning experience; a very short ap- who “forced” him to run through the jungle, prenticeship of comprehension. Sobchack much like he was forced to do in 1966, caus- advocates for a phenomenological approach 8 MATTHEW HAYES ETHICS IN DOCUMENTARY MEDIA to theorizing documentary, one that recog- veals underlying ethical assumptions. If one nizes that everyone’s viewing experience is takes as a fi rst principle that the camera does subjectively situated, much like the very pro- not uncover “Truth”, but rather any number cess of making the fi lm. This recognition can of constructed truths, a panoply of docu- make it incredibly diffi cult to discern how mentary techniques, such as reenactment and any given audience member will respond to a a degree of fi ctionalization, become viable fi lm, as this response depends entirely upon options for exploring ethnographic situa- their past experiences and the way in which tions. As Flaherty once said: “Sometimes you these experiences will affect their means of have to lie. One often has to distort a thing interpretation (Sobchack 1999, 247). The to catch its true spirit” (cited in Rotha 1983). fi lm is not a passive object from which one Of course, these techniques are useful only can leach meaning, but rather something one insofar as the subjects of the study are com- must work to construct in the moment: truth fortable with them, and this should always thus becomes something made, and entirely be the measure of whether or not an ethical subjective. relationship is on the right track. At the very One conclusion to draw from this mod- least, consideration of the issues presented in el of “cinematic identifi cation” is the indeter- this paper may preempt your subjects from minacy of audience reception (see MacDou- screaming at you to get your camera out of gall 1998, 69; MacDougall 2006, 19).6 Again, I their faces. do not recommend ignoring the audience al- REFERENCES together, but I believe that if audience recep- ASCH, TIMOTHY. 1975. The Ax Fight. DER. 30 tion is so hard to predict, then (often scant) mins. resources should instead be focused on the BANKS, MARCUS. 2001. Visual Methods in Social relationship with (and ethical responsibility Research. London: Sage. towards) one’s subjects. It is safe to say these BARBASH, ILISA AND LUCIEN TAYLOR. 1997. are the individuals that will be directly affect- Cross-Cultural Filmmaking: A Handbook for ed by the fi lm in measurable ways, both dur- Making Documentary and Ethnographic Films ing and after its production. The audience is and Videos. Berkeley: University of Califor- often an unseen, vaguely conceptualized en- nia Press. tity that, to be frank, may not care in the least BATESON, GREGORY AND MARGARET MEAD. if a fi lm portrays so-called “objective” truth 1942. Balinese Character: A Photographic or not: “Unlike the audience, the vast major- Analysis. New York: The New York Acad- ity of which remains usually unaffected (in emy of Sciences. measurable ways, at least) by any documen- ———. 1976. “For God’s Sake Margaret: tary it sees, participants are engaged in an ex- Conversation with Gregory Bateson and ercise that could be life-changing” (Winston Margaret Mead.” Electronic document, 2000, 158). www.oikos.org/forgod.htm, accessed June This paper provides examples of fi lm- 8, 2011. makers and fi lms that have paid attention BLOOM, LIVIA. 2010. Errol Morris: Interviews. to the relationship between researcher and Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. participant in meaningful and ethical ways. CASTAÑEDA, QUETZIL 2006. “The Invisible Winnebago Man, a more overt example, makes Theatre of Ethnography: Performative explicit this relationship, whereas the trophy Principles of Fieldwork.” Anthropological room scene in Gates of Heaven implicitly re- Quarterly 79(1):75-104.

6 For a study that explored unexpected, aberrant readings to ethnographic fi lms that caused some controversy in the 1990’s, see Martinez 1990. 9 DIVERSIPEDE VOL. 1, NO. 2, 2012

CRONIN, PAUL. 2002. Herzog on Herzog. Lon- MACDOUGALL, DAVID. 1992. “Photo Wallahs: don: Faber. An Encounter with Photography.” Visual DRUICK, ZOË. 2010. Allan King’s A Married Anthropology Review 8(2):96-100. Couple. Toronto: University of Toronto ———. 1994. “Whose Story Is It?” In Vi- Press. sualizing Theory, edited by Lucien Taylor. FERRARI, PEPITA. 2008. Capturing Reality. Na- New York and London: Routledge. tional Film Board of Canada. 90 mins. ———. 1998. Transcultural Cinema. Princ- FLAHERTY, ROBERT. 1922. Nanook of the North. eton: Princeton University Press. Revillon Frères: USA. 70 mins. ———. 2003 [1994]. “Beyond Observation- ———. 1926. Moana: A Romance of the Golden al Cinema.” In Principles of Visual Anthro- Age. Paramount Pictures: USA. 64 mins. pology, edited by Paul Hockings. Berlin and ———. 1934. Man of Aran. Gaumont-Brit- New York: Mouton de Gruyter. ish Picture Corporation Ltd. 77 mins. ———. 2006. The Corporeal Image: Film, Eth- GARDNER, ROBERT. 1985. Forest of Bliss. Film nography, and the Senses. Princeton: Princ- Study Center, Harvard University. 91 mins. eton University Press. GRAY, GORDON. 2010. Cinema: A Visual An- MALINOWSKI, BRONISLAW. 1967. A Diary in thropology. Oxford: Berg. the Strict Sense of the Term. New York: Har- GRIMSHAW, ANNA. 2001. The Ethnographer’s court, Brace & World, Inc. Eye: Ways of Seeing in Modern Anthropology. MARTINEZ, WILTON. 1990. “Critical Studies Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. and Visual Anthropology: Aberrant vs. ———. 2011. “The Bellweather Ewe: Recent Anticipated Readings of Ethnographic Developments in Ethnographic Filmmak- Film.” Society for Visual Anthropology Review ing and the Aesthetics of Anthropological Spring:34-47. Inquiry.” Cultural Anthropology 26(2):247- MASSOT, CLAUDE. 1990. Nanook Revisited. 262. IMA Productions. 60 mins. HERZOG, WERNER. 1998. Little Dieter Needs to MEAD, MARGARET. 2003 [1974]. “Visual An- Fly. Werner Herzog Filmproduktion. 80 thropology in a Discipline of Words.” mins. In Principles of Visual Anthropology, edited ———. 1999. Minnesota Declaration. Walker by Paul Hockings. Berlin and New York: Art Centre, Minnesota. Mouton de Gruyter. HOWES, DAVID. 2003. Sensual Relations: En- MAUSS, MARCEL. 1990 [1950]. The Gift: The gaging the Senses in Culture and Social Theory. Form and Reason for Exchange in Archaic So- Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. cieties. New York and London: W. W. Nor- JACKSON, JOHN L. 2005. Real Black: Adventures ton. in Racial Sincerity. Chicago: University of MAYSLES, ALBERT, DAVID MAYSLES AND CHAR- Chicago Press. LOTTE ZWERIN. 1969. Salesman. Maysles KING, ALLAN. 1969. A Married Couple. Aquar- Films. 90 mins. ius Films. 97 mins. MORIN, EDGAR AND JEAN ROUCH. 1960. Chro- LOIZOS, PETER. 1997. “First Exits from Ob- nique d’un été. Argos Films. 90 mins. servational Realism: Narrative Experi- MORRIS, ERROL. 1978. Gates of Heaven. New ments in Recent Ethnographic Films.” In Yorker Films. 85 mins. Rethinking Visual Anthropology, edited by PINK, SARAH. 2006. The Future of Visual An- Marcus Banks and Howard Morphy. New thropology: Engaging the Senses. London and Haven and London: Yale University Press. New York: Routledge. MACDOUGALL, DAVID AND JUDITH MAC- ROTHA, PAUL. 1983. Robert J. Flaherty: A Bi- DOUGALL. 1991. Photo Wallahs. Fieldwork ography, edited by Jay Ruby. Philadelphia: Films/La Sept. 60 mins. University of Pennsylvania Press. 10 MATTHEW HAYES ETHICS IN DOCUMENTARY MEDIA

ROUCH, JEAN. 2003. Ciné-Ethnography, edited by Steven Feld. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. RUBY, JAY. 1975. “Is an Ethnographic Film a Filmic Ethnography?” Studies in the An- thropology of Visual Communication 2(2):104- 111. ———. 2000. Picturing Culture: Explorations of Film and Anthropology. Chicago: Univer- sity of Chicago Press. SIMPSON, AUDRA. 2003. “To the Reserve and Back Again: Kahnawake Mohawk Nar- ratives of Self, Home and Nation.” PhD Dissertation, McGill University, Montreal. ———. 2007. “On Ethnographic Refusal: Indigeneity, ‘Voice’ and Colonial Citizen- ship.” Junctures 9:67-80. SOBCHACK, VIVIAN. 1999. “Toward a Phe- nomenology of Nonfi ctional Film Expe- rience.” In Collecting Visible Evidence, edited by Jane M. Gaines and Michael Renov. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. STEINABUER, BEN. 2009. Winnebago Man. Kino International. 85 mins. STRATHERN, MARILYN. 1987. “Out of Con- text: The Persuasive Fictions of Anthro- pology.” Current Anthropology 28(3):251- 281. TEDLOCK, BARBARA. 1991. “From Participant Observation to the Observation of Partic- ipation.” Journal of Anthropological Research 47(1):69-94. WEINBERGER, ELIOT. 1994. “The Camera People.” In Visualizing Theory, edited by Lucien Taylor. New York and London: Routledge. WINSTON, BRIAN. 2000. Lies, Damn Lies and Documentaries. London: BFI Publishing. WISEMAN, FREDERICK. 1970. Hospital. OSTI. 84 mins.

11 NON-MODERN AFRICA AND MODERN NON-AFRICA: INTERTEXTUAL DISCOURSE ABOUT WHO WE ARE AND WHERE WE CAME FROM Mat J. Levitt The idiom no man is an island might be rewritten as no text is an island, meaning that no text exists in literary isolation and that every piece of writing instead belongs to a landscape of others. References, endnotes, footnotes, bibliographies, and the use of phrase, term, or defi nition will situate a text within a discursive network of understand- ings, theories, paradigms, and genres. Intertextual discourses about the origins of humanity often cross generic boundar- ies between religion, science, informative media and entertaining fi ction through the sharing and borrowing of words and concepts. These genres, however reluctantly, inevitably engage with one another in what emerges as a single discourse about who we are and where we came from. Throughout this discourse, certain concepts have formed as time, place, and identity are linguistically associated with one another. The dichotomy of Non-Modern Africa as Other and Mod- ern Non-Africa as Self is one such concept. Caution must be exercised by researchers who wish to talk about human origins, as these types of concepts may have very real implications in political, economic, social, and cultural arenas.

INTERTEXTUALITY, DISCOURSE, other discourses,” (Briggs 1996,449). The au- AND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF NAMING NAMES thors explain that intertextual relations “are closely linked to social, cultural, ideological, he idiom “no man is an island” might be and political-economic factors” (Briggs and rewritten as “no text is an island,” mean- T Bauman 1992, 132). Let me give you an ex- ing that no text exists in literary isolation and ample. that every piece of writing instead belongs to In 2004, Brown et al. (2004) announced a landscape of others. References, endnotes, the discovery of some skeletal remains on footnotes, bibliographies, and the use of the Indonesian island of Flores and a pos- phrase, term, or defi nition will situate a piece sible new addition to the Homo genus. Al- of writing within a network of understand- though they assigned it as Homo fl oresiensis, ings, theories, paradigms, and genres. Not it wasn’t long before people were calling the only that, popular media forms part of the small hominin a “hobbit.” Referencing the picture, too. A text can (and in many cases, Lord of the Rings novels by J.R.R. Tolkien, will) participate in a discourse—an ongoing as well as the recent movie trilogy based on conversation—involving television, radio, them, as Gregory Forth explains, this term cinema, the internet, etc. Thus, genres can was no doubt used “in order to communicate be crossed, intentionally or unintentionally, effectively with a wider public” (Forth 2005, through the use of a name, a phrase, an idea, 16). As Forth points out, though, “curiouser or essentially any word that can be found still, the designation was not a creation of anywhere else. A scientifi c journal article and the popular press, but of the scientifi c dis- a political debate can become reluctant kin coverers themselves” (Forth 2005, 16). Forth through the use of common language. An describes the implications and consequences audience can be transported from fi ction to of establishing an intetextual relationship be- non-fi ction by the use of a single term, like tween Homo fl oresiensis and Tolkien’s hobbits: Mars Rover or Louis Pasteur. Briggs and Bau- man (1992) call these referential relation- Casting Homo fl oresiensis as ‘hobbits’ ships—whether implicit or explicit—intertex- potentially obscures the essential dif- tuality. The term describes texts that reference ference between an empirical species, other texts; that is, “discourses that represent designated a member of the genus

Graduate student; Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta Author contact: [email protected]

DIVERSIPEDE, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 12-24, 2011 12 MAT J. LEVITT NON-MODERN AFRICA AND MODERN NON-AFRICA

Homo like ourselves, and the images of their ancient ancestors and that they are, of literary fi ction. Like hobbits, both perhaps by semantic default, Asian? This Homo fl oresiensis and ebu gogo are products may not have been what the authors meant of human imagination, but the images to imply, but by using the term, they place have different bases: tangible, skeletal themselves against a background of highly and archaeological evidence in one case, contentious subject matter. and the testimony and traditions of local A linguistic convention that perhaps best people in the other. Rather than simply illustrates the process of intertextuality is the assuming that these traditions are as fan- term “Out of Africa.” The theory, which re- tastical as Tolkien’s fi ction, the challenge fers to the modern human dispersal from the for social anthropologists is to discover African continent into Eurasia, comes with the correct relationship between the pa- its own literary lineage. The common usage laeontological and ethnographic images of the phrase in archaeological contexts re- and the true source of their resemblance fers primarily to the 1985 fi lm Out of Africa [Forth 2005, 16]. starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. Now, certainly the hobbit-izers didn’t in- The fi lm was based on Karen von Blixen’s tend on all that, but therein lies the point: colonial memoir recalling her experiences our words have consequences. The language in Kenya, published in 1937 under the pen we use has real signifi cance. As researchers, name Isak Dinsesen. But the phrase wasn’t the terminology we dish out about what we invented by Blixen. In fact, it was used as the study affects not only ourselves, our work, title of a 1934 travelogue by a writer known and our community, but what we study and only as “H.W.,” Something New Out of Africa those who—whether they mean to or not— (Feinberg and Solodow 2002, 255). And it become associated with what we say and how goes back even further. In 1924, a retired we say it. So, unlike Flores, no text is an is- civil servant from Cape Colony in South Af- land, but, like Flores, every text has the po- rica—one Edward A. Judge—wrote to Sena- tential of being mixed up in the grand drama tor W.E.M. Stanford: “‘Cotton, in fact, as a of humanity. friend wrote to me the other day, is going to Let me give you another example. Goe- be another surprise from South Africa. ‘Ex bel et al. (2008, 1497), for instance, use the Africa semper aliquid novum’, as the old Romans term “homeland” when referring to Asia in used to say.” Essentially, the Latin phrase he relationship to those populations who mi- used translates as “There is always something grated to the Americas across Berengia from new out of Africa” (Feinberg and Solodow Siberia. Goebel et al. use the term to establish 2002, 256). But to what “old Romans” was a near instantaneous understanding amongst he referring? A form of the phrase fi rst ap- their readers. We all know that a “homeland” pears in text with Aristotle’s fourth century is where we come from, so referring to Asia BC Historia Animalium. In a discussion about as a homeland for early Americans utilizes the strange hybrids that seem to found on this common knowledge with a single word. the African continent, Aristotle writes, “‘a But the use of such terms can be problem- certain proverb is current, that Libya always atic. The word “homeland” conjures much produces something new’” (quoted in Fein- more than a simple defi nition of geographic berg and Solodow 2002, 257). Occurring in origin; it harkens to ideas relating to identity, a similar connotation, the phrase was textual- destiny, and belonging. Did the “fi rst Ameri- ized next by Pliny the Elder sometime early cans” think of Asia as “home”? Would mod- in the fi rst century AD and then by Zeno- ern Native American populations appreci- bius, a Greek philologist, in the second cen- ate the assertion that Asia is the homeland tury, although Zenobius altered it to “Libya is 13 DIVERSIPEDE VOL. 1, NO. 2, 2012 always producing something evil” (Feinberg been going on since the time of Galileo, the and Solodow 2002, 258). The convention Enlightenment, and even longer. Conduct appears over a thousand years later in west- a simple internet search for “mitochondrial ern Europe with the writings of Erasmus, Eve” and one is likely to be bombarded with although he was likely the one to assign the a heated multivocality, fi nding a plethora of phrase its more current form and connota- multimedia engaged in a discourse about the tion, changing “Libya” to “Africa,” and using origins of humanity, with scholarly and jour- the term in a more charming context, one nalistic articles, lay-person blogs, satirical car- of admiration rather than revulsion or res- toons, television documentaries, radio pro- ervation (Feinberg and Solodow 2002, 259). grams and podcasts, and any other form of With Erasmus’s usage, the phrase propelled human expression, all referencing each other throughout Renaissance texts, being cited, to form a polemical web of ideas and dis- for instance, by Rabelais, who wrote, “you cussion. Curiously, intertextually referencing know well that Africa always brings some- Biblical terms seems to be a common temp- thing new” (quoted in Feinberg and Solodow tation among social and physical scientists. 2002, 260). By the time the phrase appears as We fi nd Steven Oppenheimer’s The Real Eve: the title of Blixen’s memoir, it had changed Modern Man’s Journey Out of Africa (2004) and meanings a number of times but always car- Out of Eden: The Peopling of the World (2003), ried with it the burden of its textual heritage, Robert Ardrey’s African Genesis: A Personal In- a genetic paper trail leading back thousands vestigation Into the Animal Origins and Nature of of years. Initially a statement of bewilder- Man (1977), or Richard Dawkins’ River out of ment and curiosity, it came to be one of re- Eden: A Darwinian View of Life (1996), among vulsion, then wonder and awe. It has changed others. from colloquialism to literary obscurity to So, why is it necessary to discuss Bibli- academic convention. When archaeologists/ cal myth in a scientifi c book? Why use Judeo- anthropologists, geneticists, or biologists use Christian terminology in what is supposed the phrase today, might they consider the pa- to be a scientifi c arena? Certainly, a scien- limpsest of meaning and context behind the tifi c journal article that frames itself with a words? This is but one example of how our title playing with Biblical allegory engages words, no matter how benign they may seem, in a precarious game of ‘religion vs. science’ are often precariously laden with an intertex- where we are unsure if the two are combat- tual past. ants or teammates. As Wiktor Stoczkowski Let me give you another example of (2002, 5) points out, scientists of the 18th how the use of a name or phrase—whether and 19th centuries “set out to conquer a fl ippant or fl agrant—can be a ticket to a cen- prehistoric past that had been recently re- turies old debate. In January of 1988, News- discovered. Having as their only enemy the week published the cover story “The Search errors of religious beliefs, all they had to do for Adam & Eve: Scientists Explore a Con- was to choose: either they could reject the troversial Theory About Man’s Origins”. The biblical Genesis, which might ultimately be cover featured “sophisticated and attractive transformed into an allegory of obscure sig- nude portraits of a black Adam and Eve nifi cance, or they could adopt a hostile stance sharing the apple, with the snake looking on towards the naturalist view, in defense of the approvingly” (Oppenheimer 2003, 45). In a Christian doctrine.” So why do modern sci- single illustrated statement, science and re- entists engage in this old polemic? The an- ligion, material fact and sacred mythology, swer is that, whether it is science or myth or can once again become entangled in an au- religion, these disciplines are concerned with thoritative argument over humanity that has the same subject matter, and thus they form 14 MAT J. LEVITT NON-MODERN AFRICA AND MODERN NON-AFRICA a single discourse, one ongoing discussion mous artifact which harmoniously reconciles about who we are and where we came from. the possible attitudes toward a given prob- It is then impossible for any one text to es- lem.” Past and current theories form not a cape the family tree of which it is a part and binary system but an analogue continuum of so intentional intertextuality and overt refer- discourse, a space that one may enter with ence become necessary. Rather than pretend- the mention of a single word. But this is not ing that Biblical myth and scientifi c theory to be avoided or lamented. The intertextual are of different concerns, we must engage the space is one that often serves rather than hin- other in a dialogue, or at least acknowledge ders a discursive engagement. Stoczkowski its voice. Stoczkowski (2002, 197) explains (2002, 198) writes: that innovative theories of anthropogenesis Contrary to what is often thought, scien- are provided for by the “raw materials” of tists do not draw their conclusions from earlier conceptions and, at the same time, are empirical data, any more than they rewrite infl uenced by the historical and cultural con- history in terms of prevailing ideology. In texts which framed those earlier conceptions. fact, they rather try to organise the het- In this way, “every new act is played here on erogeneous conceptual materials that so- a stage that is already constructed, prepared ciety places at their disposal, and these in- by the past. Continuity and discontinuity, in- clude new facts and recent ideologies just novation and tradition represent two sides of as much as ancient commonplaces…. It the same coin.” is not a question of some liberation from Intertextuality is not necessarily a choice the past, but rather of learning to make but, rather, an inevitability. New things can- good use of it. not be said without communicating with what has been said. As Culler (1976, 1382) Because we cannot avoid them, we must explains: keep in mind how our intertextual referenc- es form relationships between texts, ideas, ...the notion of intertextuality names the people, and actions. We must “make good paradox of linguistic and discursive sys- use” of our words. One way of doing so tems: that utterances or texts are never is to keep in mind the story we are telling moments of origin because they depend when we write an academic text. What nar- on the prior existence of codes and con- rative arises from our data and interpreta- ventions, and it is the nature of codes to tions? In a sense, we are telling the story of be always ready in existence, to have lost humanity, a performance which cannot be origins. It is diffi cult to explain what it is treated frivolously. These tellings belong that enables is to make sense of a new to a genre of discourse—perhaps the oldest instance of discourse, but whatever intel- genre of discourse—about where we came ligibility a discursive sequence achieves from. Misia Landau (1991, x) has suggested depends on intertextual codes…. In- that palaeoanthropological texts from the tertextuality is less a name for a work’s time of Charles Darwin “are determined as relation to particular prior texts than an much by traditional narrative frameworks as assertion of a work’s participation in a by material evidence” and that these texts, discursive space and its relation to the considered as narratives, “approximate the codes which are the potential formaliza- structure of the hero tale,” featuring “a tions of that space. humble hero who departs on a journey, re- Culler (1976, 1393) goes on to say that inter- ceives essential equipment from a helper or textuality “leads one to think of a text as a di- donor fi gure, goes through tests and trans- alogue with other texts, an act of absorption, formations, and fi nally arrives at a higher parody, and criticism, rather than an autono- state.” She goes on to point out that “this 15 DIVERSIPEDE VOL. 1, NO. 2, 2012

narrative schema can accommodate widely luminates events in the past” and “contin- varying sequences of events, heroes and do- ues to put Europe on centre stage, casting nors corresponding to the underlying evo- it either as the arena where the actual events lutionary beliefs of their authors.” When of human origins were enacted, or as the we write or read a journal article or a book, yardstick by which human accomplishments who are “the heroes” of the tale? What is elsewhere must be measured.” McBrearty’s their journey? Where is it taking them, from statements, though directed as critique, are where are they departing, and why? Even apt, and apply not only to the archaeologists, if one rejects the idea that a scientifi c text but their audiences—indeed, to humanity as can be thought of as a mythic narrative, one a whole. Everyone has needs, desires, and might not so easily be inclined to dismiss aspirations, and in many ways these are met the idea that our words tell a story, no mat- through a process of reinterpreting the nar- ter what that story might be. And so, what ratives that surround us, that inform our to do? Landau (1991, 175) offers this advice: identities and experiences. As White (1980, “Given that evolutionary explanation is by 5) explains, “narrative might be considered defi nition a kind of narration, paleoanthro- a solution to a problem of general human pologists might consider wrestling with the concern, namely, the problem of how to ‘story-telling dragon,’ rather than avoiding translate knowing into telling, the problem of it altogether. Some literary scholars would fashioning human experience into a form argue that there is no escape. It is storytell- assimilable to structures of meaning that ing that makes us human.” But how will we, are generally human rather than culture-spe- as Stoczkowski (2002) suggests, make good cifi c.” This is perhaps one of the performa- use of the current data, be it genetic or ar- tive functions of intertextuality, where a text chaeological, and how will the stories we tell builds on others that describe what a culture about our beginnings relate to the narratives did in order to articulate what a culture is ca- we construct about our lives and the world pable of (Culler 1976, 1383). The narratives we live in now? we tell, and the way we incorporate other THE IMPORTANCE OF NARRATIVE: narratives into our own, are integral to our LIVING STORIES sense of who we are and what we are about. Johnson (1993, 150) writes, “the self is de- In the collection Rethinking the Human fi ned by not only its biological makeup as a Revolution, Sally McBrearty (2007) authors physical organism, but also by its ends, its a chapter entitled “Down with the Revolu- interpersonal relationships, its cultural tra- tion”. McBrearty (2007, 145) explains that ditions, its institutional commitments, and the conceptual term “Human Revolution” its historical context. Within this evolving is a “serious misnomer,” as it is based upon context it must work out its identity.” Nar- erroneous interpretations of Middle to Up- ratives of human evolution are discourses per Palaeolithic data. Despite this, the idea of identity. We are all authors of those nar- of some kind of revolution has persisted, ratives, always asking, “Of what story or and scientists continue to seek one out. stories do we fi nd ourselves a part?” and, This idea is so compelling because it pres- in response, “What are we to do?” This is ents “a single extraordinary moment that why the intertextual process must be carried defi nes what it is to be human and explains out with a purposeful consideration. Braid all or most of subsequent events in prehis- (1996, 6) tells us, tory.” McBrearty suggests that “this quest for this ‘eureka moment’ reveals a great deal Because of parallels between lived ex- about the needs, desires, and aspirations of perience and the process of following a archaeologists, but obscures rather than il- narrative, the listener’s struggle to follow 16 MAT J. LEVITT NON-MODERN AFRICA AND MODERN NON-AFRICA

a narrative must be seen to be an experi- DRAWING LINES BY SAYING WORDS: ence in its own right. Part of this expe- THE INTERTEXTUAL CONSTRUCTION rience of following involves a recontex- OF DICHOTOMIES tualization of the narrative imagery and events in terms of the listener’s own life My fate is to live amid varied and confus- experience. In this sense personal narra- ing storms. But for you, perhaps, if as I tives can generate experiential resources hope and wish you will live after me, there for the listener – resources that may be will follow a better age. This sleep of for- “thought with” and “thought through” in getfulness will not last for ever. When the the struggle to make sense of the world. darkness has been dispersed, our descen- In this way, life is a narrative, and what in- dants can come again in the former pure forms and frames that narrative are the foun- radiance [Petrarch. Africa, IX, 451-57]. dational aspects of place, belief, and action. The language used in the discourse sur- Just as story can inform identity, both can in- rounding the origins of humanity, whether form action. Economic and political policies implicit or explicit, cannot avoid the reifi - can be built on the interpretations of schol- cation of certain concepts or conventions. ars, as can social and cultural understandings Within narratives of human evolution we and opinions. Our beginnings will likely infl u- fi nd the formation and solidifi cation of par- ence our ends and the interpretation of the ticular binaries, dualities, or dichotomies. means to those ends. Zerubavel (2003, 101) Historically, perhaps the most important or explains, persistent are that of Self and Other, Human and Non-Human, or Human and Animal. In the special mnemonic status of begin- contemporary scientifi c narratives, the study nings is quite evident from the dispro- of human development hinges primarily on portionately high representation, in our two more recently established dichotomies: general memories from college, of the Modern and Non-Modern and African and Non- fi rst few weeks or our freshman year. It African. Again, though, these dichotomies, I also explains the signifi cant role of ‘ori- will argue, are essentially part of the same gin myths’ in defi ning social communities intertextual discourse as that of Self and as well as in solidifying the legitimacy of Other. As I will discuss further, the intertex- political regimes. Origins help articulate tual association of the dichotomies with one identities, and where communities locate another, thus forming the conceptual time- their beginnings tell us quite a lot about places of Non-modern Africa and Modern Non- how they perceive themselves. Africa, may have certain ramifi cations and so We might think of origin myths not as must be disseminated with some amount of archaic artifacts but as ongoing processes of self-refl exive caution. identity-establishment. Those origin myths, those stories we tell ourselves about our be- Modern and Non-Modern ginnings, are unavoidably interconnected The idea of modernity is central to cur- with scientifi c interpretation and vice ver- rent discussions of human evolution. Ana- sa. Landau (1991, 183) writes, “In the fi nal tomical modernity and behavioral modernity analysis, the truly signifi cant test of scientifi c are the two main signifi ers of our understand- theories of human evolution may lie in their ing of who we are and what distinguishes us workability in everyday practice.” How we from earlier members of our genus. And in live those scientifi c theories and narratives conceiving of ourselves as modern, there about the human species may ultimately prove exists the obvious opposition to something their relevance to the human species. non-modern—that state of humanity prior 17 DIVERSIPEDE VOL. 1, NO. 2, 2012

to the advent of modernity, before we were cult of reason, and the ideal of freedom truly us. But where does the concept of mo- defi ned within the framework of an ab- dernity come from? stract humanism, but also the orientation Matei Calinescu (1987, 13) explains that toward pragmatism and the cult of action the idea of modernity fi rst appeared in the and success—all have been associated in Middle Ages, when the adjective and noun various degrees with the battle for the modernus was coined from the adverb modo, modern and were kept alive and promot- which meant “recently, just now.” The ma- ed as key values in the triumphant civili- jor antonym of modernus was antiquus, mean- zation established by the middle class. ing ‘ancient, old.’ By the tenth century, the With the inception of practical time came the words modernitas and moderni became popular, practicalities of time; past, present, and fu- meaning ‘modern times’ and ‘men of today,’ respectively. Calinescu (1987, 14) suggests ture became conceptually graspable and even that “the distinction between antiquus and observable. In a sense, the idea of progress modernus seems to have always implied a po- became not only pragmatic, but essentially so. lemic signifi cance, or a principle of confl ict.” The current state of things became a litmus Previously, the classical Latin language had test of progress and human development; no opposition between modern and ancient be- only if we had noticeably moved away from cause the “classical Latin mind” had no inter- what we were could we have any confi dence est in “diachronical relationships” (Calinescu that we could become what we wanted to be. As 1987, 14). And it wasn’t until the Renaissance Svetlana Boym (2001, 22) explains, “Moder- that the dichotomy became acute within so- nity and modernisms are responses to the ciocultural awareness. This was in part due condition of modernization and the conse- to the invention of the mechanical clock in quences of progress.” The future was seen as the late thirteenth century, along with the de- a time of reason, of self-control, of refi ned velopment of a concept of “practical time” humanity, and this future was conceptualized in regards to “action, creation, discovery, and both temporally and geographically as a Uto- transformation,” as opposed to the medieval pia; a time-place that represented the ends of sense of theological time, which was vast, modernity and progress: immeasurable, and entirely abstract (Calines- Indeed the rage for utopia—either di- cu 1987, 19-20). rectly and positively or by way of reaction Calinescu (1987, 42) goes on to say: and polemicism—pervades the whole [The] bourgeois idea of modernity…has intellectual spectrum of modernity from by and large continued the outstanding political philosophy to poetry and the traditions of earlier periods in the his- arts…. Utopian imagination as it has developed tory of the modern idea. The doctrine of since the eighteenth century is one more proof progress, the confi dence in the benefi cial of the modern devaluation of the past and the possibilities of science and technology, growing importance of the future. Utopianism, the concern with time (a measurable time, however, would hardly be conceivable a time that can be bought and sold and outside the specifi c time consciousness therefore has, like any other commod- of the West, as it was shaped by Chris- ity, a calculable equivalent in money), the tianity and subsequently by reason’s ap-

1 It is interesting to note that the diachronic view of time facilitated not only the conception of modern and non-modern and of progress but also the very idea of ’revolution.’ Revolution, however, linguistically and conceptually denotes something that scholars who promote the Human or Cultural Revolution theory like Richard Klein, a major proponent of the Human Revolution model, would likely reject: a cyclical model of time alternating between utopias and dysto- pias, with revolution implying a “return to a purer initial state” (Calinescu 1987, 22). 18 MAT J. LEVITT NON-MODERN AFRICA AND MODERN NON-AFRICA

propriation of the concept of irreversible supportable epistemological and scientifi c time [Calinescu 1987, 63, my italics].1 basis for making this dual distinction.” Keita The movement toward reason, seen as a for- (2004, 5) goes on to say, “The conclusion one ward movement through time, established a is led to after an epistemological analysis of “devaluation of the past”—the “past” be- the extant evolutionary models and theories ing a time when a lack of reason seemed to is that ideological considerations are at work rule our species. Modernity became what we here. The implicit goal on grounds of a naïve hierarchical racialism is to make of Africa’s strived for, and pre-modernity—or non-mo- population a special case in the world’s ge- dernity—was what we moved away from in nome bank.” While I wouldn’t necessarily ac- our natural progression through time toward cuse any researchers of an “implicit goal on reason and refi nement. grounds of a naïve hierarchical racialism,” I Africa and Non-Africa would venture to point out that the Africa- Rest-of-the-World (or Africa and Non-Afri- Over the past couple of decades, Africa ca) duality does persist in the discourse re- has been situated within the scientifi c mind garding current genetic research. McBrearty as the place of origin for the Homo genus and Brooks (2000, 453) might agree. They and the modern human species. But Africa write: has become much more than a geographic region. By “Africa,” we refer not only to ge- Because the earliest modern human fos- ography but to genetics, which become an- sils, Homo sapiens sensu stricto, are found in chored to one another by association, like Africa and the adjacent region of the Le- Adam who was made of the dust of the vant at >100 ka, the ‘‘human revolution’’ Garden, or the peasant whose soil is in his model creates a time lag between the veins. Africa has, in a sense, likewise become appearance of anatomical modernity more than geography or genetics. It has be- and perceived behavioral modernity, come a mindscape—a conceptual domain and creates the impression that the ear- that involves ideas about human identity, ca- liest modern Africans were behaviorally pacity, and potential. But a clear defi nition of primitive. This view of events stems from just what “Africa” is lacks explicitness. It is a profound Eurocentric bias and a failure something that people who participate in the to appreciate the depth and breadth of discourse must discern based on the usage of the African archaeological record. the term—on its textual context—and how A quick review of some current literature “Africa” passes from one text to another, will help to illustrate the Africa and Non- from one theory to another. In any event, Africa linguistic binary. For instance, the ar- what has become clear is that the world has ticle “An X-Linked Haplotype of Neandertal begun to be conceived of as consisting of Origin Is Present Among All Non-African two parts: Africa and Non-Africa, the place Populations” by Yotova et al. (2011) makes we came from and the place we went to. a distinction between, as the title suggests, Referring to the Out-of-Africa replacement African and non-African populations. The model, the multiregional model, and the trel- authors discuss evidence that “Neander- lis model of recurrent genetic interchange, tals contributed to the genetic makeup of Lansana Keita (2004, 1) writes, “despite im- modern human populations outside Africa,” portant differences the three major theories which may have facilitated “adaptations to of human anthropological evolution all sub- novel environmental conditions that actu- scribe in greater or lesser degrees to what ally contributed to the successful expan- one might call ‘the Africa-Rest-of-the-World’ sion of human migrants from Africa to evolutionary hypothesis, although there is no other continents” (Yotova et al. 2011, 1961). 19 DIVERSIPEDE VOL. 1, NO. 2, 2012

What the authors are suggesting is a ous that members of hominid groups that type of “hybrid vigor” among all non-Af- migrated during the Paleolithic era had abso- rican populations. This theory is signifi cant lutely no idea whether they were migrating to because, not only does it posit a genetic dif- other parts of Africa or leaving the continent ference among African and non-African altogether,” but that migrations were occur- populations, it proposes the idea that non- ring within Africa as well. The world, then, is African populations may be better suited to more accurately conceived of as “ecological non-African environments on the genetic, and environmental zones” defi ned by “mea- rather than the phenotypic, level. This is wor- surable differences in climate and ecology” risome, especially when one considers the than continents or geo-political landmasses fact that many people of recent African an- defi ned only by imposed conceptual borders. cestry do indeed reside in non-African parts If the binary continues to persist in sci- of the world. Would we say, then, that they entifi c discourse—with a likely infl uence on are “less suited”? Likely not, but perhaps the political and sociocultural discourses—per- danger lies not in explicitness but in those haps of most concern is how Africa has been naïve interpretations based on perceived im- and will be portrayed: as Homeland, Cruci- plications. ble, or Cage. In some cases, Africa has been The article “African Origin of Modern portrayed as that place we left to become Humans in East Asia: A Tale of 12,000 Y modern—to become fully human—and it Chromosomes” by Ke et al. (2001) provides wasn’t until we left Africa that we could be- a diagram of Y chromosome haplotypes come who we are. The Human Revolution throughout the world’s populations. The model, for instance, suggests this view, as diagram distinguishes African-specifi c hap- does the Hybrid Vigor hypothesis. In other lotypes, non-African-specifi c haplotypes, and texts, Africa has been portrayed as a cruci- shared between Africans and non-Africans. ble—that chamber in which various forces The phrase “African and other world popula- came together to create us as we are, or us tions” is also used (Ke et al. 2001, 1152). as we needed to be in order to become who But can we make such defi nitions? Is we are. Still in others, Africa is portrayed as there a real spot where Africa ends and Non- homeland—that ancestral place to which we Africa begins? Just where is the defi ning line, might always look with affection and awe. not only now, but when our ancestors sup- Svante Pääbo, in a TED Talk in July 2011 posedly left Africa? Where can we place that in Edinburgh, Scotland, said, “What I often point of exit? As Pam Willoughby (2007, 94) like to say is that from a genomic perspective, explains, “The fi rst modern humans outside then, we are all Africans. We either live inside of Africa are those found at Mugharet es Africa today or in quite recent exile.” Within Skhül and Jebel Qafzeh, and they date to MIS the language of Pääbo’s narrative, although stage 5e (Bar Yosef 1989a, 1989b; Tchernov we are all Africans, there still exists a di- 1988). Whether or not this represents the chotomy between Africa and the rest of the start of the Out of Africa II migration can be planet. He says, “You fi nd a certain amount disputed, since all proxy indicators show that of genetic variation in Africa, and if you look at this time the Levant was biogeographically outside Africa, you actually fi nd less genetic part of Africa.” If we begin to think of the variation.” Pääbo’s presentation is politically world as biogeographically analogue, rather liberal and yet the African/Non-African di- than binary, how might things differ with a vide is propagated. The reason I reference world conceptualized as being composed of Pääbo’s TED Talk rather than one of his ar- Africa and Non-Africa? Keita (2004, 2) re- ticles is because of his audience. TED Talks minds us that not only should it “be obvi- are watched by hundreds of thousands of 20 MAT J. LEVITT NON-MODERN AFRICA AND MODERN NON-AFRICA people across all demographics. The broad- dichotomies become intertextually associ- casting of these binaries, as well as ideas de- ated and integrated as a single dichotomy of picting Africa as homeland, crucible, or cage, time-spaces or time-places: Non-Modern Af- are likely to reach a wide audience through rica and Modern Non-Africa. Politically and various multimedia. How will they synthesize socially, caution is necessary: these terminologies and ideas into their per- sonal narratives? What ideas will they incor- The genetic evidence that modern hu- porate into their lived identities? While the mans emerged from Africa, leaving be- language used by these researchers does not hind them ‘homeland’ representatives intentionally create divisions, it does con- whose descendants still live in Africa and struct conceptual dichotomies. While seem- are self-evidently ‘fully modern’ in every ingly benign, the conceptualization of the way, has disturbing implications for con- world as African and Non-African or Africa tinuing Western perceptions of modern and Non-Africa is a potentially worrisome Africans. Although the danger of these categorization. views is obvious, the mindset of some European archaeologists has remained TIME-SPACE AND TIME-PLACES: unchanged [Oppenheimer 2003: 89-90]. THE WHERE AND WHEN OF SELF AND OTHER What we are talking about here is the One concept important in the theo- distinction between Self and Other and what retical developments of humankind since kind of policies, actions, or ideas such a dis- the nineteenth century is that of time-space tinction can motivate or allow within the associations. Fabian (2002, 12) writes, “rela- sociopolitical sphere. As Fabian (2002, 1) tionships between parts of the world (in the reminds us, “there is no knowledge of the widest sense of both natural and sociocul- Other which is not also a temporal, historical, tural entities) can be understood as temporal a political act.” When we begin to conceive relations. Dispersal in space refl ects directly, of groups of people as Other, a dangerous which is not to say simply or in obvious ways, liberty begins to grow, often materializing in sequence in Time.” This time-space associa- a license for discrimination. But how do we tion is also important to discourses in human make these distinctions? Where do we draw development. In 1800, Joseph-Marie Degé- the lines between Self and Other, temporal- rando wrote in his Considerations on the Various ly, spatially, or politically? This line was fi rst Methods to Follow in the the Observation of Savage drawn, perhaps, between Human and Animal; Peoples, “The philosophical traveler, sailing to Civilization and Wild; Man and Beast. Wiktor the ends of the earth, is in fact travelling in Stoczkowsi (2002, 42-43) writes: time; he is exploring the past; every step he makes is the passage of an age” (quoted in The idea of the animal—we should Robben and Sluka 2007, 34). To those early rather say bestial—condition of our an- explorers and observers of unfamiliar hu- cestors is part of the classic legacy of man societies, whether they were naturalists conjectural anthropology…. The tenden- or colonialists, distant lands were conceived cy to compare the earliest humans with of as distant times. One might argue that this animals has existed from Antiquity, and perception continues in discourse regarding it is easy, starting from a few texts cho- humanity’s African origins. Whether we say, sen at random, to draw up a list of the “Once we left Africa we became modern” or main attributes ascribed by conjectural “Once we became modern we left Africa,” history to that ‘bestial’ state: absence of we are agreeing on two dichotomies: Non- religion, absence of government, absence Modern and Modern and Africa and Non- of laws, absence of language, absence of Africa. These two temporal and geographic individual property, absence of clothing. 21 DIVERSIPEDE VOL. 1, NO. 2, 2012

Here we have a defi nition by negatives, little attempt to link non-Western history in which every item expresses the non- and culture with Western technology and existence of ‘typical’ manifestations of achievements. Just as indigenous groups culture. So the bearers of those attributes became people without history (Wolf fi nd themselves again confi ned to the 1982, 1997), early modern Africans and state of nature, represented in the image their Neanderthal cousins in Eurasia have of animals and, like them, lacking every- become people without behavior or true thing believed to be specifi c to humans. culture (Willoughby 2000; Speth 2004). Such a view of animality comes from a In conceiving of the Other, we must place simple inversion of the image we have of humans, that is, of ourselves. the Other somewhere in time, somewhere in history, somewhere in space, and somewhere Since Antiquity, there has been a perceived in place. We are left, then, with an intertextual point at which we ceased to be the Other conception that looks like this: Non-Modern and became Us (Stoczkowski 2002, 60). Africa as Other and Modern Non-Africa as Whether this point refers to the transition Self. of the Ancients into the Moderns, animals Our new scientifi c defi nitions are meant into humans, natural man into social man, to inform the age-old question vital to self- or the savage into the civilized, a dichotomy conceived identity. But, at their core, have our between Self and Other seems to have long new defi nitions of humanity differed much preoccupied scholars of religion, philosophy, from our old defi nitions? In a meta-study of and science—indeed, scholars of the human 24 texts examining the question of human condition. It is not surprising, then, that in origins published between 1820 and 1986, the recent scientifi c explorations of human Wiktor Stoczkowski (1994, 38-39) writes, evolution, the dichotomy of Self and Other has also been on the forefront. How else are How did humans appear? It would be we to know who we are than knowing who diffi cult to understand the methods and we are not? The Non-Modern Africa and structures of the scenarios that attempt Modern Non-Africa time-place dichotomy to answer this question without fi rst ex- is, essentially, a reworking of the Self and plaining what their authors understand Other or Human and Non-Human binaries. by ‘humans’. ‘Humans’ are defi ned by a We know that we are Modern, so the Other conglomeration of characteristics that are is Non-Modern. And, if we know that we given the status of distinguishing features reached modernity outside of Africa, then of our biological family. Consequently, to Africa is the place of the Other, or at least explain anthropogenesis means to explain the place where the Other became the Self. the origins of these human characteris- As Willoughby (2007, 5) explains: tics…. If we standardize the terminology which designates ‘human’ characteristics Over the last two to three decades, ar- in our twenty-four texts, their profusion chaeologists and palaeoanthropologists can be reduced to a list of thirty-eight have written about early modern Afri- properties…. It is striking that the core of cans in the same way that Europeans ini- this list, consisting of the most frequently tially wrote about non-Western people. mentioned characteristics, has changed Both are treated as distinct, as ‘others,’ very little over 150 years. The leading outside the range of what it means to roles are constantly played by attributes be cultured or civilized. Early European such as tools, bipedalism, free hands, lan- explorers were fascinated by the cultural guage, social life and cooperation. and biological diversity of people they encountered worldwide. But there was If, as Stoczkowski suggests, very little has 22 MAT J. LEVITT NON-MODERN AFRICA AND MODERN NON-AFRICA

changed in our defi nitions of the Self and sonal Investigation into the Animal Origins and Other—or the Human and Non-human— Nature of Man. Bantam Books. over the last 150 years, what might we predict BOYM, SVETLANA. 2001. The Future of Nostal- of the next 150 years? gia. New York: Basic Books. BRAID, DONALD. 1996. “Personal Narrative AND AWAY WE GO… and Experiential Meaning.” The Journal of How will these time-place dichotomies American Folklore 109(431):5-30. continue to shape our understanding of hu- BRIGG, CHARLES L. 1996. “The Politics of man evolution—of our story—and vice ver- Discursive Authority in Research on the sa? We have already seen in the last couple of Invention of Tradition.” Cultural Anthro- decades how the discourse has been unfold- pology 11(4):435-469. ing, but how will it continue to infl uence our BRIGGS, CHARLES L., AND RICHARD BAUMAN. daily world, our lived experience? Will the Af- 1992. “Genre, Intertextuality, and Social rica and Non-Africa dichotomy enter politi- Power.” Journal of Linguistic Anthropology cal or economic discourse? Many may argue 2(2):131-172. that it already has—that the idea of Africa- BROWN, P., T. SUTIKNA, M. J. MORWOOD, R. and-the-Rest-of-the-World has been present P. S OEJONO, JATMIKO, E. WAYHU SAPTO- in the Western mind since the time of Aristo- MO, AND ROKUS AWE DUE. 2004. “A New tle. In the years to come, how will we identify Small-Bodied Hominin from the Late the Other, and where will we place the Other Pleistocene of Flores, Indonesia.” Nature in space and time? What places have we left, 431:1055-1061. and where are we going? And, most impor- CALINESCU, MATEI. 1987. Five Faces of Mo- tantly, who are ‘We’? As Landau (1991, 178) dernity: Modernism, Avant-Garde, Decadence, reminds us, “the fossil record may appear to Kitsch, Postmodernism. Durham: Duke Uni- support the notion that we are truly heroes to have survived. Or it can tell a different story: versity Press. we are merely the remnants of a golden age.” CULLER, JONATHAN. 1976. “Presupposition In the end, it will be up to us to decide who and Intertextuality.” MLN 91(6):1380- we are, where we came from, and where we 1396. are going; not necessarily by the data we dis- DAWKINS, RICHARD. 1996. River out of Eden: A cover, but by the way we tell our story. Darwinian View of Life. Basic Books. DEGÉRANDO, JOSEPH-MARIE. 2007. “The Ob- REFERENCES servation of Savage Peoples.” In Ethno- ABI-RACHED, LAURENT, MATTHEW J. JOBIN, graphic Fieldwork: An Anthropological Reader, SUBHASH KULKARNI, ALASDAIR MCWHIN- edited by Antonius C.G.M. Robben and NIE, KLARA DALVA, LOREN GRAGERT, FAR- Jeffrey A. Sluka, pp. 33-39. Malden, MA: BOD B ABRZADEH, BABACK G HARIZADEH, MA Blackwell Publishing. LUO, FRANCIS A. PLUMMER, JOSHUA KIMANI, FABIAN, JOHANNES. 2002. Time and the Other: MARY CARRINGTON, DEREK MIDDLETON, How Anthropology Makes its Object. New RAJA RAJALINGAM, MERAL BEKSAC, STEVEN York: Columbia University Press. G. E. MARSH, MARTIN MAIERS, LISBETH A. FEINBERG, HARVEY M., AND JOSEPH B. GUETHLEIN, SOFIA TAVOULARIS, ANN-MAR- SOLODOW. 2002. “Out of Africa.” The Jour- GARET LITTLE, RICHARD. E. GREEN, PAUL nal of African History 43(2):255-261. J. NORMAN, PETER PARHAM. 2011. “Shap- FORTH, GREGORY. 2005. “Hominids, Hairy ing of Modern Human Immune Systems Humanoids and Science of Humanity.” by Multiregional Admixture with Archaic Anthropology Today 21(3):13-17. Humans.” Science 334:89-94. GOEBEL, TED, MICHAEL R. WATERS AND DEN- ARDREY, ROBERT. 1977. African Genesis: A Per- NIS H. O’ROURKE. 2008. “The Late Pleis- 23 DIVERSIPEDE VOL. 1, NO. 2, 2012

tocene Dispersal of Modern Humans in STOCZKOWSKI, WIKTOR. 2002. Explaining Hu- the Americas.” Science 319:1497-1502. man Origins: Myth, Imagination and Conjecture. JOHNSON, MARK. 1993. Moral Imagination: Im- Translated by Mary Turton. Cambridge: plications of Cognitive Science for Ethics. Chi- Cambridge University Press. cago: University of Chicago Press. WHITE, HAYDEN. 1980. “The Value of Nar- KE, Y., B. SU, X. SONG, D. LU, L. CHEN, H. LI, rativity in the Representation of Reality.” C. QI, S. MARZUKI, R. DEKA, P. UNDERHILL, Critical Inquiry 7:5-27. C. XIAO, M. SHRIVER, J. LELL, D. WALLACE, WILLOUGHBY, PAMELA R. 2007. The Evolution R.S. WELLS, M. SEIELSTAD, P. OEFNER, D. of Modern Humans in Africa: A Comprehensive ZHU, J. JIN, W. HUANG, R. CHAKRABORTY, Guide. Lanham, Maryland: AltaMira Press. Z. CHEN, AND L. JIN. 2001. “African Ori- YOTOVA, VANIA, JEAN-FRANCOIS LEFEBVRE, gin of Modern Humans in East Asia: A CLAUDIA MOREAU, ELIAS GBEHA, KRISTINE Tale of 12,000 Y Chromosomes.” Science HOVHANNESYAN, STEPHANE BOURGEOIS, 292:1151-1153. SANDRA BÉDARIDA, LUISA AZEVEDO, ANTO- KEITA, LANSANA. 2004. “The ‘Africa and the NIO AMORIM, TAMARA SARKISIAN, PATRICE Rest of the World Evolutionary Hypoth- HODONOU AVOGBE, NICODEME CHABI, eses’: An Exercise in Scientifi c Episte- MAMOUDOU HAMA DICKO, EMILE SABIBA mology.” The African Archaeological Review KOU’ SANTA AMOUZOU, AMBALIOU SANNI, 21(1):1-6. JUNE ROBERTS-THOMSON, BARRY BOETTCH- ER, RODNEY J. SCOTT, AND DAMIAN LABUDA. LANDAU, MISIA. 1991. Narratives of Human Evolution. New Haven: Yale University 2011. “An X-Linked Haplotype of Nean- Press. dertal Origin Is Present Among All Non- African Populations.” Molecular Biology and MCBREARTY, SALLY. 2007. “Down with the Revolution.” In Rethinking the Human Revo- Evolution 28(7):1957-1962. ZERUBAVEL, EVIATAR. 2003. Time Maps: Collec- lution, edited by Paul Mellars, Katie Boyle, tive Memory and the Social Shape of the Past. Ofer Bar-Yosef & Chris Stringer, pp. 133- Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 151. Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge. MCBREARTY, SALLY AND ALISON S. BROOKS. 2000. “The Revolution that Wasn’t: A New Interpretation of the Origin of Modern Human Behavior.” The Journal of Human Evolution 39:453-563. TIERNEY, JOHN. 11 January 1988. “The Search for Adam and Eve.” Newsweek 111:46-52. OPPENHEIMER, STEPHEN. 2003. Out of Eden: The Peopling of the World. London: Consta- ble and Robinson Ltd. ———. 2004. The Real Eve: Modern Man’s Journey Out of Africa. New York: Carol and Graf Publishers. PÄÄBO, SANTO. July 2011. “DNA Clues to Our Inner Neanderthal.” TED Talk. Ed- inburgh, Scotland. http://www.ted.com/ talks/lang/en/svante_paeaebo_dna_ clues_to_our_inner_neanderthal.html. 24 2011 RICHARD FRUCHT MEMORIAL STUDENT CONFERENCE UNDERGRADUATE PAPER WINNER

SPRECHEN WIR DEUTSCH? THE CONSTRUCTION OF IDENTITY IN AUSTRIA AND SOUTH TYROL Barbara L. Hilden This paper examines some of the linguistic tools, techniques, means, and methods by which the populations of Austria and South Tyrol construct identity. In order to better situate these two communities, this paper begins with an overview of the conditions which led to the creation of each state. It then explains some of the ways in which language can be used as a tool of identity construction. Positioning theory details ways both these groups create categories of sepa- ration and belonging. Citing the use of Austrian German, dialect in literature, differing pronunciation, and lexical development, this paper examines how the population of Austria constructs a linguistic identity distancing itself from Germany. This paper also examines how, using similar linguistic tools such as pronoun use and naming techniques, the population of South Tyrol constructs its identity. In contrast to Austria, the South Tyroleans align themselves with Germany, creating closer ties with Germanic neighbours while distancing themselves from Italy. Each population posi- tions itself in relation to Germany, either with or against, using linguistic tools to create a group identity. wo German-speaking communities oc- reich). Austria was annexed to Nazi Germany Tcupy the Dolomite mountains of central at the beginning of WWII (Anschluss), sub- Europe. One is an independent monolingual sequently occupied by the four allied powers nation, the second a marginalized segment of (1945-1955), and fi nally granted indepen- population. Though related culturally, histori- dence (commonly referred to as Freiheit) on cally, and linguistically, these groups today use May 12, 1955 (Steininger 1997). their common language to create very differ- South Tyrol ent identities. This paper will examine some of the linguistic tools, techniques, means, and Castle Tyrol (seat of the counts of Ty- methods by which populations of Austria and rol) was built outside present-day Meran, South Tyrol construct identity. Italy, sometime around 1100 AD in territory controlled by the reigning Hapsburg Monar- HISTORY chy. Following defeat by Napoleon in 1805, the Austrian Empire ceded the area to the Austria Kingdom of Bavaria. The territory was re- The Austrian Empire has its roots in turned to Austria by the Congress of Vienna the Hapsburg Monarchy, dating back to 1278 in 1814. The Italian reunifi cation movement AD. It was succeeded by the Austrian Em- (il Risorgimento) was strong during the fi rst pire (1804-1867) and then by the Austro- half of the 19th century, and the patchwork Hungarian Empire (1867-1918), the latter of independent Italian states lobbied hard of which united the kingdoms of Hungary against the Austro-Hungarian empire for the and Austria. Following defeat in WWI, the unifi cation of the Italian peninsula. South empire was disbanded and Die Erste Republik Tyrol, however, remained under Austrian was founded (initially named Deutsch-Öster- rule (Steininger 1997).

Undergraduate student; Departments of Anthropology and Modern Languages & Cultural Studies, University of Alberta Author contact: [email protected]

DIVERSIPEDE, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 25-30, 2012 25 DIVERSIPEDE VOL. 1, NO. 2, 2012

Italy was brought reluctantly into World als can position, both themselves and others, War I at the behest of the Triple Entente and in a variety of means: in conversations, in the largely because of the promise of several storylines of conversations, and in the ac- territorial concessions in Austria-Hungary tions of the storylines (Harré and Van Lan- (including the Tyrol)—all home to Italian genhove 1991, 396). minorities. Following Austria-Hungary’s sur- Groups, such as the Austrians and Ty- render in 1918 and despite strong opposition roleans, can also position. These two dif- from the citizens of South Tyrol, the area ferent groups situate themselves culturally was returned to Italian hands. South Tyrol and linguistically apart from the dominant endured Italianization under the rule of Et- powers in their respective regions: Austri- tore Tolomei during the Fascist years (1922- ans by separating (positioning) themselves 1943). It experienced brief occupation dur- apart from German ideology and creating ing the Second World War but afterwards was a uniquely Austrian space; South Tyroleans returned to Italy. Italy and Austria negotiated by positioning themselves apart from Italian the creation of the Trentino-Alto Adige/Ti- ideology while simultaneously allying with roler Etschland region following WW II, and their Germanic neighbours. both German and Italian were made offi cial CONSTRUCTION OF AUSTRIAN GERMAN languages. What is today called the Autono- SEPARATE FROM STANDARDDEUTSCH mous Province of Bolanzo-Bozen became an independent province of Northern Italy The language of Austria is German. in 1972 (Steininger 1997). Whether a dialect, a variety, or even “sec- ond-class German” (as it is occasionally still LANGUAGE AS A OOL FOR T viewed)—German is the national language IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION (Rusch 1989, 1). But Austrians are adamant “Language,” writes François Grosjean about a national identity separate and apart (1982, 117), “is not just an instrument of from German(y). Rusch (1989, 2) writes that communication. It is also a symbol of social “‘Austrian’ is linguistically very far from being or group identity, an emblem of group mem- a language on its own or an independent lin- bership and solidarity.” As such, language is a guistic concept.” It is rather a regional variety powerful tool for the construction of identi- of the German language, and there is great ty. The use of certain linguistic forms marks internal variation within the national variety one as either a member or an outsider. These as well. However, “attempts at establishing same principles apply not only to individu- Austrian as a national variety of German als but also to groups, with whole segments are common and generally accepted,” and of a population marking linguistic identity function to ideologically separate the coun- through conscious or unconscious language try from its large and infl uential neighbour choices. (Rusch 1989, 11). Positioning is one such method. Position- Rusch (1989, 13), however, argues ing describes a relation, denotes a placement against the desirability of a codifi ed national relative to something or someone else. Lin- variety of Austrian, believing that it would guistically, positioning can be understood “have a damaging effect on the image of as “the discursive construction of personal the ‘smaller Germans’ abroad,” and that es- stories that make a person’s actions intelligi- tablishing this national norm would unfairly ble and relatively determinate as social acts” privilege the Viennese variety of Austrian- (Harré and Van Langenhove 1991, 395). It is German and “its most infl uential classes.” “a process by which interactants make their He advocates instead for national varieties orientations toward social categories rele- of German, reinforcing the idea of satellite vant” (Liebscher et. al 2010, 380). Individu- German-speaking communities and “Ger- 26 BARBARA L. HILDEN THE CONSTRUCTION OF IDENTITY IN AUSTRIA AND SOUTH TYROL man as a pluricentric language.” “National pecially Austrian is the positioning of the identity,” he writes, “has to be sought and verb as main clause following weil (because) found elsewhere.” “...Wunder ist es ja eigentlich eh keins, weil wir will The Austrians themselves seem to dis- denn schon für das Geld...” (no one really won- agree. Through a variety of linguistic tech- dered anyway, because we already wanted the niques, they position their national variety money) (Wolfgruber 1984, 271). These both as a distinct alternative to Standarddeutsch are examples of the creation of specifi c Aus- and, both directly and indirectly, themselves trian versions of German, even in the face as separate from Germany. A few of these of grammatical conventions which would, means will be discussed below. strictly speaking and by Standarddeutsch pre- scription, classify them as grammatically in- Conscientious objection correct (Rusch 1989). Following Anschluss, the term Österreich Lexicon was “abolished and forbidden” (Rusch 1989, 3). Place names were changed: Österreich be- The lexicon of Austrian German dif- came Ostmark-Deutsche; Ober- and Nieder- fers in some very specifi c forms. It is perhaps Österreich (provinces) became Ober- and no wonder that terminology for Austrian Niederdonau. Austrian resistance forces ad- government differs from German (for ex- opted the forbidden term and turned it into ample, Bundesheer and Bundeswehr). Traditional a subversive rallying cry. They coded it “05” Austrian/Hungarian dishes such as Kaiser- (Österreich = Ö = Oe; e is the fi fth letter of schmarrn, Palatschinken, and Powidl have, natu- the alphabet) and plastered it on buildings rally, no Standarddeutsch equivalent. But other and pamphlets. The country also endured food names vary as well. An Austrian apricot the Germanization of many words, replac- is an Aprikose instead of a Marille; one will ing Austrian vocabulary with German, which be offered Obers for coffee instead of Sahne; was met with decidedly cool reception. and Erdapfel is heard in place of Kartoffel. The latter, admittedly, is standard throughout Ba- Literature in dialect varia and in other German-speaking realms, Austrian writers make particular use of but was declared—to the specifi c exclusion dialect in their literature. Referring to Aus- of other options—Standard Austrian in the trian German and Standarddeutsch, Rusch 1979 Österreichisches Wörterbuch (Austrian Dic- (1989, 6) writes, “many writers use the vari- tionary) (Rusch 1989, 9). ous levels of style and the switching between them as a means of stylistic expression and Pronunciation characterization.” This then serves both liter- Pronunciation is also a tool for lan- ary and linguistic functions. As is common guage differentiation. What may seem like for Upper German dialects, the present per- a mild difference can, upon closer exami- fect verb tense (Perfekt) is used in place of the nation, reveal layers of meaning. The Vien- simple past (Präteritum): “Am Montagmorgen ist nese pronunciation of the word Kaffee (cof- Melzer zur Arbeit gekommen, ziemlich spat,... er fee) is one such example. The Standarddeutsch hat die Siebenuhrsirene der in der Nähe liegenden variant /‘kafe/ is spurned in favour of a Textilfabrik gehört und ist eilig in die Latzhose uniquely Austrian form /ka’fe/. Though gefahren” (on Monday morning Melzer had this may seem at fi rst glance unremarkable, come to work fairly late... he had not heard when considered in light of Austria’s rich the seven a.m. siren from the nearby textile Kaffeehaus-Kultur, the expression ’kafe sch- factory and had dressed swiftly in overalls) meckt mir nicht (coffee doesn’t taste good to (Wolfgruber 1984, 104). me) takes on new layers of meaning. In this Another element often considered es- way, the expression is not only (one may ar- 27 DIVERSIPEDE VOL. 1, NO. 2, 2012 gue, is not at all) a statement of epicureal potential names had to galvanize a people be- preference, but rather a dislike of German hind an identity, Tolomei went further to say, encroachment on an area of Austrian iden- “Der Name war ein Banner; die ganze Welt würde tity. Scheuringer (1987, 113) argues that it begreifen, daß ein Gebiet dieses Namens, das ober- “ist nicht nur Ausdruck der Bevorzugang eines ste Becken des großen italienischen Flusses, Italient stärkeren Kaffees… sondern offensichtlich auch gehörte” (The name was a banner; the whole Ausdruck einer sprachnationalistischen Denkungs- world should understand that this region, the weise” (it is not an expression of preference uppermost basin at the reaches of Italian in- for strong coffee... but rather an expression fl uence, is indeed Italian) (quoted in Freiberg of national linguistic mindset). 1989, 126). In 1921, Tolomei demanded the Italianization (termed the Wiederherstellung, CONSTRUCTION OF GERMAN LANGUAGE the “restoration”) of all family and place IDENTITY IN ALIGNMENT WITH GERMANY names in South Tyrol. Thus, a Schulze from Large centres of German speaking Bozen became a Sculdasci from Bolanzo al- populations (Austria, Switzerland) are wide- most overnight. ly acknowledged to have their own national Pümpel-Mader (2000) explains the ties varieties of German and are generally per- between physical territory and naming. Set- ceived to be part of the larger Germanic tlers are frequently named for the area they realm. Smaller pockets of German-speaking occupy: Tirol and Tiroler, Schweiz and Sch- populations are less recognized. Small pop- weizer. One creates a collective social identity ulations, such as those in South Tyrol, lack by “die Übertragung der Erfahrungen der sozialen the infrastructure and institutions—language Gemeinschaft” (the transference of charac- authorities, a unique linguistic codex— nec- teristics to the social community) (Pümpel- essary to support the development of a sepa- Mader 2000, 124). Collective identity arises, rate linguistic community. Minor linguistic she argues, in large part through the role of variations are either overlooked or non-exis- Herkunft (a German term which includes and tent, both by outsiders who are unaware of brings together notions of origin, ancestry, local differences and by the population itself. family, and land), the naming thereof, and Thus, the population of South Tyrol is gen- the social characteristics ascribed to these erally perceived to speak the Austrian variety names which members of the society adopt of German (Ammon 1997, 163). (Pümpel-Mader 2000, 124). In the Tyrol Naming regions, these include a great many physi- cal landscape characteristics: diese Bergbewoh- Becoming nominally Italian was only ner (these mountain dwellers), dieses Bergvolk one identity crisis moment for South Tyrol. (these mountain people), die tirolischen Gebirg- The strict program of Italianization after the sleute (the Tyrolean mountain people), and die First World War helped ensure vestiges of Eingebohrnen der rauheren Thaeler (the natives German were forcibly removed from the re- of the rough valley) are all names by which gion. As early as 1906, Italian senator Ettore the Tyroleans have been known (some since Tolomei was demanding the assimilation of as early as 1796) and through which, Pümpel- South Tyrol. He refused even to acknowledge Mader (2000, 125) argues, the Tyroleans un- the name “South Tyrol,” arguing that “Für derstand not only their land and home, but uns gibt es ein Tirol weder geographisch noch histo- also themselves. risch. Es gibt ein historisches Trentino und es gibt Pronouns ein Alto Adige” (For us there is a Tyrol neither geographically nor historically. There are his- Pümpel-Mader (2000, 122) examines toric Trento and Alto Adige regions) (quoted the social role of collective identity construc- in Freiberg 1989, 126). Understanding the tion. She writes of the “gesellschaftlicher Proz- 28 BARBARA L. HILDEN THE CONSTRUCTION OF IDENTITY IN AUSTRIA AND SOUTH TYROL

ess” (social process) and the role of wir (we) FUTURES in the creation of a group. She argues that the collective is a symbolic version of the Austria group and a collective cannot be created out The Austrian-German variety contin- of relationships of interaction. It is rather an ues to be widely used throughout the region. imagined and theoretical entity. Individual re- Though in many ways similar to other variet- lationships are based in daily interaction, but ies of German, Austria has the population, a collective—a group—is not. Because of means, and—perhaps most crucially—incli- this, the group and group membership (what nation to support a fully codifi ed linguistic she terms the Wir-Gefühl) are constructed not identity separate from its German neigh- from interactions, but rather in a cognitive bour. Dialectical literature continues to be and emotional self-reference (Pümpel-Mader 2000, 123). The Wir-Gefühl is the construc- produced, published, and consumed. Lexi- tion of identity that is lived and experienced cal differences are becoming increasingly in social groups. codifi ed—since 1951, Austria has produced Use of the wir pronoun thereby creates a dictionary of Austrian. Duden now pro- a group membership out of these individual duces a Wörterbuch des österreichischen Deutsch interactions. This is evident in South Tyrol in (dictionary of Austrian German). And both the alternative name to the Tiroler Volkspar- are growing: the 1951 Österreiches Wörterbuch tei: “Wir Tiroler,” (Tyrolean People’s Party: contained 118 entries; the 1990 edition con- “We Tyroleans”) as well as in the name of tained 219 (Ammon 1997, 172). “The spe- the local paper, Die Wir Tiroler Zeitung, (The cifi c traits of the Austrian national variety We Tyroleans Paper), and its email addresses, have,” as per dictionary evidence Ammon @wir-tiroler.com.at (Pümpel-Mader 2000, (1997, 174) collected, “rather increased than 123). decreased.” The evidence would seem to suggest not only a static but, in fact, growing Characteristics awareness of a distinctly separate national Cognitive and emotional collective variety. identity is also suggested through the use of South Tyrol Tirol and its adjectival derivatives in everyday language. Group belonging is subtly dem- According to the 2010 South Tyrol onstrated through the use, repetition, and census, 69.4% of residents declare them- subsequent linguistic entrenching of these selves members of the German language words in everyday vocabulary. “Nomination- group; 26.3% declare Italian membership seinheiten,” (nominal identifi ers) as Pümpel- (Autonomous Province of South Tyrol Mader (2000, 126) terms them, stand sym- [APST] 2010, 15). These numbers remain bolically for the creation and consolidation fairly consistent throughout recent history: of group coherence. They bind characteris- in the 2001 census, 64.0% of the popula- tics of the everyday Tyrolean world to the tion identifi ed as German; 24.5% Italian. sense of identity constructed by those who In 1991, it was 65.3% German and 26.5% inhabit it. She cites numerous examples of Italian (APST 2010, 19). Figures as far this phenomenon, including “Wir haben heute back as 1961 fall within 10% of the 2010 SAISON TIROL erhalten” (Tyrolean weath- results—this would seem to indicate rela- er), “Tanzabend «Tirolerisch»”(Tyrolean dance tive stability in the population. A shift to- style), and an abstract characterization of Ty- wards or away from either linguistic group rolean style in general: “Ein Haus mit typisch is not evident. Thus, the linguistic situation tirolerischem Charakter” (Pümpel-Mader 2000, in South Tyrol can be perceived as relative- 126). ly stable. 29 DIVERSIPEDE VOL. 1, NO. 2, 2012

CONCLUSIONS Cambridge: Harvard University Press. HARRÉ, ROM, AND LUK VAN LANGENHOVE. Through a variety of linguistic fea- 1991. “Varieties of Positioning.” Journal for tures, both of these populations create and the Theory of Social Behaviour 21(4):393-407. maintain a linguistic identity separate from LIEBSCHER, GRIT, JENNIFER DAILEY-O’CAIN, their neighbours. In Austria, this is achieved MAREIKE MÜLLER, AND TETYANA REICHERT. through a national language variety that is not 2010. “Negotiating Identities Through German: the Austrians create an opposition- Pronouns of Address in an Immigrant al identity. They defi ne themselves and their Community.” Pragmatics 20(3):375-400. language by what it is not and position them- PÜMPEL-MADER, MARIA. 2000. “Tirlerisch selves as separate. The South Tyroleans, in isch Super!: Eine Sprachwissenschaftliche contrast, create a linguistic identity by align- Untersuchung zu Regionaler Identität.” ing themselves with the German language. Mutterspracher 2:121-133. Through the conscious use of place and per- RUSCH, PAUL. 1989. “National vs. Regional sonal names, adjectival use which links the Models of Language Variation: The case land, language, and people, as well as through of Austrian German.” Language, Culture, the use of group-inclusive pronouns, the and Curriculum 2(1):1-16. South Tyroleans construct a group member- SCHEURINGER, HERMANN. 1987. “Anpassung ship and identity which position them with oder Abgrenzung? Bayern und Öster- Austria and Germany, while simultaneously reich und der Schwierige Umgang mit distancing themselves from Italy. der Deutschen Standardsprache.” Deutsche Each of these populations use similar Sprache 15(2):110-121. linguistic tools to construct an identity that STEININGER, ROLF. 1997. Südtirol im 20. Jahr- binds the group together while/by dissoci- hundert. Wien: StudienVerlag GesmbH. ating from a larger hegemonic power. Geo- WOLFGRUBER, GERNOT. 1984. Herrenjahre. graphically, historically, and linguistically München: Deutsche Taschenbuch. related, both Austria and South Tyrol con- struct identities by positioning themselves in relation to German(y), albeit in very different fashions. Their relations to German(y) serve to unite their peoples and create a powerful group membership.

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AMMON, ULRICH. 1997. “National-variety Purism in the National Centres of the German Language.” In Language Choices: Conditions, Constraints, and Consequences, ed- ited by Martin Pütz. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Co. AUTONOMOUS PROVINCE OF SOUTH TYROL [APST]. 2010. South Tyrol in Figures 2010. Bozen: Provincial Statistics Institute. FREIBERG, WALTER. 1989. Südtirol und der It- alienische Nationalismus. Innsbruck: Univer- sitätsverlag Wagner. GROSJEAN, FRANÇOIS. 1982. Life With Two Languages: An Introduction to Bilingualism. 30 PLACE AND CONTESTED IDENTITY: PORTRAYING THE ROLE OF THE PLACE IN SHAPING COMMON SOCIOPOLITICAL IDENTITY IN THE CHITTAGONG HILL TRACTS, BANGLADESH H.M. Ashraf Ali This research is about how a collective socio-political identity, the ‘Pahari’ (the hill people), is constructed by the ethnoculturally diversifi ed groups of indigenous people in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh. While conducting my PhD dissertation fi eldwork in the CHT, I experienced that most of the non-Bengali ethnicities use a common term ‘Pahari’ in their everyday conversations. This term derives from the Bengali word ‘pahar’, which means “hill”; and the term ‘Pahari’ is the term used by ‘the inhabitants of hills’ or ‘the hill people’ to introduce them to visi- tors, tourists, or in their everyday conversations. Of course, they have their own distinctive and individual ethnic identity marked by language, religion, kinship, and marriage system (e.g., Chakma, Marma, Tanchang ya). Thus, they have two different identities: the ethnic identity and the common socio-political identity. The infl uence of hills, land, forest, Kaptai Lake, and above all, the ecological system of this region on the economy and the lives of the people who live here is immense. In this research paper, I will refl ect on how a particular place, a different geographical setting, is used to bring group members of diverse ethnicities together in order to construct a common socio-political identity. Although the ‘place’ is central to the construction of this Pahari identity, social, economic, and political relations with the Bengalis appear as determining factors in adopting such collective identity by the culturally differentiating ethnicities in the CHT. Finally, I will describe how and why the Pahari identity is contested and contradictory in broader socio-political context in Bangladesh. he historical development, strategic Pali, Burmese, and Assamese dialect where- Tgeograhical position, ethnocultural di- as all the Bengalis of the plain speak in one versity, and economic-political signifi cance language—Bengali. From religious point of of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) has view, a majority of these ethnic groups such marked it as a unique place within South Asia. as the Chakma, the Marma, and the Tan- The CHT is situated in the southeast corner changya are Buddhists and the rest of them of Bangladesh and is bordered by the Indian are either followers of Hinduism or Christi- state of Tripura in the north and Mizoram anity. Conversely, the majority of the Benga- in the east. The country of Myanmar bor- lis are followers of the religion of Islam. ders in the southeastern part. In Bangla- The twelve ethnic groups largely de- desh, this mountainous region of the CHT pend on shifting cultivation, forest, and hills is comprised of three districts—Rangamati, for their livelihoods whereas the Bengalis of Bandarban, and Khagrachari. The CHT the plain depend on a homogenous form of has been the home of the following 12 eth- agriculture: plough-cultivation (Ahsan and nic groups for hundreds of years: Chakma, Chakma 1989; Ali and Shafi e 2005; Chakma Tanchangya, Marma, Tripura, Reang, Mro, 2010; Schendel 1992). Thus, the CHT is a Lushai, Khumi, Chak, Khyang, Bawm, and very important region in Bangladesh for stra- Pankhua. These ethnic groups of people are tegic geographic position and security rea- distinct from the majority Bengali population sons (e.g., the border with India and Myan- of Bangladesh with respect to race/ethnic- mar), the location of hydroelectric power ity, language, culture, religion and other social resources (e.g., Kaptai Hydroelectric Proj- systems. For example, most of these ethnic ect), natural resources (e.g., forests and Kap- groups speak in a mixed language of Bengali, tai Lake), and possible economic and tourism

Graduate student; Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta Author contact: [email protected]

DIVERSIPEDE, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 31-46, 2012 31 DIVERSIPEDE VOL. 1, NO. 2, 2012 development. Sociocultural differences and itants. They emphasize four key criteria, cultural diversity are prevalent throughout namely the ‘place’ and ‘time’, the ‘nature and this region, primarily due to the diversity of sources of their livelihoods’; and the ‘tradi- indigenous peoples. tion and pattern of lifestyle’ that markedly However, there are different discours- differs from the Bengalis of the plain. These es, confusions, and debates about the actual Pahari people argue that they are the original identity of these ethnic groups in CHT. The inhabitants of the CHT, as they have been people of the CHT have so far been repre- living in the hills for generations, at least sented as the Tribal or the Upzati in govern- since before the arrival of any Bengali here ment documents from the British colonial In this paper, I examine how and why government to independent Bangladesh. the CHT people from ethnoculturally diverse The Jummas, the Adivashi, and the indigenous groups use the term Pahari. Some anthropol- people are also the parallel collective identity ogists have recently used the term Pahari in for the twelve ethnic groups in the CHT, their research in the CHT (e.g., Ahamed 2006; which are mainly represented by the indige- Ali and Shafi e 2005; Uddin 2008), but none nous political groups, academic and indepen- of them contextualizes and elaborates upon dent researchers, and international human it in relation to place, recent sociocultural rights organizations (Ahamed 2006, 376; Ali change, and unequal power relations with- and Shafi e 2005, 68; UNDP 2009, 1). As this in the Pahari community. Considering the study observed, most of the indigenous peo- scope and objective of this paper, I will not ple in the study locality use the term Pahari in elaborate about the other parallel terms such their day to day conversations or to introduce as the Jummas, Adivashi, and stereotyped themselves to others (i.e., visitors or tourists). identity such as Upzati or Tribal. Throughout Sometimes they also use the term Adi- this paper I will use both terms Pahari and vashi, meaning ‘the original people/inhabit- indigenous to indicate all non-Bengali ethnic ants’, and sometimes they use the term Jum- groups in the CHT. Sometimes, I also use the ma, a term deriving from the practice of jhum phrase ‘CHT people’ to denote all the non- chash (shifting cultivation). The term Jumma Bengali people in the CHT. However, I have was romanticized and popularized by the in- observed that two common words, namely digenous political leadership to mobilize the Pahari and Adivashi, are mostly used by re- diverse ethnic groups from the CHT for the search participants and other local people resistance movement against the Bangladesh in this study area. Although Pahari and Adi- army and the immigrant Bengalis in the mid- vashi are used as the collective socio-political 1970s. Though various international human identity and they have intimate relationship rights organizations including the Interna- to a ‘place’ and ‘time’, I would rather confi ne tional Labor Organization (ILO) and the my focus on the Pahari and its background United Nations Development Programme and signifi cance in relation to their economic (UNDP) identify these 12 ethnic groups col- and sociopolitical life and how it is used to lectively as “indigenous people” based on differentiate the Pahari from the Bengalis of cultural traditions and way of life, the gov- the plains. ernment of Bangladesh has recently enlisted This paper is divided into three major them as “small ethnic groups” in the Bangla- sections. The fi rst section describes meth- desh Constitution (for a more detailed dis- odology, study locality and the ethnocultur- cussion of this, see The Daily Star 2011). al features of the research participants and In response, the people in the CHT dif- the historical/political context of the CHT. fer with this government decision. Rather, It highlights how the indigenous people at- they claim that they are the original inhab- tempt to bring aspects of social, economic 32 H.M. ASHRAF ALI PLACE AND CONTESTED IDENTITY

and political relations with the Bengalis and ples are Buddhist. Although the Tripura fol- the Bangladesh state together to form this lowed Hinduism, most of them in this study sociopolitical identity. The second section locality are converts to the religion of Chris- explains the term Pahari and how it is used tianity. The Lushais are Christians (Chakma by the study community in their everyday life. 2010). Assamese (locally called Ahamiya) It also concentrates on how the indigenous and Nepalese or Gurkha are Hindu. Both people link a place to the construction of the ancestors of the contemporary Ahamiya the collective Pahari identity. Finally, it dem- and Gurkha people living in the study local- onstrates how and why the Pahari identity is ity migrated from Assam in India and Nepal, contested and contradictory in broader so- respectively, during British colonial rule in ciopolitical context in Bangladesh. the 19th century. The social and cultural dif- ferences between the indigenous and Bengali METHODOLOGY population are marked by different ethnic My PhD dissertation fi eldwork on mi- origins, social organizations, and cultural sys- crocredit, power, and poverty at Rangamati tems (e.g., marriage, social customs, kinship, in CHT was conducted in two phases be- religion, and language). The Chakma, Mar- tween May 2009 and July 2011. I used stan- ma, Tripura, Tanchangya, and Lushai people dard anthropological data collection tech- lived in Rangamati long before the Bengali niques, including participant observation, people migrated to this region. It can be as- unstructured interviews with key informants, sumed from different historical sources and and semi-structured focus group interviews narratives of the local indigenous people that following purposive and snowball sampling. they are the original inhabitants of the CHT I talked to key informants, particularly to el- and are of Sino-Tibetan descent, belong- ders and community leaders. I also used rel- ing to the Mongoloid group (Chakma 2010, evant secondary data such as published re- 283). Linguistically, the Chakma, Marma, Tri- search works, books, and articles on the CHT pura, and Tanchangyas are associated with people. A digital voice recorder was used to Sino-Tibetan. It appears that both the major record interviews and informed consent was group of people might have migrated from taken with each informant. I used ATLAS. the Chin Hills and Arakan in Myanmar (e.g., ti 6.2, a qualitative data analysis tool, to code the Chakma, Marma, Tanchangya and Lus- and thematically analyze the data (Bernard hai) and Tripura in India (UNDP 2009; Ud- 2010; Fetterman 2010; Hammersley and At- din 2008). Therefore, most of the indigenous kinson 2007). people in this region are of Sino-Tibetan Who lives in the study locality? descent and have distinct Mongoloid racial characteristics that mark a signifi cant ethnic This study was conducted at Rangamati and cultural difference from the Bengalis, an in CHT of Bangladesh. One of the signifi - Indo-Aryan language group. cant aspects of the research area is the eth- CONSTRUCTING COMMON no- and sociocultural diversity present. Both SOCIOPOLITICAL IDENTITY: indigenous and Bengali peoples reside in the POLITICAL-HISTORICAL BACKGROUND CHT and practice many forms of religion. The indigenous people, collectively known The history of economic exploitation, as Pahari, include the Chakma, Marma, Tan- suffering, and antagonistic relationships be- changya, Tripura, Lushai, Ahamiya, and Gur- tween the Bengali and indigenous people kha. Bengalis are for the most part Muslim, in the CHT is linked to the discriminatory with a Hindu minority. The Chakma are the economic and political policies of both the largest of the indigenous groups of people. Pakistani government (1947-1971) and the The Chakma, Marma, and Tanchangya peo- government of independent Bangladesh 33 DIVERSIPEDE VOL. 1, NO. 2, 2012 that formed in the early 1970s (Nasrin and digenous people, particularly Chakma, who Togawa 2002; Uddin 2008). In 1947, the Brit- were mainly sedentary rice farmers (Bhikkhu ish withdrawal from the Indian subcontinent 2007, 2; Nasreen and Togawa 2002). The suf- led to the rise of two nation-states: India and fering caused by this displacement and loss Pakistan. This division of British India was of land continues to affect people today be- based on the “two nation theory” that inde- cause they have not yet been able to restore pendence activists devised to recognize the this crucial economic base. two major religious identities in the Indian Consequently, the indigenous people subcontinent: Hinduism in India and Islam began to mobilize the diverse ethnic groups in Pakistan (Schendel 1992, 116; Uddin 2008, in order to form a collective sociopoliti- 42). Today’s Bangladesh and the CHT were cal platform to protect their economy, land, included in the state of Pakistan because the and cultural identity. The fi rst collective use majority of the populace was Muslim. How- of the term ‘Pahari’ appeared in the forma- ever, the majority of indigenous populations tion of the “Pahari Chhatro Samity” (Hill in the CHT were non-Muslims. The Pakistani Students’ Association) to protest against the government abolished the semi-autonomous discriminatory economic and political poli- status, known as the CHT Regulation Act cies of the government of Pakistan in the 1900, of the CHT indigenous peoples in 1960s (e.g., the Kaptai hydroelectric project 1963. At the same time, this government im- and abolition of the semi-autonomous sta- posed development projects, including the tus of the CHT) (Schendel 1992, 120). The Kaptai Hydroelectric Project, which brought suffering, exploitation, and discrimination devastating social, economic, ecological, and of the CHT people continued after the in- humanitarian consequences (Uddin 2008, dependence of Bangladesh from Pakistan in 43). The infl ux of Bengali people into the 1971. Politically motivated migration into the CHT region from the plains followed. The CHT by Bengali people occurred on a mas- establishment of the Karnaphuli paper mill sive scale beginning in the late 1970s, backed and rayon, timber, and plywood industries by the military might of the state. However, in the 1950s, fi nanced by the World Bank, a delegation of indigenous political leaders brought immense suffering for the local in- led by the Member of Parliament Manoben- digenous peoples as they lost their lands dra Narayan Larma Chakma called on Prime and sources of livelihoods as forests were Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and sub- destroyed (Nasreen and Togawa 2002, 103). mitted a four-point memorandum on Febru- The construction of the Kaptai Hydroelec- ary 15, 1972. The major aspects highlighted tric Project (1959–1962), locally known as in this memorandum were: 1) recognition of Kaptai Dam, appeared as a curse for the peo- the diverse ethnic groups of the CHT as ‘in- ple who were living here. The construction digenous people’ in the Constitution of Ban- of the Kaptai Dam was fi nanced by the Unit- gladesh and the endorsement of the CHT as ed States Agency for International Develop- an autonomous region and setting up its own ment (USAID) and the World Bank (Nasreen legislative assembly; 2) retention of the CHT and Togawa 2002). It is the largest dam in Regulation Act 1900 in the Constitution; 3) South Asia and created a vast reservoir of retention of the offi ces of tribal chiefs such some 885 km (550 square miles). It was con- as the Chakma Circle Chief; and 4) imposi- structed without any impact assessment or tion of constitutional restriction on the infl ux any consultation with representatives of the of the Bengalis in the CHT from the plains. local indigenous community. It submerged Instead, this proposal was refused categori- at least 40% of the total arable land of the cally by the Bangladeshi head of state. The CHT and displaced more than 100,000 in- Prime Minister instigated the indigenous 34 H.M. ASHRAF ALI PLACE AND CONTESTED IDENTITY people’s delegation team to become Bengali cupied by the different indigenous commu- by renouncing ‘the idea of separate identity’ nities was a main cause of antagonism be- (Mohsin 2004, 46; Uddin 2008, 45; UNDP tween the Bengali settlers and the indigenous 2009, 4). In addition to the refusal of this communities. The relationship between the proposal, the Government of Bangladesh indigenous and Bengali people had broken amended rule 34 (1) of the CHT Manual in down because the indigenous people had to 1979 allowing the resettlement of Bengali leave their ancestral lands as a result of this landless people (Nasreen and Togawa 2002, forced resettlement by the Bangladeshi gov- 105). Through this amendment, the Govern- ernment. In order to protect their ancestral ment of Bangladesh legalized the settlement lands and distinct cultural identity, the indige- of outsiders in the CHT that had previously nous political leaders stimulated the common been restricted by the British colonial ad- people from diverse ethnicities to participate ministration in the 1900s (i.e., CHT Regula- in resistance movements against the discrim- tion 1900). It was estimated that more than inatory political stance of the Bangladeshi 400,000 Bengalis had been uplifted from the government. The indigenous political lead- plain districts to transmigrate to the CHT by ers utilized some common grounds of iden- the successive governments of Bangladesh tity formation such as habitat, place, method from 1979 to the mid-1980s (UNDP 2009, of cultivation, and lifestyles of indigenous 5). people to separate all the non-Bengali ethnic Consequences of these political deci- groups from the Bengalis in the plains and sions of the Government of Bangladesh hence the political authority of Bangladesh. were widespread and devastating. An indig- Consequently, the terms ‘Adivashi’, ‘Jumma’ enous political party, the Parbattya Chatta- and ‘Pahari’ appeared in the discourse of the gram Jana Samhati Samity (PCJSS), which identity construction of the indigenous peo- formed in 1972, was involved in a resistance ple in the CHT in recent decades. The notion movement against the Bangladeshi army and of Jumma was developed in relation to jum immigrant armed groups. This indigenous agriculture or shifting cultivation and land armed group was locally known as ‘Shanti rights in the CHT. The indigenous political Bahini’ (Peace Troops). The PCJSS created party—the PCJSS—symbolized this notion the notion of ‘Jumma’, a collective identity of Jumma in order to revitalize the move- of all the indigenous people in the CHT, ment of regional autonomy, distinct cultur- to mobilize its people to participate in this al identity, and land rights. As described by resistance movement. Consequently, an ap- Ahamed (2006, 375): proximately two-decade indigenous resis- The symbolic use of traditional agricul- tance movement continued from 1975 to tural practices (jum) as collective ethnic the late 1990s which cost thousands of lives marker is a process of displaying a shared and brought enormous suffering (Arens and history of common past and present, in Chakma 2002; Levene 1999; Mohsin 2004). which all ethnic groups are intimately re- At long last, the CHT Peace Accord be- lated and attached to CHT land. The use tween the Government of Bangladesh and of Jumma is, in fact, an effort to uphold the PCJSS was signed on December 2, 1997. a common cultural identity. In the con- There is still resentment among the indige- struction of Jumma identity, the historical nous people as the peace accord is yet to be past is shaped by present political realities completely implemented by the Government in the CHT. Therefore, in practical terms, of Bangladesh (Chowdhury and Rafi 2001). Pahari and Jumma supplement each other The infl ux of the Bengali people from in the form of collective mobilization in the plains to lands that were previously oc- the CHT. 35 DIVERSIPEDE VOL. 1, NO. 2, 2012

Although the notion of Jumma was infl uen- Marma, Tanchangya, Tripura, Lushai, Gur- tial in the form of collective ethnic mobili- kha, or Ahamiya. People from each of these zation in the mid-1970s under the regional ethnic groups also use and identify with their political leadership of the PCJSS, it is mainly individual ethnic identity, such as Chakma, limited to the political discourse in the post- Marma, and Tanchangya. One Pahari infor- Peace Accord situation in the CHT. The mant said, “Pahari is our common identity common indigenous people often use the but Chakma, Tanchagya or Gurkha is our term Pahari in everyday conversations in re- individual ethnic identity.”2 It seems that the lation to place rather than Jumma in relation term Pahari is constructed based on territo- to the method of agriculture. Even the indig- rial, ecological, regional, and geographical enous political leaders use the word Pahari in signifi cance and its relations to the various their political speeches, seminars, press con- aspects of life of people in the CHT. ferences, and in other public discourse. This Obviously, this Pahari identity has is because most of these people have left broader social, cultural and political implica- their traditional shifting cultivation and are tions, especially when it is used to mark dif- now adopting new forms of farming in the ferences from the Bengalis and to connect hills. For example, instead of shifting cultiva- it to their struggle for social, economic, and tion, they are practising mixed crop or mixed political freedom (Ahamed 2006; Sen 1999). fruit gardening in the hills. They are relying In the following section, I will examine how on plough-cultivation in the well-suited low the place is brought into a focal point to the and levelled land. Thus, in changing situa- construction of the collective Pahari identity. tions and contexts, these groups of people HOW IS THE PAHARI IDENTITY LINKED TO A tend to choose the term Pahari to construct PLACE, THE CHT? their shared identity in relation to a place, sources of livelihood, and lifestyle. Place has Geographically, the CHT is a part of now become the key criterion for the indig- Hill Tripura and Arakan Yoma, branching enous people in determining difference from off from the Himalayan range and continu- the Bengalis; it has become a powerful sym- ing to the south through Assam and Hill Tri- bol to create a sociopolitical platform, as this pura of India to Arakan of Myanmar. The study observes. Karnaphuli is the largest of the rivers in the region. Due to the construction of a hydro- WHAT DOES THE AHARI TAND OR P S F ? electric project known as Kaptai Dam on the As described above, the people who Karnaphuli in 1962, a major portion of the live in the hills are the Pahari. But the ques- river has turned into Kaptai Lake (Chakma tion which arises is, are all the people who 2010; Chowdhury and Rafi 2001; Schendel live in the CHT in Bangladesh Pahari? While 1992). The hilly topography of the CHT conducting my dissertation fi eldwork in Ran- makes a difference in economic, social, and gamati, I have experienced that most of the cultural systems and lifestyles between Pahari indigenous people use the common term and the people of the plains in Bangladesh. Pahari to introduce themselves to visitors Although it is not known who fi rst used the and tourists. It is also used while interacting term Pahari, it is assumed that the indigenous with each other in various public domains. people in the hills coined it from the Bengali They are also identifi ed as the Pahari by the word pahar ‘hill’ and emphasizing the suffi x Bengali population. This is not their actual -i; together it means ‘inhabitants of the hill’, ethnic identity; they are ethnically Chakma, in reference to their dwelling or living place,

1 Sazib Bahadur, interview by Ashraf Ali. Rangamati, March 27, 2011, Interview #27. 36 H.M. ASHRAF ALI PLACE AND CONTESTED IDENTITY

reliance on hill, land, forest, and ecological tion of a territory, a Pahari homeland, the CHT system for their livelihood and subsistence (Schendel 1992). In fact, the construciton of economy (Ahamed 2006; Ali and Shafi e the Pahari identity is a recent sociopolitical 2005; Bhattacharya et al. 2005). The hill is phenonmenon in the CHT (Ahamed 2006). central to the construction of cultural and The Pahari, a common identity for all diverse sociopolitical identity of the indigenous peo- non-Bengali ethnic groups, is emerging in re- ple in the CHT. It is central because the hill sponse to the cultural, economic, and politi- is an integral part of their social, cultural and cal discrimination created by the government economic lives. The relationship between the and Bengalis in the recent past (e.g., the Kap- hill, ecological system, environemnt and the tai hydroelectric project in the 1960s and the people who live here is inseparable. The hills, resettlement policy in the late 1970s) as well forests, rivers, well-suited low and leveled as the current social and economic relations land between the hills, lake, and hundreds of with the Bengalis. Establishing land and ter- canals are major sources of farming, fi shing, ritorial rights is the central issue for why the and other direct and indirect sources of live- Pahari people have been struggling for de- lihoods for the people who live here. The in- cades to form a distinct cultural and sociopo- digenous hill people traditionally depend on litical platform and a collective identity. subsistence agriculture and they are predomi- A question that arises is, why are the nantly involved in shifting cultivation, which Pahari people so concerned for their territo- is locally called jhum chash; they also practice rial rights? My recent ethnographic fi eldwork plough cultivation at the fringe lands or in in the CHT provides possible explanations. the well-suited low and leveled land which is One of the explanations is that the indige- situated between uplands or mountains (Ali nous people are concerned about their econ- and Shafi e 2005, 81). This pattern of subsis- omy, future generations and their possible tence economy of the indigenous people in adaptation and coping strategies in response the CHT signifi cantly differs from the semi- to increasing population and loss of land and capitalistic agricultural economy of the plains natural resources in the hills. The impact of in Bangaldesh. a changing socioeconomic situaiton, domina- Thus, cultural and economic infl uecne tion of the Bengali business syndicate, and of the hill, forest, and biodiversity or eco- the penetration of the market economy has logical system on the life of the Pahari is im- created a challenge for the traditional subsis- mense. The attachment of the Pahari people tence economy of the indigenous farmers. to this natural environment and land is insep- As discussed above, traditionally the Pahari arable. The place is refl ected on every aspect people used to live solely on the hills, for- of the Paharis’ economic system, living pat- est, land and river for their livelihood. They tern, housing type, food practices, rituals, be- would enjoy a communal and collective land- lief systems, and gendered division of labor, ownership by giving revenues to the tradi- which is markedly different from the way of tional sociopolitical authority. The Pahari life of the Bengalis of the plains. Accordingly, people who live in the hills were the owners the local indigenous people emphasize four of the hills, land, forest, and natural resourc- key criteria: place, time, nature and sources es, but when the idea of propriety claims and of livelihoods, and the tradition and the dis- the conception of private ownership of land tinct pattern of lifestyles as the rationale for was developed and implemented in the CHT, the Pahari people began to encounter a seri- connecting place to their collective Pahari ous economic problem. As Schendel (1992, identity. In other words, social, cultural, and 122-123) wrote: political construction of the Pahari identity is directly linked to the possession or protec- The territorial thinking has developed 37 DIVERSIPEDE VOL. 1, NO. 2, 2012

strongly in reaction to proprietary claims of their pride and sense of belonging, by the British crown and its successor which as understood by them, necessar- governments, the introduction of private ily refutes cultural diversity among them. property rights in land, and exploitation Nevertheless, this study identifi es three key of the region’s resources. Among the in- aspects—place, social life, and economic-po- habitants of the hills, whose precolonial litical relations—between Bengali and non- forebears didn’t feel any particular close- Bengali ethnicities in the CHT. These factors ness to each other because they happened are intertwined and inseparable to the collec- to occupy the same tract of the hill land, tive Pahari identity construction process. It the possession of a homeland has now has already been discussed above how place become a core element in the construc- and political-historical relationships with the tion of a shared identity. Bangladeshi state and the Bengalis together Thus, the fear of the dispossession of rights infl uence the indigenous people in forming to land, hills, and natural resources is one various shared identities (e.g., the Jumma, the of the main reasons for why such shared Pahari). Now I will discuss how culturally identity has been constructed despite ethno- differentiated ethnic groups of people con- cultural differences within these groups. If verge to form a shared identity and how they the Pahari don’t have rights to the hills, it separate other groups in context of social might create a great threat to their existence, and cultural aspects of life and inter-ethnic to their livelihood and economy, culture and relations. identity. Since the hill people are generation- Ethnic boundaries and convergence of diverse ethnicities ally dependent on the traditional knowledge of shifting cultivation and other modern The place is not just a setting for social forms of farming in the hills, it seems to be and economic actions or the refl ections of diffi cult for many of them to fi nd alternative a particular way of life of the people. The means of livelihood. place can be used to represent the temporary grounding of ideas as well, as we experienced “COLLECTIVITY” AND “OTHERNESS”: in the case of the CHT (Rodman 1992). Be- COMPARING THE PAHARI-BENGALI sides, the territorial and ethnic boundaries of IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION the social relations among the Pahari play a Discussion clearly refl ects that the so- critical role in creating an alliance within or cial, cultural, and political construction of alienating others (i.e., the Bengalis). As de- the Pahari is deeply connected to a specifi c scribed above, different ethnic groups such place, the CHT. This Pahari identity has its as the Chakma, Marma, Tripura, Tanchang- local meaning and contexts, interpretations, ya, Lushai, Ahamiya, and Gurkha live in this and enormous implications for the lives of study community. There is a certain ethnic the people concerned. As Ahamed (2006, boundary for each of these ethnic groups 372) observed: based on their distinctive cultural and social organizations (e.g., religion, language, mar- The usage of the term Pahari bears its riage, kinship, sociopolitical leadership sys- own inclusive mechanism of cultural tem). Despite their ethnic and cultural dif- and geographical boundary maintenance ferences, all of these ethnic groups adopt a specifi c to CHT. Pahar symbolises the common sociopolitical identity, the Pahari. special distinction of territorial and cul- This dimension of the convergence of di- tural boundary between Pahari and Ben- verse ethnicities can be explained in relation gali people, highlights the only authenthic to the conception of “ethnic boundary”: home and place for the Pahari. Their unique lifestyle in CHT has become part The ethnic boundary canalize social 38 H.M. ASHRAF ALI PLACE AND CONTESTED IDENTITY

life—it entails a frequently quite com- passed by preparing and serving special items plex oragnization of behaviour and social of foods such as cakes, sweetmeat, and pachan relations. The identifi cation of another (mixed vegetables) to relatives and guests. Fi- person as a fellow member of an ethnic nally, the fi rst day of the Bengali New Year group implies a sharing of criteria for is marked by inviting guests and visiting rela- evaluation and judgement. It thus entails tives and tasting food including liquor, and the assumption that the two are funda- blissing the children and youth by the elders mentally ‘playing the same game’, and (Chakma 2006, 20-22). Thus, these common this means that there is between them a social life practices preformed by the people potential for diversifi cation and expan- in the CHT aid in constructing the common sion of their social relaitonships to cover sociopolitical identity: the Pahari. eventually all different sectors and do- Separating and constructing ‘Other’ mains of activity [Barth 1970, 15]. The Pahari people use the demarcation In this perspective, the construction of territorial and cultural boundaries as the of the Pahari identity within diverse ethnic main criteria in demonstrating their cultural groups in the CHT is based on the sharing distinctiveness from the Bengalis. Patterns criteria for evaluation and judgement (Barth of inter-ethnic relations are also a key aspect 1970, 15). Of course, there are certain indi- that mark differences between the Pahari and vidual and group interests and other social the Bengalis. In most cases, as this study ob- and economic forces that act in motivating serves, the Pahari people identify the Bengalis these diverse ethnic groups to form a shared as the “settlers” and by other negative terms identity. For instance, they live in the same such as Bangiya (strangers/outsiders from place, and they have a common interest to the plains). From an ethno-cultural point of protect their land and natural resources from view, all of the indigenous people are non- the intrusion of the state and the Bengalis. Muslims and their mother tongue isn’t Ben- They are also exploited and discriminated gali. In this regard, the identifi cation of the socially and economically by the Bengalis in Bengalis as outsiders or Bangiya implies that, their everyday life. In order to achieve relief as Barth (1970,15) describes, there is from the domination and exploitation they face, the Pahari want to establish social, eco- a recognition of limitations on shared nomic, and political freedoms. There is also understandings, differences in criteria for a closeness of social life among these ethnic judgement of value and performance, groups as they share some common rituals and a restriction of interaction to sectors and cultural practices including Biju, Boisha- of assumed common understanding and bi, etc. The Biju, the biggest social festival of mutual interest. the indigenous people of the CHT (for more In other words, there is a negative relation- information, see The Daily Star 2010), is cel- ship of “assumed common understanding ebrated for three consective days beginning and mutual interest” (Barth 1970, 15) re- from the second-last day of the past Ben- garding social, economic, and political issues gali year to the fi rst day of the new Bengali between the Pahari and the Bengalis in the year—that is, from April 12 to April 14. The CHT. The relationship between the Pahari grand festival is to say goodbye to the past and the Bengali is confl ictive because the im- year’s sorrows and welcome the new year migrant Bengalis were settled in the lands of with hope for a prosperous future. The fi rst the CHT previously occupied by the Pahari. day is marked by fl oating fl owers on Kaptai There is also an issue of lack of mutual trust Lake, rivers, or water fountains seeking divine and shared understanding, as these two rival blessings and prosperity. The following day is groups are struggling with each other to se- 39 DIVERSIPEDE VOL. 1, NO. 2, 2012 cure their supremacy in the CHT region in That day a Pahari was saying that it is our re- regard to land, economic and political rights. gion we cannot accept the presence of Ben- The Bengali settlers began migrating gali settlers here.”2 This statement implies after the independence of Bangladesh in that the Pahari are the authentic owners of 1971. Based on the narratives of key infor- the hills and lands in the CHT, and the Pahari mants from Pahari communities, this study still view the presence of the Bengali settlers found that the social, economic, and politi- as problematic, a barrier for their social and cal relationship between the Pahari and the economic development. Bengalis was positive before the liberation CHANGE, ASYMMETRY OF POWER, war in 1971, but the situation has changed. AND CONTESTED IDENTITY Bengalis are now perceived as “bad people,” “rapist,” “torturer,” and “killer” by the Pa- As manifested in the above discussion, hari (Schendel 1992, 122). Since the Bengalis the construction of the Pahari identity is not were allegedly involved in various misdeeds independent of prejudgements and contes- and criminal activities such as transgress- tation. It is more of the regional, territorial, ing the lands and natural resources owned economic, and sociopolitical than mere cul- by the Pahari, kidnapping, rape, killing, and tural similarities and differences between the extortion, the Pahari began to change their Pahari and the Bengalis. Besides the recent previous positive perceptions (Halim et al. Bengali immigrants, local Pahari often ad- 2005; Karim 1998). Many indigenous people dress them as settlers, Bangiya or sometimes lost their land and homes and became refu- outsiders, there are a large number of Ben- gees as a result of the social instability cre- gali people who have been living in the CHT ated by rehabilitation of the Bengali people region since the British colonial period. Note, in the CHT region. This resettlement policy however, the British local administration set- was (and still is) considered a nuisance, un- tled some Bengali farmers from the nearby acceptable, and a discriminatory political de- Chittagong district to teach the Pahari how cision which has been directly responsible to use the plough and other modern tech- for deteriorating inter-ethnic relationships nologies and to increase agricultural produc- between the Pahari and the Bengalis. Even tion beyond that of the subsistence economy the relationship between the Pahari and the of jum cultivation. The Pahari people exclude Bengalis who have been living in the CHT the Bengalis from the Pahari categorization since the British period (1760-1947) disin- based on their cultural differences such as tegrated. The Pahari people hardly made a language, religion, economic activities, kin- distinction between Pahari and Bengali in ship, and political systems (Ahamed 2006, the past. The Pahari were used to living to- 371; Schendel 1992, 106). gether peacefully, they co-operated with each The logic of cultural difference used in other, and they rarely participated in ethnic separating the Pahari from the Bengalis has confl ict and violence like murder and arson weakened as the Pahari people are experienc- after the resettlement policy was established ing a signifi cant cultural and sociopolitical in the mid-1970s. Consequently, by identify- change in the post-peace accord development ing the Bengalis as Bangiya, the Pahari people era in the CHT. This study identifi ed that the are separating the Bengalis from the rights to cultural differences between the Pahari and live in the hills. A key Bengali informant said, Bengali has been reduced in the domains of “There are still some Pahari people who can- the style of dress, language, marriage, and so- not accept the presence of Bengali settlers. ciopolitical leadership. Most Pahari men and

2 Momen Ahamed, interview by Ashraf Ali. Rangamati, July 27, 2009, Interview #6. 40 H.M. ASHRAF ALI PLACE AND CONTESTED IDENTITY

women wear Bengali dress, speak in Bengali Dress, behavior, attitude, and pattern of dialect, and have adopted cultural traits and interaction with Bengali people have changed rituals from the pattern of Bengali marriage. signifi cantly for these ethnicities over the Religious transformation and interethnic last few years. One of the key indicators of marriage are notable examples of cultural changing inter-ethnic relationships is differ- change in the CHT. Pahari groups such as ent social and cultural functions and food the Tripura and Ahamiya are converting to practices. Nowadays, most marriage and cir- the religion of Christianity, abandoning their cumcision ceremonies, death or birth rituals, traditional religion of Hinduism. Change of and other major sociocultural and religious religion together with ethnic identity is also festivals (e.g., Biju, Eid, Pujas) are visibly a recent phenomenon in the CHT. For in- marked with the attendance of multiethnic stance, women have to change their religious groups of people with different types of and ethnic identities and even their personal foods. Bengali people participate in the social names if they are going to marry someone occasions of indigenous people (e.g., Biju, from other than their own ethnic group and marriage ceremony) and indigenous people religion. Pahari and non-Muslim Bengali participate in the socioreligious events of Pu- women have to sacrifi ce their traditional re- jas and marriage ceremonies of the Hindus, ligion of Buddhism or Hinduism whenever and Eid of the Muslims. If a Muslim person they wish to have husbands from other eth- organizes a ceremonial occasion, he invites nicities such as Bengali Muslim. A total of guests from multiethnic religious groups in- 37 cases of interethnic marriages were identi- cluding Hindus, Christians, and Buddhists, fi ed in recent years in the study area: within and including Chakma, Marma, Tanchangya the Pahari community, 25; between Pahari people. In this case, the host will serve food men and Bengali Hindu women, 6; and be- that can be eaten by all the guests. For exam- tween Pahari women and Bengali men, 6. ple, chicken or mutton will be served instead In the third category, all the Pahari women, of beef. Similarly, a Hindu or Chakma person including Marma, Tanchangya, Ahamiya, will serve food that is not taboo for any guest and Gurkha, had to change their traditional attending there. In other words, food taboos religion, ethnic identity, titles, and names. are seriously taken into consideration for in- They had to adopt a new ethnic and religious viting guests from different ethnicities. Such identity in accordance with the religious and a trend of social and cultural behavior stands patriarchal tradition of their Bengali Muslim as a symbol of respect and tolerance for husbands. Interestingly, there is no instance each other’s social and cultural practices. The where a Bengali Muslim woman married a personal experience of eating together in a non-Muslim man. Based on the narratives of given place under certain circumstances may the couples this study observed, interethnic transform the event as a whole into a shared marriages may happen because of passion, and collective experience of mutual trust and social and cultural proximity, and economic respect, equity, and pleasure. Thus, sharing factors. Social, cultural, and religious resem- foods and eating together can be a powerful blance is found as one of the dominant fac- symbol of social solidarity, friendship, and tors for the high incidence of inter-ethnic celebration (Korsmeyer 1999). Such changes marriage between non-Muslim Bengali and in the lives of the Pahari and the Bengalis non-Bengali people in the study area. The indicates that the antagonistic relationship weak socioeconomic background of parents between these two groups is diminishing, at sometimes may have forced some young least to some extent. women to choose life partners from other Change has also been observed in the ethnicities and religions. pattern of dress used and worn by indige- 41 DIVERSIPEDE VOL. 1, NO. 2, 2012 nous girls and women, particularly the Chak- confl icts (e.g., marriage, divorce) or disputes ma, Marma, Tripura, and Tanchnagya, who over land under their jurisdiction. This po- are traditionally used to wearing a slightly litical leadership is traditionally dominated shorter dress than that of Bengali girls and by males. However, the effectiveness of this women. They are now tending to leave their sociopolitical system has been reduced with traditional dress for certain social and eco- the introduction of local government admin- nomic realities. In order to better adapt to istration (e.g., Union Parishad, Municipality) changing social and cultural situations, and in the CHT. For instance, the study locality to participate in educational institutions or is part of Bangladesh’s Rangamati Munici- in other public domains, Pahari girls and pality. This is also under the jurisdiction of women are adopting the style of dress from the Chakma Circle Chief, a headman, and a the cultural mainstream in Bangladesh. Edu- Karbari. The local government representa- cated girls seem to have a tendency to wear tives are elected both from the Bengali and Bengali-style shalwar kamiz, a three-piece the Pahari communities. The changing role dress; indigenous women mostly wear the of the traditional sociopolitical leadership saree like the Bengali women, leaving their brings a different experience for the Pahari traditional thamis and pinon when they are out people as they are exposed to more dynamic of the home. Of course, they still wear their and democratic political systems instead of traditional dresses in their own traditional so- patriarchal, male dominated, hierarchical cial and cultural programs. Change has also power structures. In practice, most disputes been observed in the dress of the indigenous centering on land, marriage, and other social men. This change is largely infl uenced by the issues are now settled by the elected politi- greater exposure of the Pahari people to the cal representatives, police stations, or by the wider society in Bangladesh, the increasing courts. rate of education, and the positive interac- In this connection, the construction of tion with the Bengalis. collective Pahari identity based on cultural The Pahari people have also experi- demarcation between the non-Bengali eth- enced an important change in terms of their nicities in the CHT and the Bengalis of the traditional sociopolitical structure in the plains involves overlapping and contestation. CHT. Unlike the other parts of Bangladesh, Moreover, there exists social and economic the CHT has local government administra- inequality and asymmetry of power relations tion with the traditional three administrative within the diverse ethnic groups such as the circles—the Chakma Circle, the Mong Circle, Chakmas, which are percieved as the most and the Bomong Circle—for three separate advanced among all the ethnic minorities in hill districts—Rangamati, Khagrachari, and terms of their social, economic, and political Bandarban, respectively. Each circle is di- development in the CHT. vided into a number of Mouzas, and each Internal power asymmetries, domina- Mouza, a group of villages regarded as an ad- tion, and deprivation are some of the com- ministrative unit of government, particularly mon predicaments which appear for the for revenue collection, is further divided into indigenous people, turning a shared iden- hamlets or villages (Zabarang Kalyan Samity tity (e.g., Jumma, Pahari) into a “political 2012). The Circle Chief is mainly responsible pipe-dream” (Schendel 1992, 124). Even if for administrative functions including land it is compared with that of the Bengalis, the and revenue and dispute resolution. Each Chakmas are almost in line with the Bengalis Mouza has its own headman to collect rev- because they hold some important economic enue for the Circle Chief, and a Karbari as- and political positions in Rangamati, includ- sists the headman in resolving internal social ing on the CHT Regional Council and Ran- 42 H.M. ASHRAF ALI PLACE AND CONTESTED IDENTITY gamati Hill District Council, as well as the for a majority of the Pahari in the CHT, given Chakma Circle Chief; they are also involved current socioeconomic realities. In practical in different government and non-govern- terms, both the internal and external dynam- mental organizations with the Bengalis. As ics of the social, political, economic lives of Schendel (1992, 124) wrote: the CHT people appear as fundamental chal- lenges to strengthening feelings of belong- Acceptance of the Jumma identity de- ing to a community, to mobilizing the diverse pends on the degree to which old inter- ethnicities in order to bring all members to- group perceptions can be neutralized. For gether in one political platform—the Pahari. example, some groups consider them- selves more ‘advanced’ than others; this is CONCLUSIONS especially clear in the traditional division The place—the CHT—is central to the between ‘river-valley’ groups (e.g., Marma construction of the collecitve Pahari iden- and Chakma) and ‘hill-top’ groups (e.g., tity. The Pahari, like Jumma, has appeared as Bawm, Mru and Khumi). a form of imagined community, promoting From this persepctive, the idea of a col- a sense of community-belonging among di- lective identity—the Pahari—is equivocal, verse ethnicities in the CHT despite the ex- especially because of internal dynamics of istence of inequality, asymmetry of power, domination, hierarchies, ignorance, and ex- and contradiction within (Anderson 2006). ploitation. It seems that there exits a recog- The collective Pahari identity has been rep- nition of limitations on shared understand- resented as a sysmbol of protest against the ings and mutual interest within the diverse discriminatory political policy of the state of ethnicities (Barth 1970, 15). For example, the Bangladesh and the intrusion of the Ben- Chakmas are in better positions, both in the galis in the CHT. For the Pahari people, the education and government sectors, because CHT has a “unique reality” (Rodman 1992). they can avail the special quota allotted for all It seems that there is a shared meaning when the disadvantaged ethnic groups in the CHT. the Pahari separate them from the Bengalis Small ethnic groups such as the Tanchangya, of the plains. Certainly, there is a signifi cant Pankhua, Khiang, Mro, Khumi, and Bawam difference of cultural and historical experi- are deprived of these social and economic ences between the peoples who live in the opportunities because they are relatively mar- hills and in the plains. Culturally, the Pahari ginal, both in terms of economic and politi- set themselves apart from the Bengalis in cal power (Ali and Ahsan 2005; Uddin 2008). terms of their non-Islamic religious outlook The way of life of the most of these eth- and different mother tongues. Historically, nic groups has meanwhile been infl uenced the Pahari people have shared a unique ex- by the changing socialpolitical, cultural, and perience, as they have been repeatedly in- economic situations in recent years. Many vaded by outsiders since before the colonial of the Pahari have gradually been connected past (Schendel 1992). Of course, there is in with the wider Bangladeshi society because actuality much ethnic mobilization based on of their increasing physical mobility. Increas- cultural and historical background. For ex- ing population growth, land loss, and limited ample, the indigenous political leadership or lack of sources of livelihoods in the CHT has succeeded in mobilizing the diverse eth- have forced both poor and non-poor Pahari nic groups through the construction of such to migrate to other towns and cities in Ban- shared identities as the Jumma in the mid- gladesh. Pahari people often migrate to ur- 1970s. The indigenous political movement ban centers such as Chittagong and Dhaka to under the leadership of the PCJSS from the seek jobs, business and education opportuni- 1970s to the 1990s contested the military ties, and for other purposes. This is inevitable force of Bangladesh, a protest against dis- 43 DIVERSIPEDE VOL. 1, NO. 2, 2012 criminatory political policies, including the cultural relations. In this regard, the dynamic infl ux of the Bengalis from the plains into construct of place—the CHT—represents the CHT, led to the CHT Peace Accord in the innovative conceptualization of the in- 1997. The government declared to protect digenous people (e.g., the Jumma, the Pa- social, economic, and political rights of in- hari). This is part of an endeavor to achieve digenous people, though the major provision social, economic, and political freedoms (Sen of this agreement has not been fully imple- 1999). The idea of ‘Pahari’ has already been mented yet. Nevertheless, the Pahari political turned into a form of political identity and leadership is encountering internal political into a salient social and economic move- rivalry from a new regional political party, the ment. Dispossession of land, changes in tra- United People’s Democratic Front (UPDF), ditional patterns of livelihood, deprivations, formed in 1998 by a group of the Pahari pro- and uncertainty about the economic future testing the peace accord between the PCJSS are key factors infl uencing the Pahari to form and the Government of Bangladesh (Uddin a shared sociopolitical identity in the CHT. 2010, 27). The UPDF demands regional au- Unlike the direct confrontation with the tonomy for the CHT, which is not a provi- Bangladesh state that took place in the mid- sion in the peace accord. Both the PCJSS and 1970s, the Pahari people are now engaged the UPDF are currently involved in political in devising new strategies to adapt better to dispute over this issue. Whereas the PCJSS changing times. Obviously, the construction seems liberal, the UPDF is very much con- of a shared sociopolitical Pahari identity is servative in maintaining political relations part of this maneuver. Thus, the invention with Bengalis and the Bangladeshi state, es- of the Pahari identity itself is a response to pecially in pursuing their political demands. contemporary societal changes, demonstrat- ing the common goal of turning this collec- Nevertheless, the political goal of both par- tive identity into a form of political existence ties is the same: to relieve the Pahari from the separate from the infl uence of the nation- economic and political domination of the state of Bangladesh. Bengalis and the nation-state of Bangladesh. I have argued here that the construction ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS of the Pahari identity is part of the continu- I am grateful to the Department of An- ous political resistance against the recurrent thropology, University of Alberta, for grant- discrimination, deprivation, and marginaliza- ing me both research and travel grants for tion by the state of Bangladesh, manifested conducting my PhD dissertation fi eldwork in in part by a demarcation of identity between Bangladesh in 2009 and 2011. I am immense- Pahari and Bengalis. The Pahari identity ly indebted to my PhD supervisor, Dr. Helen becomes more meaningful and signifi cant Vallianatos, for her invaluable inspiration, when it is used as a voice against the discrimi- continuous academic support, comments, natory economic and political stance of the suggestions, and direction throughout the Government of Bangladesh; it is a powerful process of conducting and completing my social, economic, and political symbol when fi eldwork and research. I must express my people dedicate themselves to protecting immense gratitude and respect to all of my their rights to land and livelihood. Instead of research participants, key informants, NGO internal cultural differences, the Indigenous offi cials and workers. Without their keen in- Pahari people bring place to the forefront in terest, valuable time, and profound and gen- the construction of this identity shared by erous support, the successful completion of diverse ethnicities. They deliberately exclude my fi eldwork in the CHT, Bangladesh, would Bengalis from the Pahari identity despite have been quite impossible. I am profoundly some signs of increasingly positive social and grateful to them for providing their full sup- 44 H.M. ASHRAF ALI PLACE AND CONTESTED IDENTITY

port throughout my fi eldwork in Bangladesh. nial state and minorities: ethnocide in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh.” Com- REFERENCES monwealth and Comparative Politics 48(3):281- AHAMED, FARID. 2006. “Culture Becomes 300. Politics, Politics Becomes Culture: Pahari CHAKMA, SHARDINDU S. 2006. The Festivals Identity and Ethnic Mobilization in CHT, of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Celebration and Bangladesh.” In Anthropology on the Move: Other Issues (in Bengali). Dhaka: Ankur- Contextualizing Culture Studies in Bangladesh, Prakashani. edited by Zahidul Islam and Hasan Shafi e, CHOWDHURY, RAHMAN AND MUHAMMAD, RAFI. pp. 367-382. Dhaka: University of Dhaka. 2001. Counting the Hills: Assessing Develop- AHSAN, SYED, AND BHUMITRA CHAKMA. 1989. ment in Chittagong Hill Tracts. Dhaka: The “Problems of National Integration in University Press Limited. Bangladesh: The Chittagong Hill Tracts.” DAILY STAR, THE (STAFF CORRESPONDENT). Asian Survey 29(10):959-970. 2010. “Hill districts wear a festive look on ALI, AHSAN, AND HASAN SHAFIE. 2005. Entitle- fi rst day of Biju.” April 13, 2010, online edi- ment and Deprivation: Selected Cases of Dis- tion. http://www.thedailystar.net/newD- crimination in Bangladesh. Dhaka: UNESCO. esign/news-details.php?nid=134155. ANDERSON, BENEDICT. 2006. Imagined Commu- ———. 2011. “Indigenous issue draws ar- nities: Refl ections on the Origin and Spread of guments.” August 8, 2011, online edition. Nationalism. London: Verso. http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/ ARENS, JENNE, AND KIRTI N. CHAKMA. 2002. news-details.php?nid=197739. “Bangladesh: Indigenous Struggle in the FETTERMAN, DAVID. 2010 Ethnography: Step-by- Chittagong Hill Tracts.” In Searching for step. Los Angeles: SAGE. Peace in Central and South Asia: An Overview of Confl ict Prevention and Peacebuilding Activi- HALIM, SADEKA, SUSMITA CHAKMA, AND RAJIB ties, edited by Monique Mekenkamp, Paul CHAKMA. 2005. Gender and Human Rights van Tongeren, and Hans van de Veen, pp. Violation in Chittagong Hill Tracts: The Post 304-324. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publish- Accord Situation. Dhaka: Bangladesh Free- ers. dom Foundation. AMMERSLEY ARTYN AND AUL TKINSON BARTH, FREDRIK. 1970. Introduction to Ethnic H , M , P A . Groups and Boundaries: The Social Organiza- 2007. Ethnography: Principles in Practice. Lon- tion of Culture Difference. London: George don: Routledge. Allen & Unwin. KARIM, LAMIA. 1998. “Pushed to the Margins: BHATTACHARYA, SAMIT, MONOJIT CHOWDHURY, Adivasi peoples in Bangladesh and the AND SUDESHNA SARKAR. 2005. “Infl ectional case of Kalpana Chakma.” Contemporary Morphology Synthesis for Bengali Noun, South Asia 7(3):301-316. Pronoun and Verb System.” Proceedings of KORSMEYER, CAROLYN. 1999. Making Sense of the National Conference on Computer Processing Taste: Food and Philosophy. New York: Cor- of Bangladesh 2005:34-43. nell University Press. BERNARD, HARVEY R. 2010. Analyzing Quali- LEVENE, MARK. 1999. “The Chittagong Hill tative Data: Systematic Approaches. London: Tracts: A case study in the political econ- Sage. omy of ‘creeping’ genocide.” Third World BHIKKHU, PRAJNALANKAR. 2007. “CHT on Quarterly 20(2):339-369. Historical Outline with Special Reference MOHSIN, AMENA. 2004. “Gendered Nation, to Its Current Situation.” Global Politi- Gendered Peace.” Indian Journal of Gender cian. Accessed April 1, 2012. http://www. Studies 11(1):43-64. globalpolitician.com/23185-india. NASREEN, ZOBAIDA, AND MASAHIKO TOGAWA. CHAKMA, BHUMITRA. 2010. “The post-colo- 2002. “Politics of Development: ‘Pahari- 45 DIVERSIPEDE VOL. 1, NO. 2, 2012

Bengali’ Discourse in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.” Journal of International Development and Cooperation 9(1):97-112. UDDIN, NASIR. 2008. “Living on the Margin: The Positioning of the ‘Khumi within the Sociopolitical and Ethnic History of the Chittagong Hill Tracts.” Asian Ethnicity 9(1):33-53. RODMAN, MARGARET. 1992. “Empowering Place: Multilocality and Multivocality.” American Anthropologist 94(3):640-656. SEN, AMARTYA. 1999. Development as Freedom. New York: Knopf. UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME. 2009. Socio-economic Baseline Survey of Chit- tagong Hill Tracts. Dhaka: UNDP UDDIN, MUHAMMAD. 2010. “Change in Lan- guage, Communication and Thought: A Study on Linguistic Discrimination against the Indigenous People of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh.” Studies in Litera- ture and Language 1(1):25-37. VAN SCHENDEL, WILLEM. 1992. “The Inven- tion of the ‘Jummas’: State Formation and Ethnicity in Southeastern Bangladesh.” Modern Asian Studies 26(1):95-128. ZABARANG KALYAN SAMITY. “History of the Chittagong Hill Tracts.” Accessed March 30, 2012. http://zks-bd.org/the- chittagong-hill-tracts/history-of-the-chit- tagong-hill-tracts/.

46 SPANISH SUPREMACY: WHEATEN BREAD AND PANADERÍAS IN COLONIAL POTOSÍ Keltie Mechalski

ince 1493, when the Spanish fi rst attempt- of Potosí, a colonial mining town in the heart Sed to bring wheat to the New World with of the Andes range. Unlike the non-Spanish Columbus’s second voyage, it was clear that it dominated pulperías (small grocery stores) and would be a struggle. Each of their numerous chicherías (taverns that sold chicha, a maize beer) attempts to grow wheat locally in the humid of colonial Potosí, the majority of large and and hot conditions of the Caribbean was a small-scale panaderías (bakeries) were owned miserable failure. The grain was of poor and and run by Spaniards. By looking closely at uneven quality or simply did not germinate. the religious, social, and traditional attributes El Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, a writer and his- of the diverse society that existed there, it is torian from the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru, possible to understand why this was one of recalled that “the anxiety of the Spaniards to the only industries into which non-Spanish have the things of their own country trans- peoples could not break. planted to the Indies was so strong that no The Greek myth of the goddess Deme- danger or trouble seemed great enough to ter, who taught men to gather, use, store, and prevent them from trying to realize their de- sow wild wheat, introduced a cultural break- sires” (Figueroa 2010, 305). The importance through for mankind. Men turned away from of this grain was such that even though it their lives as hunters and gatherers to em- had already failed multiple times, Columbus brace civilization only after Demeter shared and his successors continued their endeav- her knowledge of cultivation and initiated the ours until they discovered that wheat grew agrarian cycle (Baudy 1995). Early modern well on the same land as maize. From that Europeans were acquainted with ancient per- point on, wheat and wheaten bread thrived spectives on the natural world but also drew in the Andes Mountains. on Christian ideology when considering the Though El Inca Garcilaso could recall a importance of bread. “The ‘Lord’s Prayer’ time without wheaten bread, Africans, mes- refers to (our daily) bread as the necessary tizos, and indigenous peoples soon joined nourishment of the body, and indeed accord- Spaniards in consuming it. At the same time, ing to the gospel of John, Jesus declared him- urban Indians and Africans advanced into the self to be bread: ‘I am the living bread which production and sale of bread, in both forced came down from heaven: if any man eat of and voluntary labour. Thus, bread “created an this bread, he shall live forever.’ (John 6:51)” important colonial enterprise and transformed (Figueroa 2010, 303). This strong Catholic af- the Andean marketplace” (Mangan 2005, 96). fi liation to bread makes it easy to understand Although wheaten bread thrived and became why the Spanish felt such desire and urgency a dietary staple in the colonial viceroyalties to acquire a secure crop and in turn to pro- of Peru and New Spain, its production, un- duce wheaten bread in the New World. With- like other enterprises, remained dominated by out the bread, Spaniards could not properly Spaniards. This trend can be examined more perform Mass, and therefore could not prop- closely by looking at the thriving marketplaces erly worship their god. The conquest of the

Undergraduate student; Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta Author contact: @ualberta.ca

DIVERSIPEDE, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 47-49, 2012 47 DIVERSIPEDE VOL. 1, NO. 2, 2012

New World was not solely motivated by prof- tural identity” (Figueroa 2010, 308). The direct its, but by religion. relationship between the Sun, the life-giving When Cristoforo Colombo went to the god, and maize was never overlooked by the Spanish monarchs Fernando and Isabella, Incas. In the most sacred building complex in religion was his driving motivation. He was Cuzco, known as the Coricancha, it was said successful in his proposals because the mon- that there was a fi eld of gold maize and this archs had just successfully completed La maize as well as chicha were offered to the sun. Reconquista in 1492. The Spanish reclaimed Although Spanish and Indigenous cultures Spain in the name of Christianity and ban- shared a common cultural attribute, grain, nei- ished all Islamic peoples from the country. ther was willing to accept the traditions of the After hundreds of years of religious tur- other, and differences emerged. moil, the monarchs were eager to express Francisco López de Gómara, a widely their gratitude to God and saw Colombo’s read Spanish chronicler, wrote in 1553 that proposal as a striking opportunity to do so. “they did not have wheat in all the Indies, This gratitude was demonstrated in efforts to which are another world, a huge lack given strengthen Christianity within the country as what we are used to here” (Figueroa 2010, well as to evangelize the New World. 301). Europeans observed that maize, pota- Upon arrival in the New World, Colom- toes, and manioc (or cassava, or yucca) fi lled bo wrote in a letter that the indigenous peo- the “food role that wheat and other cereals ple “allende d’esto se fazan cristianos, y se inclinen played in the Old World” (Figueroa 2010, 306). al amor é servicio d e Sus Altezas y de toda lanación Maize, the most widespread of the three, re- castellana – might become Christians and be minded Europeans most strongly of familiar inclined to the love and service of their high- grain-producing grasses (Figueroa 2010, 306). De Gómara wrote in his history of the Indies: nesses and of the whole Castilian nation” (Jane 1988, 9). This positive recognition of a Maize is, to conclude, a very good thing, possible Christian civilization and of a Span- and the Indians will not leave it for wheat, ish Imperial state was the beginning of cen- from all I know. The reasons given are im- turies of Spanish rule in Latin America. In portant, and they are: they are used to this this context, bread was not only a substance bread, they feel well with it; maize serves for nourishment, but also a defi ning symbol them as bread and wine, maize multiplies of Christianity and therefore a defi ning fea- more than wheat and grows with fewer ture of Spanish identity and power. problems than wheat, not only from Maize, a starchy, corn-like grain, played water and sun but also from birds and an equally defi ning and religious role in the beasts. Maize requires less work: one man lives of the Maya, the Nahua, and the Inca. In alone sews and harvests more maize than the lives of these people, maize had an impor- one man and two beasts sew and harvest tant place in the historical and religious tradi- wheat [Figueroa 2010, 301]. tions as shown through the presence of maize Indigenous peoples were deeply rooted in gods, maize rituals, maize iconography, and their traditions as a means to survive in the maize stories. “The Maya oral tradition … tells harsh colonial world of Potosí, where Span- of gods experimenting with different materi- ish colonialism contradicted, overlooked, als to create human beings, until they fi nally and many times rejected their traditions. created people out of maize dough, leaving no At the mining metropolis of Potosí doubt about the central place of maize in Maya in the early seventeenth century, a notice- culture. Nahua babies were not given a name able shift from chuño (freeze-dried potatoes) until they had eaten their fi rst maize-based and chicha to bread and wine occurred, and food, thereby receiving an individual and cul- this shift came to connote social distinction 48 K. MECHALSKI WHEATEN BREAD AND PANADERíAS IN COLONIAL POTOSí (Saignes 1999, 108). Due to an increasingly through new territory, it is no wonder that stratifi ed society, each class developed a dis- the adoption of wheat was resisted, and that tinctive way of life, including a unique food the non-Spanish population came to such culture. This food culture highlighted the odds with the panadería industry. Whether it preference for and symbolic value of wheat- was because of religion or social standing or en bread over ‘Indian breads.’ It is quite evi- tradition, the majority of non-Spanish peo- dent that the racial and class structure of co- ples served the paid help of their Spanish of- lonial society was refl ected in a hierarchy of fi cials and owners. Inarguably, with or with- breads. At the top was wheaten bread, which out the industrial domination of Spaniards, had the prestige of the dominant class and wheaten bread and panaderías became a thriv- religion. Maize bread, in accordance with re- ing industry in the New World. The ability gional preferences, came in second place and of the Spaniards to integrate wheaten bread was adopted by a large number of the Span- into this and many other societies may be ish Americans, but it could not rise to the their greatest feat. Five hundred years after level of wheat (Figueroa 2010). Columbus’s fi rst attempt to bring this grain This hierarchy was, needless to say, to the New World, wheaten bread remains a dominated by the Spaniards. This domi- staple of South American diets. It has tran- nation was due to two simple factors: race scended the boundaries of religion, class, and and fi nancial stability. Bread was a symbolic time. As long as there are lands to sow, rains representation of Spain in the colonies, and to nurture, and hands to work, it will remain therefore showed that the Indigenous were a thriving business for centuries. situated at the bottom. Although it was pos- REFERENCES sible to change one’s status and climb up the BAUDY, GERHARD. 1995. “Cereal diet and the hierarchy, one could not achieve this without origins of man: Myths of the Eleusinia in great perseverance and know-how. It was the context of ancient Mediterranean har- also more diffi cult for non-Spanish bakers to vest festivals.” In Food In Antiquity, edited access the substantial amount of capital re- by John Wilkins, pp. 177-195. Exeter: Uni- quired to purchase bulk fl our, so these bakers versity of Exeter Press. usually opened small-scale operations. Small- FIGUEROA, LUIS M. 2010. “The Staff of Life: scale operations typically catered to a smaller Wheat and ‘Indian Bread’ in the New area and earned a smaller profi t (Mangan World.” Colonial Latin American 19(2):301- 2005, 99). The bread hierarchy that existed 322. in Potosí can be summarized by saying that JANE, CECIL. 1988. The Voyages of Columbus: A Spaniards owned large- and small-scale History in Eight Documents, Including Five by panaderías and mainly sold their products to a Christopher Columbus, In the Original Spanish, variety of people, while non-Spanish people With English Translations. New York: Dover owned small-scale panaderías and sold their Press products mainly to the indigenous popula- MANGAN, JANE E. 2005. Trading Roles: Gender, tion in their ranchería (community). Ethnicity, and the Urban Economy in Colonial Although the non-Spanish inhabitants Potosi. Durham: Duke University Press. of colonial Potosí played a crucial role in the SAIGNES, THIERRY. 1999. “The Colonial Con- panadería industry, they rarely became owners dition in the Quecha-Aymara Heartland of panaderías. Where an established religion (1570-1780).” in The Cambridge History of described maize, not wheat, as the “holy” the Native Peoples of the Americas, Volume 3, grain, where to run a bakery you needed Part 2, edited by Frank Salomon and Stu- Spanish blood and a large sum of money, art B. Schwartz, pp. 59-137. Cambridge: and where weathered traditions led the way Cambridge University Press. 49 DIVERSIPEDE VOL. 1, NO. 2, 2012

MISSION STATEMENT Diversipede [daɪ·vər·sɪ·pid], a peer reviewed journal published by the anthropology student associations at the University of Alberta, seeks to provide a forum for students to gain their voice though the experience of academic publishing. As the name suggests, this publication is “powered by diversity,” a defi nition that applies not only to the content sought, but to the discipline of anthropology as a whole. Through the act of writing and submitting a paper or reading and editing submissions, it is Diversipede’s goal to allow both undergraduate and graduate students a chance to experience the process of professional publishing fi rsthand. It is the desire of Diversipede to highlight the high level of scholarly ability of anthropology students, and to highlight current research interests. About the UAAU

The University of Alberta Anthropology Undergraduates (UAAU) is a student associa- tion that promotes an undergraduate community within the Department of Anthropology. Our group encourages both academic and social activities and offers a great way to get to know people in the anthropology department. For more information, visit www.uaau.ca or email [email protected]. About AGAS

The Association of Graduate Anthropology Students (AGAS) represents graduate stu- dents within the Department of Anthropology at the University of Alberta. Every graduate student automatically becomes a member when they begin their graduate program. For more information, visit www.arts.ualberta.ca/~agas/ or email [email protected].

50 SUBMISSIONS

Diversipede welcomes submissions from undergraduate and graduate students covering any of the traditional four fi elds of anthropology (cultural, physical, linguistic, and archaeolo- gy), as well as non-traditional fi elds. Currently registered students at any accredited academic institution are invited to send their best work to the attention of the Editor at diversipede@ gmail.com. For graded term papers or independent research, a letter grade of A or higher is strongly suggested; original research is also welcome. Articles are read as anonymous submissions by a minimum of two reviewers of equal or higher academic standing, and if possible from the same subdiscipline. You will be noti- fi ed within one month whether your article has been recommended for inclusion in a future volume of the journal. Reviewers’ comments on recommended articles are returned to out- line any necessary changes, with revised copy read by our entire review board prior to fi nal acceptance. You will be advised on any further editing required, but substantive changes are not accepted after this time. Papers must adhere to the Chicago Manual of Style, with citations following the Author- Date format. Incorrectly formatted papers may be excluded from consideration. Graphics for print should be in greyscale (B&W) with a minimum resolution of 300 dpi; submit separate hi-res copies if they appear in-line with your text. Colour graphics normally will appear in our online edition only; consult with the Editor on whether a budget exists for colour print- ing, and ensure that colour images for print are in the CMYK rather thn RGB colour profi le. Please address any other inquiries on our submissions policy to the Editor. CONTENTS

1 GET THAT CAMERA OUTTA MY FACE: ETHICS IN DOCUMENTARY MEDIA Matthew Hayes

12 NON-MODERN AFRICA AND MODERN NON-AFRICA: INTERTEXTUAL DISCOURSE ABOUT WHO WE ARE AND WHERE WE CAME FROM Mat J. Levitt

25 SPRECHEN WIR DEUTSCH? THE CONSTRUCTION OF IDENTITY IN AUSTRIA AND SOUTH TYROL Barbara L. Hilden

31 PLACE AND CONTESTED IDENTITY: PORTRAYING THE ROLE OF THE PLACE IN SHAPING COMMON SOCIOPOLITICAL IDENTITY IN THE CHITTAGONG HILL TRACTS, BANGLADESH H.M. Ashraf Ali

47 SPANISH SUPREMACY: WHEATEN BREAD AND PANADERÍAS IN COLONIAL POTOSÍ Keltie Mechalski

DIVERSIPEDE Vol. 1, No. 2, May 2012