Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

English

The generically challenging work of W.G. Sebald is the point of departure for this essay, which reflects on the role of evidence and research in literary and non-literary works and the affinities between anthropological and literary ethnographies. The crucial place of borders and passports for the exile is discussed, as is the importance of photography for the constitution of exilic memories and identities. The essay concludes with reflections on the diasporic photography of Frédéric Brenner. Exilic ethnography is connected to an ethics of memory.

French

L'œuvre littéraire de W. G. Sebald - difficile à catégoriser - est la base de cet essai. L'objectif est d'analyser le rôle joué dans la production tant littéraire que non-littéraire d'un mode de représentation qui évoque la recherche. Quelles sont les affinités entre ethnographies anthropologiques et ethnographies littéraires? Pour l'exilé, la frontière est un obstacle à franchir et le passeport un moyen indispensable pour fuir. Ainsi, tous deux jouent un rôle clé dans l'imaginaire d'exil. Enfin, notre essai traite de la photographie diasporique de Frédéric Brenner, en concluant que l'ethnographie de l'exil est liée à une éthique de la mémoire.

Keywords

Autobiography Diaspora Ethnography Exile Identity Memory Photography

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Barthes, R. (1977) Image-Music-Text. London: Fontana/Collins .

Becker, H. (2001) “Georges Perec’s Experiments in Social Description” , Ethnography 2(1): 63-76 .

Bellos, D. (1995) Georges Perec: A Life in Words. London: Harvill Press .

Benhabib, S. (2002) “Citizens, Residents and Aliens in a Changing World: Political Membership in the Global Era”, in U. Hedetoft and M. Hjort (eds) The Post-national Self: Belonging and Identity, pp. 85-136. Minneapolis and London: University of Minnesota Press .

Blanchard, T. (2004) “Introduction”, in F. Brenner (ed.) Diaspora: Homelands in Exile, Vol. 2: Voices, pp. vii-ix. London: Bloomsbury .

Boyarin, D. (1992) Storm from Paradise: The Politics of Jewish Memory. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press .

Brenner, F. , ed. (2004a) Diaspora: Homelands in Exile, Vol. 1: Photographs. London: Bloomsbury .

Brenner, F. , ed. (2004b) Diaspora: Homelands in Exile, Vol. 2: Voices. London: Bloomsbury .

Carpentier, A. (1977) Reasons of State. London: Writers and Readers Publishing Cooperative .

10.

Cavell, S. (2004) “Departures”, in F. Brenner (ed.) Diaspora: Homelands in Exile, Vol. 2: Voices, p. 133. London: Bloomsbury .

11.

Clifford, J. (1997) Routes: Travel and Translation in the Late Twentieth Century. Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Press .

12.

Dayan, D. (2004a) “The Rickshaw and God’s Associate”, in F. Brenner (ed.) Diaspora: Homelands in Exile, Vol. 2: Voices, pp. 33-34. London: Bloomsbury .

13.

Dayan, D. (2004b) “Passion Play in Tykocin”, in F. Brenner (ed.) Diaspora: Homelands in Exile, Vol. 2: Voices, pp. 122-123. London: Bloomsbury .

14.

Doyle, R. (1999) A Star Called Henry. London: Jonathan Cape .

15.

Doyle, R. (2004) Oh, Play that Thing. London: Jonathan Cape .

16.

Dylan, B. (2004) Chronicles, Vol. One. New York: Simon and Schuster .

17.

Geertz, C. (1975) “Thick Description: Towards an Interpretive Theory of Culture”, in The Interpretation of Cultures, pp. 3-30. London: Hutchinson .

18.

Ghosh, A. (2001) The Glass Palace. London: Harper Collins .

19.

Hobsbawm, E. (1995) Age of Extremes: The Short Twentieth Century 1914-1991. London: Michael Joseph .

20.

Jaggi, M. (2001) “The Last Word” , The Guardian 21 December; available at: www.http://books.guardian.co.uk

21.

Krauthausen, C. (2001) “W.G. Sebald: Crecí en una familia posfascista alemana” , El Paíś 14 July; available at: http://www.elpais.es/suplementos/babelia

22.

Löfgren, O. (2002) “The Nationalization of Anxiety: A History of Border Crossings”, in U. Hedetoft and M. Hjort (eds) The Postnational Self: Belonging and Identity, pp. 250-274. Minneapolis and London: University of Minnesota Press .

23.

Macdonald, S. (2001) “British Social Anthropology”, in P. Atkinson et al. (eds) The Handbook of Ethnography, pp. 60-79. London and Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications .

24.

Perec, G. (1975) W ou le souvenir d’enfance. Paris: Editions Denoël .

25.

Poupko, Y. (2004) “Testimony”, in F. Brenner (ed.) Diaspora: Homelands in Exile, Vol. 2: Voices, p. 122. London: Bloomsbury .

26.

Ruggiero, V. (2003) Crime in Literature: Sociology of Deviance and Fiction. London: Verso .

27.

Sachar, H.M. (1994) Farewell España: The World of the Sephardim Remembered. New York: Vintage Books .

28.

Schlesinger, P. (2003) “On Literary Ethnography: An Essay”, in G. Liestøl , B. Skov and O. Solum (eds) Mellom mediene: Helge Rønning 60 år, pp. 105-118. Oslo: Unipub forlag .

29.

Schlesinger, P. (2004a) “W. G. Sebald and the Condition of Exile” , Theory, Culture & Society 21(2): 43-67 .

30.

Schlesinger, P. (2004b) “On the Irrelevance of the Cold War: Some Reflections on the Work of W. G. Sebald”, in R. Janssens and R. Kroes (eds) Post-Cold War Europe, Post-Cold War America, pp. 109-118. Amsterdam: VU University Press .

31.

Sebald, W.G. (1997) The Emigrants. London: Harvill Press .

32.

Sebald, W.G. (1998) The Rings of Saturn. London: Harvill Press .

33.

Sebald, W.G. (2000) Vertigo. London: Harvill Press .

34.

Sebald, W.G. (2001) Austerlitz. London: Penguin Books .

35.

Sebald, W.G. (2003) On the Natural History of Destruction. London: Hamish Hamilton .

36.

Sontag, S. (1979) On Photography. Harmondsworth: Penguin .

37.

Statewatch (2003a) “EU: Buffer States and ‘Processing’ Centres” , Statewatch: Monitoring the State and Civil Liberties in the UK and Europe 13(2): 1-2 .

38.

Statewatch (2003b) “Biometric ID Documents Herald a Global Identification System” , Statewatch: Monitoring the State and Civil Liberties in the UK and Europe 13(3/4): 1 .

39.

Statewatch (2003c) “UK Takes Lead on Surveillance of Passengers” , Statewatch: Monitoring the State and Civil Liberties in the UK and Europe 13(5): 1 .

40.

Statewatch (2004) “EU: ‘Anti-terrorism’ Legitimises Sweeping New ‘Internal Security’ Complex” , Statewatch: Monitoring the State and Civil Liberties in the UK and Europe 14(5): 1 .

41.

Todorov, T. (1990) Genres in Discourse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .

42.

Vargas Llosa, M. (2001) The Feast of the Goat. London: Faber and Faber .

43.

Williams, R. (1976) Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society. London: Fontana and Croom Helm .

44.

Williams, R. (1977) Marxism and Literature. Oxford: Oxford University Press .

Exiles and ethnographers: an essay

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References