Rice University anthropologist edits new work of ethnographic fiction
A new work of ethnographic fiction edited by Rice University anthropologist Ilana Gershon shares imaginary stories — inspired by real anthropological field work — of how people around the world coexist with monsters.
“Living With Monsters,” (Punctum Books, 318 pages, $24 in print, free e-book), is a collection of 14 short stories written by top anthropologists around the world. It includes tales of monsters like ghosts, demons, goblins, aliens and the Jersey Devil and offers a fun, lively and engaging look at how people live with them.
The stories outline the do’s and don’ts of how to placate spirits in India, how to domesticate Georgian goblins, how to live with aliens and how to avoid being taken by Anito in Taiwan, while simultaneously highlighting the politics of monster-human relationships. The writing is informed by anthropological fieldwork in sites as diverse as urban Ghana, the rural U.S., remote Aboriginal Australia and the internet. The imaginative accounts demonstrate how thinking about monsters encourages people to contemplate difference, understand inequality and see the world from new angles.
“When anthropologists are doing fieldwork, they often meet people who are living with monsters,” the authors wrote. “This brings with it difficulties for the people themselves, who need to figure out how to live their lives alongside often terrifying and meddlesome beings, and quite a different set of difficulties for the anthropologists. Living with people who live alongside monsters is a poignant example of how participant observation often entails studying people who see the world differently than you do. It illustrates beautifully how fieldwork encourages anthropologists to start noticing things they had previously overlooked.”
While the stories in the book are works of fiction, Gershon said they have important lessons for the real world about how to live alongside beings who could turn dangerous at any moment, and how to live respectfully with people who believe the world is filled with beings others don’t think exist.