Ethnography of Communication

Lecturers
Nikolaus Schareika

Course Description
It is one of the generally shared fundamental convictions of anthropology that language is a key to understanding culture and that learning the language of the research partners is a component and instrument of anthropological fieldwork. Both points are still relevant and relevant today. But paradoxically, they can also lead to an underestimation of the importance of language in the analysis of culture and society, because they make it appear as a simple means to an end. In the ethnography of communication, on the other hand, “language” is understood as “speaking”, i.e. as the dynamic communicative practice through which people enter into social interaction in the first place, i.e. through which they can act socially. From this perspective, the conceptual separation of “society” and “culture” on the one hand and “speaking” or “communicating” on the other is not helpful. Social action takes place when people communicate with each other. And when people talk to each other, they do so not only to transport information from A to B, but also to create social community and influence its work.
This theoretically immensely increased importance of language and communication as constitutive for culture and society is the subject of this module. We will deal with the social theoretical background and implications of this idea (and will also get to know various practical theoretical authors) and at the same time learn about research practical methods for the anthropological investigation of speech as social action and production of meaning. Furthermore, we want to review and discuss anthropological works and their manifold research results in this field. Accordingly, the module consists of the following three fields of work and study:

• Getting to know and understanding terms, theories and methods of ethnography of communication
• Get to know empirical analyses from the ethnography of communication and try out their approaches for yourself
• On the occasion of the Corona crisis, read and discuss an anthropological analysis (Briggs 2003) of the construction, circulation and political manipulation of narratives of an infectious disease and epidemic (cholera in Venezuela 1992)

The module is aimed at students in the Master’s and very advanced BA studies of anthropology who are interested in the understanding of culture and society as a dynamic practice and in language (as speech), discourse and communication in social contexts and who wish to explore this field of anthropology (and other social sciences) in its breadth and diversity. Active participation in this module also forms an important basis for participation in empirical study projects of Nikolaus Schareika’s working group.