6: Alternative Expressions of Anthropology Through Poetry

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The academy has set a narrow standard, not only for how the ethnographic method should be conducted, but also how its findings are expressed. As a result, the production of knowledge within academia has no creative expression, thus limiting its accessibility to a wider range of readership. Even so, concepts and ideas outside the academy have been expressed through various creative forms across different cultures for centuries to communicate certain knowledges as accurate to their desired meaning as possible. This goes far beyond the use of analogies and metaphors; it includes the very structure of writing itself, such as non-linear forms. Poetry, creative writing, art, as well as other creative forms of writing may benefit the academy if they are used and embraced. By thinking, and writing, outside the academic box, anthropology can benefit a much wider audience by making itself more accessible to those outside the discipline.  

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Poetry, our focus for this week, is just one of many examples that reveal how knowledge, especially of an ethnographic nature, can be communicated in new and exciting ways. Over the next few modules, we’ll explore more forms of alternative expression. 

For this week’s tutorial, come to class with your favourite spoken word poem (via YouTube)!