Teaching Resources

Alternative Expression of Anthropology Through Poetry

Aims

• For students to question how ethnography is written and presented within the academy

• For students to learn alternative ways of writing and publishing ethnographic findings

• For students to engage with and produce alternative modes of knowledge production through means such as poetry

Activity

Step 1: 

• Teacher to show their favourite spoken word video via YouTube as an introduction to the topic.

Step 2 (10 mins):

• Brainstorm different forms of linguistic expression in a mindmap

  • Examples:

    • Poetry,  

    • Spoken word,  

    • Oral (creative use of time and pauses),  

    • Creative writing,  

    • Messaging (social communication),  

    • Script or playwriting (like the book ‘Among Wolves’),  

    • Calligraphy (the visual design of letters and words to aid in communicating the meaning),  

    • Stream of consciousness (what if the unadulterated notes of an ethnographer is what is published?)  

• Brainstorm different ways to frame and communicate abstract ideas  

  • Examples

    • Mindmap

    • Poem / song / calligraphy / word art, 

    • Full translation of the original language (which assists in getting to the linguistic roots). 

Discussion

• Are there examples of different cultural methods of conveying knowledge? 

• How is their epistemological worldview frames by these different modes, if at all? 

Step 3 (15 mins):

Discussion of Readings

• How did the three poems convey different literary portrayals (or ways of conveying knowledge)?  

• Were their respective portrayals [intellectual, emotional, experiential] appropriate for the context of their topic [the discipline, the ethics process, an ethnography]? 

• What patterns can be noticed in each poems’ structure? 

• How do these patterns foster a certain consumption of knowledge? 

  • Examples 

    • Anthropology’s Role 

      • Poem split into two parts, unevenly balanced 

      • Every second line has a full stop in the middle 

      • The frequent full stops and comas, 

      • Pauses prompt the reader to reflect more often 

    • Exhaustion 

      • Poem split into three parts, each with a different number of lines 

      • For some parts, every second line rhymes with 

      • Lines between do not rhyme, except in cases where there is repetition of rhyme 

      • This repetition triggers more flow, prompting increasing pace in the reader as emotional attempt to be heightened 

    • Doing UberEats 

      • Poem split into six parts, each with seven lines 

      • Each part has a different rule or patten of rhyme 

      • For some, the final word of two lines in a row rhyme 

      • Most parts have a repetitive pattern, but in those that do not, the abrupt lack of rhyme is in dramatic or important aspects of the experience 

      • Lack of rhyme used to trigger more focus in the reader 

• Is poetry useful in how it conveys meaning? 

Step 4 (20 mins)

• With a partner, share an experience you had on the weekend

• Write about your own experience in narrative form. Try and be as visceral as possible.

• Write a poem about their experience (based off what they told you orally, as well as their narrative)

• Present the poems to the class

  • How did the experience evolve through the different literary forms? 

  • Which form [oral, narrative, poetic] was easier to convey the experience? Why? 

  • Does the poem convey your partner’s experience accurately? Was it more accurate? Was it more intellectual, emotional, or experiential? 

Step 5 (10 mins)

• How can anthropology be enhanced through alternative methods of ethnographic writing and expression? Should it be inspired by other cultures’ ways of presenting knowledge?

• If time permits, watch some of the spoken word videos selected by members of the class.