Ethnofiction and subjectivity: thinking in terms of shared anthropology

Abstract

In this work I suggest to research the ethnofiction production — which is a specific style of ethnographic film — in terms of the outcome of the ethnographic encounter. The idea is to emphasize the central role of the subjective dimension in the ethnofiction construction process. The association of the ethnofiction to a representation mode implies a specific relation between the anthropologist and the actors-subjects of the research. Through film analysis, as the present text is characterized, I establish some connections between the ethnofiction's creation process and the theme on the anthropologist's authority position in face of his subjects. For this purpose, I compare some scenes of the two ethnofictions under consideration: La Pyramide Humaine, by Jean Rouch (1961), and Transfection, by Johannes Sjóberg (2007). This task points out the character of the relationship produced by the creative process: it is reflexive, improvised and shared.