Bøger af Esther Fihl

"Dette er en bok til å bli klok av."Frode F. Jacobsen, Akademiske SygeplejerskerAntropologien er en videnskab af stigende betydning også for andre fagdiscipliner, som låner metode og teori fra antropologien. I denne bog gives de nyeste eksempler på antropologernes egen metodiske praksis fra formulering af et problem til dets teoretiske løsning. Gennem konkrete beskrivelser af antropologiske undersøgelser af fx en byggeplads i København, et hjerneforskningslaboratorium, en gruppe kvinder i Vietnam, soldater i Kosovo og hemmelige selskaber i Vestafrika m.m., kvalificeres det antropologiske feltarbejde, og antropologiens særlige vidensfelt indkredses. Bogen viser den nære sammenhæng mellem teori og praksis og er dermed også et bidrag til en diskussion af nogle videnskabelige grundlagsproblemer ved begyndelsen af det 21. århundrede. [] Ind i verden. En grundbog i antropologisk metode[] er redigeret af Kirsten Hastrup, professor ved Institut for Antropologi, Københavns Universitet. Bogens små 20 bidrag er skrevet af antropologer der hovedsageligt er tilknyttet danske universiteter.

I 1620 etableredes den første danske bosættelse på den indiske halvø, i den lille fiskerlandsby Trankebar, der vender ud mod Det indiske Ocean ved Coromandelkysten i det sydlige Indien. I løbet af de næste 225 år fungerede Trankebar som kolonial handelsstation under dansk flag, indtil det blev solgt til briterne i 1845. Fra 1784 boede de udstationerede danske guvernører af Trankebar i et smukt og prangende hus, bygget i en unik, hybrid kolonialarkitektur.Denne bog bruger det hus som en prisme, hvorigennem forfatterne præsenterer og analyserer en række emne, heriblandt selve bygningens arkitektur og indretning; guvernørerne og deres familiers følelser af på én gang at være både hjemme og langt hjemmefra; de kulturmøder og -udvekslinger, der fandt sted mellem husets beboere og deres indiske stab samt det bredere indiske miljø af handlende, tempelpræster, royale udsendinge osv.; de komplicerede politiske landskaber, hvori alle guvernørerne måtte manøvrere og balancere pres fra andre magter i området, indiske såvel som europæiske; samt Trankebars status som en repræsentant for Danmark placeret i en indisk ramme, der var præget af kaster baseret på komplekse økonomiske udvekslinger samt rang- og identitetsritualer.Med sine historier fra det danske Trankebar, en af de mindre spillere på det indiske kontinent, afdækker bogen nye analytiske perspektiver af international politik og alliancer i det koloniale Indien og kan dermed nuancere studiet af kulturmøder med Europa – et fagområde, der i høj grad er blevet determineret af den altoverskyggende britiske tilstedeværelse.Bogen hægter sig op på den stadig voksende interesse for steder med rige koloniale og postkoloniale historier, ikke kun i Indien, men over hele verden.Esther Fihl, dr.phil., er antropolog og professor emerita fra Institut for Tværkulturelle og Regionale Studier ved Københavns Universitet, hvor hun også har været leder for Centre for Comparative Cultural Studies. Hun er specialiseret i Trankebars for- og nutid og har skrevet talrige værker om den danske tilstedeværelse og kulturmøder i Indien og Centralasien. Fra 2004 til 2016 var hun forskningsleder for Nationalmuseets Tranquebar Initiativ, et af museets store, internationale forskningsinitiativer der samlede mere end tyve forskningsprojekter under sig.

In the 1890s, the Danish lieutenant Ole Olufsen set out to lead two expeditions to Tsarist Central Asia. Exploring areas that were still blank on European and Russian maps, the participants spent more than a year travelling on horseback in the Pamirs and adjacent valleys bordering Afghanistan, China, and British India.Among mountain peaks reaching as high as 8000 metres, they lived with Kyrgyz nomads who carved out an existence for themselves above the tree line with their sheep, goats and yaks.Travelling along the right-hand side of the river Pandsh, they were the first Europeans to collect ethnographical information on the transhumant pastoralists in the elevated valleys bordering Afghanistan.On the steppes of the western lowlands, the Danish expeditions stopped in Samarkand, Khiva and Bukhara, commercial hubs on the old Silk Road. As official guests of both the emir of Bukhara and the khan of Khiva, they studied the handicrafts of the bazaars and the irrigation agriculture practiced by the Tajiks and Uzbeks.On visits to Merv they also spent time with Turkmen nomadic tribes who had only recently been fighting the Russian colonial power.Esther Fihl offers an in-depth study of these Danish expeditions and presents the magnificent collection of objects brought back to the National Museum of Denmark. Drawing on diaries, reports and published works and a scrutiny of the guiding principles for their collecting of objects, she demonstrates how these explorers portrayed the cultures encountered. A key aspect in her presentation of the ethnographical collection is the description of the Danish cultural and academic setting. She shows how the portrayals made by the Danish explorers reflect their own cultural perceptions and values, as well as the practical circumstances under which these representations were produced in Central Asia. This work is a treasure for anyone interested in Central Asia, early anthropological theory, material culture, or European travel literature.Contents: Written sources and beyond – The Danish setting in the 1890s – Travelling on a museum assignment – Collecting objects – The museum life of the objects – Kyrgyz nomads in the Pamirs – Catalogue – Agropastoralists in Vakhan – Catalogue – Turkmen nomads in Merv – Catalogue – The Khanate of Khiva – Catalogue – The Emirate of Bukhara and the Russian-controlled part of Turkestan - Catalogue – Representations of Central Asia – Conclusion – Appendix I: List of museum register numbers – Appendix II: Technical terms and materials – Russian summary – Bibliography – Unpublished documents – General index – Index of personal names and authorities – Geographical index.Published in 2002 in the series The Carlsberg Foundation's Nomad Research Project. 2 volumes, hardcover with dust jacket. 736 pages. 515 illustrations – 165 in colour – and 12 maps (e.g.: Key to the maps in vol. I-II, Olufsen’s maps of the Alitshur Pamir, Merv oasis, Khanate of Khiva, Emirate of Bukhara, Political sketch of Central Asia in the late 19th century, Travel route of the two Danish expeditions, A sketch of the culture-geographical areas established by Olufsen through his collecting of objects on the two Danish expeditions)Esther Fihl (born 1953) is professor emeritus at the University of Copenhagen. Before focusing on the study of colonial history of Central Asia, she specialized in India and did anthropological fieldwork among Tamil fishermen in the former Danish colony Tranquebar. For a Scandinavian audience, Esther Fihl has published extensively on Danish travel literature and colonial encounters in different parts of the world in the 17th to 19th century. She is an appointed member of the Danish Research Council for the Humanities.

In the 1890s, the Danish lieutenant Ole Olufsen set out to lead two expeditions to Tsarist Central Asia. The participants spent more than a year travelling on horseback in the pamirs and adjacent valleys bordering Afghanistan, China, and British India. This title presents a study of these Danish expeditions.

Through ethnographical cases, this book examines the ways in which social groups position themselves between cultures, states, moralities, and local/state authorities, creating opportunities for agency. Alternative spaces designate in-between spaces rather than oppositional structures and are both inside and outside their constituent elements.