摘要
弗雷德里克·戴木德教授结合自己的学术研究背景和研究领域,回顾了自己在库拉圈一带的岛屿进行的民族志田野调查,探讨了水、树、环境、生产与人的生活之关系,戴木德教授强调结构主义对他思考方式的影响,认为索绪尔的"意义始于差异"观点十分重要,在库拉圈岛(Kula Ring)博约瓦(Muyuw)人那里苦(树)与甜(树)之间的差异和区分被运用到对不同树的分类与解释就是典型的例证。戴木德教授告诫人类学研究者必须"在历史典籍方面有所修为才行";他认为在历史的理解与人类学的理解之间,没有必然的抵牾扞格,只不过人类学家通常还要比历史学家更胜一筹,人类学家最终懂得更多。此观点值得人类学者谨记。
Dr. Bian Simei conducted an interview with Professor Frederick Damon of the University of Virginia in 2012. Their discussions focused on Professor Damon＇s anthropological fieldwork experiences on the islands that make up the Kula Ring, and his new fieldwork spot--Fujian, China. Professor Damon started to do his ethnographic research on an island in the South Pacific based on the presumption that people understood the island as a body, and later he shifted to the study of trees. This is because he came to know that trees were very important for the Muyuw people. In July 1996, Professor Damon started to combine his research of trees with the research of boats. This was because he came to understand that the most important trees for the most import boats came from the relationship between people＇s gardens and forests. The trees were personified by the local people, and the Muyuw people had their own way to distinguish the trees as female or male. The Muyuw people also have their own classificatory system, and there are always analogies between sets of things that are related. In order to acquire more knowledge about trees, Professor Damon also interacted with scientists during his process of doing research, including geochemists. Although one of the things Professor Damon was involved with during the 1980s post modernism and the critique of western science , what he wanted to try to do with his research was to engage himself with natural scientists in order to expand his field as much as possible. Sometimes,when Professor Damon shared his knowledge on forest systems learned from the natives, it would amaze the scientists that ＂savages＂ could have that kind of knowledge. From his experience, Professor Damon found that cooperative work with natural scientists was very helpful for his research, and this kind of mutual - learning is necessary. Professor Damon also was critical that some of the anthropologists or scientists were not good at understanding things in relationship to each other. This was because they just buried themselves in their desks, and never looked up.
出处
《民族学刊》
2014年第5期78-83,123-124,共8页
Journal of Ethnology
