The Embarrassment of a Middle-aged Anthropologist

We know that the first "Avatar" The unique special effects completely revolutionized the viewing experience of 3D movies. But its basic story structure is not new. In a way, it can be seen as an alien version of "Dances with Wolves". That is, a story in which an observer chooses to integrate into the society of the other in order to understand the other.

So the first part of "Avatar" can be regarded as a (film) ethnography about the Na'vi people written (filmed) by earth anthropologist Jack.

Jack, like Malinowski, ate and lived with tribal peoples, learned their languages, and even went one step further: dressed as a Na'vi appearance (i.e. Avatar appearance).

He observes and describes the Na'vi people's politics (chief system), economy (ecological way), The institution of kinship (intermarriage), the resolution of disputes (with the authority of the Turk Makdo) and, above all, religious rituals (the god Ava).

Finally, he also profoundly complained about the destruction of nature by those radical modern industries.

This ethnography has undoubtedly achieved unprecedented success.

But the publisher (main creative team) and readers (audience) may not allow him to retire early. Therefore, more than ten years later, the middle-aged Jack was forced to come out again, and was asked by the publishing house to write a new work, and he had to write it quickly.

Jack:

Why did you not urge me in the past ten years, but now you suddenly want to I wrote?

Having no works for more than ten years, it is not so easy to enter the academic state. But Jack wanted to try it anyway. He originally wanted to practice the "extended case" advocated by Gluckman directly on the basis of the first volume.

But I didn't expect that today's academic market is too introverted. The publishing house has made it clear:

The ethnography of the second part will be replaced by a field subject!

So, in desperation, Jack, who brought his family with him, had the courage to leave his comfort zone and choose a relatively unfamiliar ocean tribe.

The object is determined, how to arrange the structure?

Jack probably has the following three options:

First, according to the first part Structure, describe the politics, economy, kinship system, dispute resolution, etc. of the marine tribes.

Second, choose one of the topics of politics, economy, kinship system, and dispute resolution, and write an ethnography in a subfield of anthropology, such as legal ethnography .

Third, don’t be sure about the structure first, settle down first, and observe slowly, maybe there will be some interesting discoveries.

Among the three options, the first is the easiest, but not innovative; the second and third are innovative, but take some time, And the expected outcome is unknown.

But in any case, Jack is not going to write about the "indictment against modern industry" (declaring war on illegal miners) mentioned at the end of the first part (So ​​he keeps avoiding "going to war").

Although the harmonious coexistence of man and nature is the first law of the entire planet, the first part of the model of "Na'vi VS Illegal Miners" has already been used Yes, and it has become deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

Jack felt that since he wrote it, he still had to innovate and not repeat the past.

But the publisher said to Jack:

Now the academic market is too competitive, you Look, those who used the external perspective in the past, for example, the villain of the first film, Colonel Kwach, has also learned the "theme perspective" now, and he has also become an Avatar. If you don't hurry up, maybe he will also learn "Deep drawing"...so, you have to write quickly! Your last two proposals are too time-consuming, just write according to the first one!

Therefore, Jack can only follow the pattern of the first part, and stuff all aspects of the ocean tribe into the structure of the first part.And because the time is too short, the observations are not in place, and the descriptions in many chapters are still superficial.

In addition, although the sea tribes have their unique local knowledge, overall, there is no essential difference between their political, economic, social, and cultural differences from those of the forest tribes. Therefore, readers do not feel that there are too many new ideas.

More importantly, since Jack, an anthropologist, entered the Ne’vi planet, these Ne’vi tribes have inevitably fallen into the globalization process (for example, many tribal chiefs can speak foreign languages), they can no longer be described as a closed self-sufficient state.

So, the logic of the second part is not smooth when dealing with this fact. The previous chapter was still a paradise for the Na'vi people, and the next chapter became the destruction of illegal miners. And the final chapter inevitably re-uses the model used at the end of the first part-"Na'vi VS illegal miners". It's also a bit boring to read.

Of course, the second part is not well written. In addition to the publisher’s eagerness to urge the manuscript and insufficient observation, another important factor is the child’s problem .

When the first book was written, Jack and his lover were still two people; by the time of the second book, he had become the father of four children. In addition to taking care of the children's diet and daily life, he and his wife also have to take care of the children's homework. Although on the surface they said that they were not chicken babies, in fact they did not miss any of the piano, chess, calligraphy, painting, and various remedial classes.

So, under such circumstances, Jack can still write a decent ethnography in a short period of time, which is very rare.