Potentialities of an ethnography of streets of the past

Authors

  • Fraya Frehse Universidade de São Paulo

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2316-9133.v15i14-15p299-317

Keywords:

Historical Anthropology. Ethnography. Epistemology. Ethnographic perspective. Ethnography and everyday life.

Abstract

Based on the theoretical and meth-
odological background of my doctoral thesis in his-
torical anthropology (Frehse 2004), this paper aims
at reflecting on ethnography’s potentialities for the
anthropological study of historical issues. Its specific
purpose is exploring the potentialities of an ethnog-
raphy of the São Paulo central streets between the
beginning of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th
century. In order to emphasize these potentialities,
the discussion follows in two steps. First I theoreti-
cally develop the thesis that ethnography may also
be present in anthropological studies of historical is-
sues as it is permeated with a specific epistemological
perspective: the ethnographic perspective. With the
aim of testifying to the consistency of the argument,
I evaluate the presence of ethnography in my own
doctoral study. It will then be possible to highlight
that ethnographic perspective has theoretical, meth-
odological and literary potentialities notwithstand-
ing ethnography’s unavoidable limitations for the
anthropological study of historical issues.

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Author Biography

  • Fraya Frehse, Universidade de São Paulo
    Professora do Departamento de Sociologia / USP
    Doutora em Antropologia Social / USP
    Pesquisadora NAU / USP
    Editou a Cadernos de Campo nos 5/6 a 9

Published

2006-03-30

Issue

Section

Special Section

How to Cite

Frehse, F. (2006). Potentialities of an ethnography of streets of the past. Cadernos De Campo (São Paulo, 1991), 15(14-15), 299-317. https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2316-9133.v15i14-15p299-317