Transformative sensemaking: Development in Whose Image? Keyan Tomaselli and the semiotics of visual representation

The defining and distinguishing feature of homo sapiens is its ability to make sense of the world, i.e. to use its intellect to understand and change both itself and the world of which it is an integral part. It is against this backdrop that this essay reviews Tomaselli's 1996 text, Appropriating Images: The Semiotics of Visual Representation/ by summarizing his key perspectives, clarifying his major operational concepts and citing particular portions from his work in support of specific perspectives on sense-making. Subsequently, this essay employs his techniques of sense-making to interrogate the notion of "development". This exercise examines and confirms two interrelated hypotheses: first, a semiotic analysis of the privileged notion of "development" demonstrates its metaphysical/ ideological, and thus limiting, nature especially vis-a-vis the marginalized, excluded, and the collective other, the so-called Developing Countries. Second, the interrogative nature of semiotics allows for an alternative reading and application of human potential or skills in the quest of a more humane social and global order, highlighting thereby the transformative implications of a reflexive epistemology.Web of Scienc

Discursos simbólicos e símbolos discursivos: considerações sobre a etnografia da identidade nacional

Partindo da ênfase recente que a teoria das nações vem dando ao caráter imaginado ou "construído" da comunidade nacional, este artigo procura estabelecer pontes com a teoria antropológica e analisar as implicações desse movimento para uma antropologia das identidades étnicas e nacionais. Em particular, seguindo a boa tradição empírica da disciplina, procura-se avaliar essas considerações teóricas tendo em vista possíveis desenvolvimentos da etnografia da formação e das políticas de identidade em contextos nacionais. Nesse sentido, é aqui esboçado o projeto de uma "antropologia do discurso", exemplificada com materiais oriundos de pesquisas sobre identidade nacional na Alemanha e no Brasil. A análise desses dois casos conduz à proposição de uma distinção teórica entre construção da identidade nacional centrada no discurso (Alemanha) e centrada nos símbolos (Brasil).<br>Starting from the recent emphasis that nation theory has been giving to the "imagined" and/or "constructed" character of the national community, the paper looks for connections with anthropological theory and analyses the implications for anthropologys perspective on national and ethnic identities. In particular, following the traditionally strong empirical orientation of the discipline, it also interprets these theoretical assumptions bearing in mind possible developments in ethnographic research regarding the formation and politics of identity in national settings. In this context, the paper sketches the concept of a "discourse anthropology" with examples from research on national identity in Germany and Brazil. The analysis of these two cases leads to a theoretical distinction between discourse-centred (Germany) and symbol-centred (Brazil) constructions of national identity