Abstract:

The work of the Scollons contains a number of conceptual developments that open new pathways towards a maturely theorized ethnography. Two such developments are discussed in this paper: the emphasis on the body, and the emphasis on space. Both developments show how the Scollons connected synchronic events with historical patterns of becoming. Their notion of the ‘historical body’ sees the body as enskilled through trajectories of learning and acquisition, and their notion of space sees space as demarcating and normative. This connection between synchrony and history enables ethnography to transcend the problem of atemporality and anecdotism.

Author: Jan Blommaert, April Huang