One of the principal methodological challenges in social anthropology is finding an appropriate descriptive language– one that would be comprehensible to diverse anthropological audiences, ideally spanning various scientific disciplines. However, above all, a language that can precisely convey the experiences of the individuals encountered by ethnologists during their research. This language should not only enable analytical comparison, but  also refrain from distorting the reality under investigation.

In works concerning Central and Inner Asia, as well as many other regions of the world, terms like “spirit-guardian of a place,” “caretaker of the mountain”, or “spirit of the river” are often found. Nevertheless, could the utilization of such terminology, in certain cases, be seen as an oversimplification?

Isn’t talking about the spirits of Altai, for instance,  almost equal to withholding the agency of what is, for the inhabitants of Altai, the most essential, and which, in the literal sense, constitutes the cornerstone of their lives – that is, the Altai mountains themselves?Początek formularza

Matters of the applicability of terminology stemming from posthumanism, new materiality, or enactivist approaches in ethnographic descriptions form integral components of Agnieszka Halemba’s long-term research project. The initial outcomes of this project can be accessed here: https://journals.iaepan.pl/ep/article/view/3128