Publisher's Synopsis
The work of social analysis always raises the question of the interpretation of the data and the results obtained from therein. Canonical models favor the use of writing and often relegate other forms of iconographic writing in the critical understanding of symbolic shades of meaning, focusing instead on the demonstrative and argumentative rigor of writing. In the process of producing and disseminating knowledge in the social sciences, the timing of the inquiry, in particular, is an ideal interpretative situation not only to examine the transition from one factual order to another, but also to tracing its function in the scientific project. This book examines the ways in which the image is involved in the production, transformation and presentation of data from the field. The first section of the book questions the construction of individual and collective memories and identities. It interrogates how photography stands on the threshold of memory and continually questions the conditions under which individual and collective memory are exercised. The contribution reminds us that the image more than any other mode of representation forces researchers to question their position. The second part is devoted to the epistemology of images. Whether images are produced by the researchers themselves or collected during ethnographic fieldwork, their representation is of crucial importance yet is not always self-evident. The third part addresses the question of the presentation of the data from the field investigation through the analysis of photographs and also argues for an analysis of the rhythms, rare in social sciences, in order to grasp the complexities of global urbanization, and to tap performance and theatrical techniques to construct meaning through a sensuous scholarship approach. Contributors : Sylvaine Conord, Roger Cornu, Milton Guran, Emil Abossolo Mbo and Cassis Kilian, Katrin Langewiesche, Sylvain Maresca, Ralf Marsault, Jean-Bernard Ouédraogo, Albert Piette, Ioulia Podogora, and Mathieu Triclot.
