Trash, teaching and the city: the "Big Hole Counter Narrative" project and the "Urban Anthropology: Research Methods and Fieldwork" course at Sol Plaatje University. Issue 1 (2nd January 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Truyts, Carina
• Is Part Of: Anthropology Southern Africa. Volume 41:Issue 1(2018)
• Page Start: 55
• Page End: 65
• Publication Date: 2018-01-02
• Subjects: Big Hole -- Kimberley -- narrative -- pedagogy -- Sol Plaatje University -- urban; Anthropology -- Africa, Southern -- Periodicals; Ethnology -- Africa, Southern -- Periodicals; Periodicals; 301.0968
• DOI: 10.1080/23323256.2018.1442732
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2332-3256

Abstract

Abstract : This essay reflects on an anthropology course developed at one of the two "post-apartheid" universities in South Africa. The course included collaborating with artists and a local dance/ performance troupe. It culminated in a film by Francois Knoetze (featuring collaborators), a musical performance by the Amandla Danca Teatro, and an exhibition by students. Knitting together practice, theory and alternative research and narrative methods, the course intervened on a developmentalist trajectory in the romantic "sparkling" narrative of Kimberley as the "city of diamonds." Alternative, ordinary and sometimes contested stories emerged.