- Collecting
- a
- decade
- of
- work
- from
- iconic
- anthropologist
- and
- writer
- Michael
- Taussig,
- The
- Corn
- Wolf
- pinpoints
- a
- moment
- of
- intellectual
- development
- for
- the
- master
- stylist,
- exemplifying
- the
- “nervous
- system”
- approach
- to
- writing
- and
- truth
- that
- has
- characterized
- his
- trajectory.
- Pressured
- by
- the
- permanent
- state
- of
- emergency
- that
- imbues
- our
- times,
- this
- approach
- marries
- storytelling
- with
- theory,
- thickening
- spiraling
- analysis
- with
- ethnography
- and
- putting
- the
- study
- of
- so-called
- primitive
- societies
- back
- on
- the
- anthropological
- agenda
- as
- a
- way
- of
- better
- understanding
- the
- sacred
- in
- everyday
- life.The
- leading
- figure
- of
- these
- projects
- is
- the
- corn
- wolf,
- whom
- Wittgenstein
- used
- in
- his
- fierce
- polemic
- on
- Frazer’s
- Golden
- Bough.
- For
- just
- as
- the
- corn
- wolf
- slips
- through
- the
- magic
- of
- language
- in
- fields
- of
- danger
- and
- disaster,
- so
- we
- are
- emboldened
- to
- take
- on
- the
- widespread
- culture
- of
- academic—or
- what
- he
- deems
- “agribusiness”—writing,
- which
- strips
- ethnography
- from
- its
- capacity
- to
- surprise
- and
- connect
- with
- other
- worlds,
- whether
- peasant
- farmers
- in
- Colombia,
- Palestinians
- in
- Israel,
- protestors
- in
- Zuccotti
- Park,
- or
- eccentric
- yet
- fundamental
- aspects
- of
- our
- condition
- such
- as
- animism,
- humming,
- or
- the
- acceleration
- of
- time.A
- glance
- at
- the
- chapter
- titles—such
- as
- “The
- Stories
- Things
- Tell”
- or
- “Iconoclasm
- Dictionary”—along
- with
- his
- zany
- drawings,
- testifies
- to
- the
- resonant
- sensibility
- of
- these
- works,
- which
- lope
- like
- the
- corn
- wolf
- through
- the
- boundaries
- of
- writing
- and understanding.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
