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Paper short abstract

Based on research in the Archives of Portuguese anthropologist Jorge Dias, this paper argues that archival research is central not only to a more complete understanding of the works of past anthropologists, but also to the clarification of more controversial episodes in the history of anthropology.

Paper long abstract

Jorge Dias (1907-1973) was the most important Portuguese anthropologist of the 20th century. He obtained his PhD in Volkskunde at the University of Munich (Germany) in 1944. Back to Portugal he published extensively in Portuguese peasant cultures. In the late 1950s his attention turned to Africa, where, together with his wife Margot Dias, he did research among the Makonde of Northern Mozambique. This paper is based on extensive research in the Jorge and Margot Dias archives (National Museum of Ethnology). After a general characterisation of the archives I will present the methodologies I have adopted to their study, with particular emphasis on the archives’ sections that I have considered more important. Issues related to the challenges of 'fieldwork' in the archive and the differences between ethnographic ‘fieldwork’ in the archives and historical archival research will also be addressed. By exploring the role of archives in clarifying two controversial issues of Dias’ research – his possible links to Nazi Volksunde and his views on Portuguese colonialism in Africa – the paper also argues that archival research is central not only to a more complete understanding of the works of past anthropologists, but also to the clarification and eventual rectification of controversial episodes in the history of anthropology.