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Accepted Paper:
Paper Short Abstract:
This multimodal project exploring indigenous (non-)representation and tourism in Yellowstone National Park, conducted by a Swiss-Cambodian team, challenges traditional text-centered anthropological approaches by incorporating diverse sensory data, creating an interactive website.
Paper Abstract:
Multimodality in anthropology challenges text-centered approaches, but also goes beyond visual methods to encompass different sensory modalities (Westmoreland, 2022). This paper presents a multimodal research project on Yellowstone National Park that attempts to 'unwrite' traditional anthropological conventions about 'unwritten' perspectives on the park. Our research focused on indigenous (non-)representation and tourism. We ask: How does the creation of a multimodal, ethnographic website offer thick description and collaborative knowledge of the ‘unwritten’? What are the challenges to this in academia?
Our collective of four anthropologists from Switzerland and an indigenous activist from Cambodia used a variety of data collection methods such as photography, video, audio recordings, sensory ethnography and written notes. One key aspect of the project is its reflexive and processual approach, incorporating meta-research on the team's own positionality and potential biases. This multimodal approach diversifies anthropological methods and creates richer, more nuanced research outcomes.
The collective's website uses graphic art, images, audio, photos, video and text to engage multiple senses and perspectives, reflecting their sensory and collaborative research methodology. This approach aims to present research as an explorative journey, allowing users to navigate content at their own pace. The website's layered approach, stimulating multiple senses, offers a holistic and playful engagement with the ethnographic experience. The website dismantles the traditional hierarchy of written text as the primary mode of anthropological knowledge.
Through this endeavor, the collective demonstrates how multimodal methods can be instrumental in ‘unwriting’ traditions and what needs to be addressed in academia to create an enabling environment.
Beyond the written word: exploring practice-based knowledge through visual, art-based and participatory methods
Session 1