OM SANDALFØDDER OG MULIGHEDEN FOR FORANDRING

Abstract

both the inferiority experienced by lowerclass

Brazilians and the particular role

of storytelling in the communication of

anthropological insights. The two aspects of

the article are related through the use of stories

(here defined as recounts of particularly

revealing moments during field-work) in the

description of a metaphorical relationship

between broad feet, poverty and second-class

citizenship. Brazil is a society penetrated by

social inequality in all aspects of daily life.

The media bombardment of advertisements

for products of all sorts increases the sense

of inferiority among the poor. Signs on the

body like grey, uncared-for skin and broad

feet due to sandal use are experienced as the

embodiment of ignorance and lack of selfcontrol.

The informant Sonia explains the

position as a “sandal foot” (pé de chinelo)

with her story about lack of recognition and

an often violent attitude towards lower-class

Brazilians in the sphere of consumption as

well as the health care system. In addition,

a particular situation is described, in which

the anthropologist witnesses a medical

doctor misread a poor woman’s attempt

to appear respectable. The anthropologist

feels her impotence and detachment as

an observer, while she dressed as a nurse

unwillingly participates in the humiliation

of the woman. This kind of experience, it is

argued, provides a broadened understanding

of human ex-perience, which may renew – in

the anthro-pologist as well as her reader – the

respect for the Other, crucial to any struggle

for rights on a formal, and in the common

sense, political level. The use of stories as

vehicles for this kind of understanding and,

more pragmatic-ally, for the anthropologist’s

viewpoint in a highly politicized debate

is justified by the particular capacity of

storytelling. Stories about moments during

fieldwork merge the “knower” and the

known, it is argued, and engage the reader’s

imagination and experience in the attempt to

follow the process of knowing. They may

therefore provide a richer understanding of

anthro-pological insights than descriptions

based on information and explanation alone.

Besides, stories are per definition positioned,

as there would be nothing to tell if nobody had

sensed, felt and thought anything. Therefore,

the telling of stories clearly engages the

reader in an interpretation of the relationship

between field, anthropologist and text. These

two aspects of storytelling, the transportation

of the reader to the field site by way of

imagination, and the demand on the reader’s

ability to interpret told situations, allow for

a reflection upon human conditioning and

the resulting plurality of perspectives. It also

allows the anthropologist to put forward her

perspective without postulating any superior

knowledge.