Sensuous Scholarship

Acknowledgments

The paths authors follow from the conception, the gestation, and finally the birth of their books are rarely, if ever, solitary ones. More than most authors, anthropologists depend on a wide variety of people and institutions to support their research and writing. This book would have never come to life without the support, encouragement, and critical insight of a wide variety of friends and colleagues in the Republic of Niger, France, and the United States. Whatever insights I may have gained as a scholar derive in large measure from ongoing field studies among Songhayspeaking people in Niger and New York City. For the past twenty years, my fieldwork has been generously supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Science Foundation, the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, and West Chester University. I am also grateful for funds from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities and hospitality from the School of American Research, all of which provided time and space for reflection and writing. I thank the Government of Niger for granting me authorizations to conduct ethnographic research in Mehanna and Tillaberi in western Niger. There are many people to thank for their direct and indirect contributions to this book. In Niger, the friendship of Dioulde Laya, Director of the Organization ofAfrican Unity's Center for Oral, Linguistic, and Historical Tradition, has been a source of great inspiration. The kindness and hospitality of Thomas Price, Hadiza Djibo, and the Djibo family have made my visits to Niger sparkle with good cheer and stimulating conversation-indispensable elements for the anthropologist in the field. I have learned much about anthropology from the example of colleagues in France. Although we often disagree about social theories and ethnographic practices, the scholarly work of Marc Piault,Jean-Pierre Olivier de Sardan, Alice Sindzingre, Suzanne viii Acknowledgments Lallemand, Laurent Vidal, Edmond Bernus, the late Suzanne Bernus, the late Nicole Echard, and the late Jean-Marie Gibbal has been much appreciated. The example ofJean Rouch, cineaste extraordinaire, has been an ongoing inspiration. In North America many friends and colleagues have commented on various chapters of this book. For their constructively critical thoughts I thank T. David Brent, John Chernoff , Rosemary Coombe, Alan Feldman, Alma Gottlieb, Laura Graham, John Homiak, Kirin Narayan, Cheryl Olkes, Marina Roseman, C. Nadia Seremetakis, and Richard Waller. I am also thankful for the fine commentaries of Phil Kilbride and David Napier who read the manuscript for the University of Pennsylvania Press. Their insightful observations steered me in fruitful directions. I am grateful for Jasmin Tahmaseb McConatha's careful reading of the entire manuscript. Her comments have substantially improved the book. Patricia Smith of the University of Pennsylvania Press has patiently urged me to write this book. I hope the result of my labors meets her expectations. * * * Some of the ·material in this book has been revised from previously published works. A version of Chapter 2 appeared as "Ethnographies as Texts/Ethnographers as Griots," American Ethnologist 20 (2) (1993): 353-67. A version of Chapter 3 appeared under the same title in American Anthropologist 96 (3) (1994): 634-49. A version of Chapter 5 appeared under the same title in American Anthropologist 98 (4) (1996): 776-88. A version of Chapter 6 appeared under the same title in Visual Anthropology Review 8 (2) (1992): 50-58. All copyright © American Anthropological Association. A version of Chapter 4 appeared in The Senses Still: Perception and Memory as Material Culture, ed. C. Nadia Serematakis. Boulder, Co.: Westview Press, 1994. Reprinted by permission of Westview Press. The names of interviewees in chapter 5 have been changed. ...