Archaeology and Apprenticeship: Body Knowledge, Identity, and Communities of Practice

12. Writing Craftsmanship? Vocabularies and Notation Systems in the Transmission of Craft Knowledge

240 CHAPTER TWELVE Writing Craftsmanship? Vocabularies and Notation Systems in the Transmission of Craft Knowledge Lise Bender Jørgensen In Western philosophy of science, academic knowledge is traditionally perceived as fundamentally different from the forms of knowledge embedded in craftsmanship. Theoretical knowledge is viewed as something that can be put into books, and taken out of them. Further, knowledge about something is viewed as qualitatively distinct from the subject; application of knowledge is seen as a separate element. Knowledge mirrors or copies reality, can be formulated in words or in the language of mathematics, and, ideally, is eternal (Molander 2004). Going back to Plato and Aristotle, this has been further developed by the empiricists and rationalists and is generally referred to as the Cartesian dichotomy. According to this view, natural sciences are perceived as an academic ideal. Theoretical knowledge is considered as scientific, in contrast to practical knowledge or skill. Verbalization is regarded as an important defining aspect; knowledge that cannot be transferred into words is generally not accepted as academic knowledge. In recent years, the dichotomy of theory and practice is being queried, by scholars, professionals, and also by craftspeople (Bender Jørgensen 2003, 2007, with further references). It is an international development, started by, for example, the philosophers Gilbert Ryle (1949) and Michael Polanyi (1958, 1966) and the urban planner Donald Schön (1983, 1987). Transmission of Craft Knowledge 241 Schön opened an inquiry into the epistemology of practice, investigating how professionals think in action and how their skills are transmitted. Anthropologists and archaeologists also have begun deflating the dichotomy between body and mind, led by, among others, Timothy Ingold (2000) and Marcia-Ann Dobres (2000). In Scandinavia, thoughts such as these have gained sizable ground. Delving into Polanyi’s concept of tacit knowledge, Scandinavian scholars distinguish between knowledge based on familiarity and experience, and talk of the practical intellect and an epistemology of professional knowledge (Almevik 2011; Göranzon 1993; Göranzon and Florin 1990, 1991, 1992; Göranzon et al. 2005; Göranzon and Josefson 1988; Molander 1996, 2004; Sjömar 2011). Craftspeople have also made important contributions (Ciszuk 2007; Godal 2001; Hammarlund 2005; Tempte 1990). The idea of a practical intellect is the philosophy behind new institutions such as the Norwegian Crafts Development (www.maihaugen.no) and the Crafts Academy of Stockholm (www.sthf.se), both of which forward the documentation and preservation of crafts and techniques through archives of practicing craftsmen, crafts scholarships and further means (Buggeland 2000; Löfgren 2011;Martinussen 2005; Winbladh and Bengtsson 2003). In 2008, the Vocational College of Craft in Mariestad, Sweden , became Hantverkslaboratoriet (the Craft Laboratory) and is part of Göteborg University (www.craftlab.gu.se). The same year, Sør-Trøndelag University College in Trondheim, Norway, established a Bachelor of Arts program in technical restoration of historical buildings aimed at students with a background in crafts. Both institutions have invested in grants for doctoral students who also have craft backgrounds (Eriksson 2011; Hjort Lassen 2011; Høgseth 2007; Järefjäll and Sjömar 2011). Together with proposals for the establishment of professional universities, such as the University of Borås (www.hb.se), these efforts represent further steps toward academization of craftsmanship, as do the Dialogue Seminars established in 1985 by Professor Bo Göranzon at the Royal Institute of Technology (RIT) in Stockholm (www.dialoger.se). Göranzon created a Division of Work Science within the RIT’s Department of Industrial Economics and Management. A series of doctoral dissertations from Scandinavian universities investigate professional skills of various crafts (e.g., Guttorm 2001; Høgseth 2007; Planke 2001), artists (Ljungberg 2008), or professions such as hairdressers (Gustafsson 2002), assistant nurses (Alsterdal 2001), interpreters of sign language (Raanes 2006), or physiotherapy (Moe 2003; Steinsvik 2008). In 2009, a doctoral dissertation on musical improvisation was accepted at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in the form of a concert (Aase 2009). A vocabulary is beginning to emerge, bridging the gap between theory and practice. Terms such as tacit knowledge, knowing that versus knowing 242 Archaeology and Apprenticeship how, Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of habitus, and the concept of flow, minted by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and designating the psychology of optimal experience, all help us to discuss nonverbal knowledge in explicit, academic terms (Bourdieu 1986; Csikszentmihalyi 1990 [1985]; Polanyi 1966; Ryle 1949). The concepts of chaîne opératoire, minted by André Leroi-Gourhan...