Reflections on Anthrobombing: Experiments in Performing, Publishing and Becoming with (Other) Publics

Abstract

This article is based on a two-year collaborative research program on public anthropology in Greece focused on narrative experimentation with stand-up comedy and alternative publishing with handmade books, or cartoneras. Viewing in anthropology a powerful tool to dismantle prevalent commonsense about nationalism, gender norms and capitalist progress, we “bombed” time-spaces in which academic discourse is not usually present. The embodied experience of performing and publishing in an “anthropological way” outside of spaces of academic communication led to insights about the potential of humor, multimodal forms and performance for anthropology, new questions about “who anthropology is for” and “what makes knowledge anthropological”, and an emergent concern for becoming-with, rather than just bombing, publics.