Monumental Misunderstandings

IF 1 3区社会学 Q2 ANTHROPOLOGY

Social Analysis Pub Date : 2020-09-01 DOI:10.3167/sa.2020.640302

M. Nielsen, Mikkel Bunkenborg

引用次数: 0

Abstract

A statue of stainless steel cast in China and placed at the entrance of the new National Stadium in Mozambique sparked controversy between Chinese donors and Mozambican recipients in the period leading up to the stadium’s 2011 inauguration. Based on ethnographic fieldwork among the Mozambican and Chinese nationals involved in the project, we explore the multiple misunderstandings surrounding the statue and show how they came to define Sino-Mozambican relations. Entextualized through materiality, the misunderstandings assumed a monumental form in the statue, and the message of mutual incomprehension continued to reverberate across the social terrain of Sino-Mozambican relations long after the statue itself had been removed. Misunderstandings, we argue, should not be dismissed as ephemeral communicative glitches, but seen as productive events that structure social relations.

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重大误解

一座中国铸造的不锈钢雕像被放置在莫桑比克新国家体育场的入口处，在体育场2011年落成之前的一段时间里，引发了中国捐助者和莫桑比克受援国之间的争议。基于对参与该项目的莫桑比克和中国公民的民族志田野调查，我们探讨了围绕雕像的多种误解，并展示了这些误解是如何定义中莫关系的。通过物质性的演绎，误解在雕像中呈现出一种不朽的形式，在雕像本身被拆除很久之后，相互不理解的信息继续在中莫关系的社会领域中回响。我们认为，误解不应被视为短暂的交流故障，而应被视为构建社会关系的富有成效的事件。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Social Analysis ANTHROPOLOGY-

CiteScore

2.20

自引率

7.10%

发文量

审稿时长

16 weeks

期刊介绍： Social Analysis is an international peer-reviewed journal devoted to exploring the analytical potentials of anthropological research. It encourages contributions grounded in original empirical research that critically probe established paradigms of social and cultural analysis. The journal expresses the best that anthropology has to offer by exploring in original ways the relationship between ethnographic materials and theoretical insight. By forging creative and critical engagements with cultural, political, and social processes, it also opens new avenues of communication between anthropology and the humanities as well as other social sciences. The journal publishes four issues per year, including regular Special Issues on particular themes. The Editors welcome individual articles that focus on diverse topics and regions, reflect varied theoretical approaches and methods, and aim to appeal widely within anthropology and beyond. Proposals for Special Issues are selected by the Editorial Board through an annual competitive call.