Page 107 - Prathima Volume 12

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A Review of Postcolonial Scholarship: Conducting Research on
Culture and Society

Pathmanesan Sanmugeswaran (email: pathmenesan@yahoo.co.uk)

Abstract

Current anthropological studies are immensely influenced by postcolonial,
postmodern, and feminist scholarships. Under this circumstance, the classical
anthropological theories and methods are being critically re-examined, and
contemporary anthropologists are also revising anthropological theories and methods.
As a result, there are many convergences and divergences in the development of
anthropological theories and methods. This paper illustrates the importance of
postcolonial, postmodern, and feminist scholarships in anthropology, which will
enable undergraduate and graduate students to learn how to conduct a research on
contemporary culture and society. Present-day Sri Lankan society and culture are in a
period of tremendous transformation. To study these changes, I argue that classical
anthropological theories and methods are insufficient to understand the diversity of
cultural practices. Since the Sri Lankan society is multi-ethnic and multi-religious,
anthropologists may also need to adopt theoritical and methodological pluralism in
their research. In addition, in this paper, I point out the fundamental problems of
ethnocentrism, power relations, reflexivity, representations, hegemonic epistemology
and Western imperialism in some earlier yet, still used anthropological studies, which
are obstacles to the study of cultural diversity in Sri Lanka. Hence, this paper is a
simple exercise of discussing various theories and methods, and how anthropologists
have engaged themselves in their research.

Keywords: Postcolonialism, anthropology, ethnography, society, culture,
ethnocentrism, hegemonic epistemology, feminist ethnography, and decolonizing
anthropology

1. Introduction

This paper will illustrate the importance of postcolonial, postmodern, and feminist
scholarship in anthropological research and encourage students in anthropology and
the social sciences to refresh their minds by studying culture and society in line with
postcolonial scholarship. Further, I note that contemporary anthropologists
concentrate more on mental or cultural phenomena than on social structure. In this
paper, I will therefore discuss how anthropologists adopt postcolonial scholarship to
develop a fresh conceptual framework to identify the misconceptions, which

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