Year: 2018
Type: article
Abstract: The Iban CaseI welcome Michael Heppell's considered response to my article on 'Claiming authority' and the opportunity to clarify some of the issues.There are many which require further debate, but limitations of space permit me only to draw attention to those of most importance.I accept that there is a need to clarify what is meant by 'authority' , and I agree with Heppell that this term is subject to misinterpretation.However, my main objective was to investigate claims to authority within the realm of academic argument and discourse.In this connection, I am particularly concerned about Heppell's use of the word 'abuse' and his comments on my imputed interpretation of Freeman's actions and motivations.I must reassure him that I did not allege that Freeman committed 'abuses' of his academic authority.This is a misreading of my evaluation of Freeman's exemplary studies of Iban society and culture, for which I have provided frequent and positive appreciation.Nor did I imply or propose directly that Freeman, in his responses to his critics and those whom he considered less than authoritative, exerted a 'malign' influence in that his actions 'distorted or misrepresented aspects of Iban culture or did harm to other anthropologists' , or that Freeman was bent on 'actively discouraging a scholar from working with the Iban' .This is an unreasonable distortion of my argument.Nowhere in my article did I use those words or suggest that Freeman was attempting to exclude other anthropologists from research on the Iban, or 'harm' them.My comments were directed to the arena of academic discourse and Freeman's style of argumentation and approach to these encounters.Therefore, Heppell is mistaken in supposing that I thought Freeman was on some kind of extended and 'malign' campaign (or a real-life 'war') to exclude researchers from a physical and socio-cultural domain or territory, actively attempting to
Language: Dutch
Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4250793891