Presence and Representation: The Other and Anthropological Writing

Abstract

It is not without significance that in anthropological and sociological usage representation most often appears in the plural. The singular would put the emphasis on representation as an activity or process. Instead, by privileging the plural, we invoke entities, products of knowl- edge or culture. That this is not merely a matter of practicality-of devising terms that best fit the analytical tasks to which we put them- will, I hope, become clear from the reflections that follow