Robert Lemelson - Widening the Frame with Visual Psychological Anthropology: Perspectives on Trauma, Gendered Violence, and Stigma in Indonesia

The Society for Psychological Anthropologya section of the American Anthropology Associationand Palgrave Macmillan are dedicated to publishing innovative research that illuminates the workings of the human mind within the social, cultural, and political contexts that shape thought, emotion, and experience. As anthropologists seek to bridge gaps between ideation and emotion or agency and structure and as psychologists, psychiatrists, and medical anthropologists search for ways to engage with cultural meaning and difference, this interdisciplinary terrain is more active than ever.

Editorial Board

Eileen Anderson-Fye, Department of Anthropology, Case Western Reserve University

Jennifer Cole, Committee on Human Development, University of Chicago

Linda Garro, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles

Daniel T. Linger, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Cruz

Rebecca Lester, Department of Anthropology, Washington University in St. Louis

Tanya Luhrmann, Department of Anthropology, Stanford University

Catherine Lutz, Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Peggy Miller, Departments of Psychology and Speech Communication, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Robert Paul, Department of Anthropology, Emory University

Antonius C. G. M. Robben, Department of Anthropology, Utrecht University, Netherlands

Bradd Shore, Department of Anthropology, Emory University

Jason Throop, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles

Carol Worthman, Department of Anthropology, Emory University

More information about this series at http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14947

Cover illustration: Robert Lemelson. Used with permission

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Robert Lemelson and Annie Tuckers book is a textual ethnography of ethnographic films. The films discussed inquire into central inter-related issues in the anthropology of sufferingtraumas and their effects, gendered violence, and stigmatization. They were all produced based on Lemelsons long-term fieldwork in Indonesia. 40 Years of Silence (2009) documents political and psychological traumas of the mass killings in 19651966; Bitter Honey (2015) follows familial violence that comes with polygamous marriages; and Standing on the Edge of a Thorn (2012) presents family dynamics around poverty, mental illness, and gendered ethics of marriage and sexuality. The filmsto be watched before and alongside reading the bookuse various cinematic techniques and genres. Yet, the topics selected and the methods used underline core paradigmatic stances of psychological anthropologyclosely following individuals experiences and doing so within their social contexts, cultural logics, and political milieus. Indeed, the authors suggest that through making and watching them, ethnographic films become crucial vehicles to reflect upon, inquire into and teach about personal lives as experienced in their broader contexts. By describing, interpreting, and analyzing the diverse contexts and deliberations through which these films were produced and outlining their theoretical significance, Visual Psychological Anthropology (VPA), as the authors call this unique field, receives new depths. Hence, the book offers fruitful paths for future collaborations between visual and psychological anthropology beyond accompanying the films. In particular, theorizing the process of visually translating human intimacy is achieved by offering four layers: Interpreting the films contents, documenting the fieldwork, discussing the editorialwork, and deliberating epistemological and moral concerns.

First, interpreting the various personal and interpersonal experiences documented in the films within the politics, social dynamics, culture logics, and history of modern Indonesia. Violence, traumas, stigmatization, and de-stigmatization, the authors argue, are tied up with political oppression that echoes social discrimination. The films broader context is thus linked with poverty and suffering within families and their losses, conflicts, and the subjugation of women. Individual emotional responses, like shame (malu) or anger (marah), are deeply gendered forms. Further, local religiosities shape ethics of surrender, patience, helping others, resilience and activism.

Second, introducing the complicated research and the in-depth, person-centered interviews and conversations that allow the production of such films. This aspect lies at the base of an ethnography of ethnographic filmsinviting readers to thorough visits behind the scenes. The authors share how the research unfolded and how longitudinal collaborations and relationships with participants and advisors were evolving. They also discuss the personal interactions in the field and local notions about sharing (or not) painful experiences in public and the downplaying of conflicts and negative feelings.