Love in the Time of Dissertations: An Ethnographic Tale

Abstract

Robert Ajwang', a dancer and musician from Tanzania, collaborated with theatre scholar Laura Edmondson on a performance text that addresses ethnography and desire. Edmondson spent 16 months in 1996 and 1997 on the Swahili coast doing research on Tanzanian popular theatre. During that time, Ajwang' served as her research assistant; they eventually married in 1999. The performance text, which culls together excerpts from Edmondson's publications, Ajwang”s choreography, videotape, audience address, and dialogue, suggests that ethnographic intimacy foregrounds cultural difference rather than erases it. Edmondson prefaces the edited performance text with a discussion of the theoretical issues that informed their collaboration; Ajwang' concludes with an explanation of how he would reshape the play for an audience of Tanzanians.

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