Pierre Bourdieu: Issues of Embodiment and Authenticity

Abstract

This paper, using some recent insights from performance studies and other writings on embodiment, takes a second look at Bourdieu's fieldwork in Algerian Kabylia. It is argued that as a consequence of Bourdieu's taking Kabyle society as a strategic research site, he depicted its ritual traditions as something 'authentic', as basically primordial and unmediated. Much of the concepts' lack of historicity may be explained by this search for authenticity, but the insights of scholars who, building on Bourdieu, have enhanced our understanding of embodiment may well remedy these shortcomings.

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