1467-9655.13490.pdf (266.85 kB)
Beyond the senses: perception, the environment, and vision impairment
Version 2 2023-06-07, 08:50
Version 1 2023-06-07, 07:23
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-07, 08:50 authored by Karis Jade PettyKaris Jade PettyThe ‘sensory turn’ in anthropology has generated a significant literature on sensory perception and experience. Whilst much of this literature is critical of the compartmentalization of particular ‘senses’, there has been limited exploration of how anthropologists might examine sensory perception beyond ‘the senses’. Based on ethnographic fieldwork with people who have impaired vision walking the South Downs landscape in England, this article develops such an approach. It suggests that the experiences of seeing in blindness challenge the conceptualization of ‘vision’ (and ‘non-vision’). In place of ‘vision’ (as a sense), the article explores ‘activities of seeing’ – an approach that contextualizes the visual to examine the biographically constituted and idiosyncratic nature of perception within an environment. Through an ethnography of seeing with anatomical eyes and ‘seeing in the mind's eye’, it articulates an approach that avoids associating perception with anatomy, or compartmentalizing experience into ‘senses’.
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Published version
Journal
Journal of the Royal Anthropological InstituteISSN
1359-0987Publisher
WileyExternal DOI
Volume
0Page range
1-18Department affiliated with
- Anthropology Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2020-07-01First Open Access (FOA) Date
2021-04-12First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2020-06-29Usage metrics
Categories
No categories selectedKeywords
Licence
Exports
RefWorks
BibTeX
Ref. manager
Endnote
DataCite
NLM
DC