This article, based on my research extending over more than three decades concerning the Qui former foragers in Southern Africa, considers how anthropological fieldwork can be an immediate experience. The G|ui and G||ana are closely-related dialect groups of Khoe-speaking people who have adapted to the harsh, dry environment of the Kalahari Desert. The point of departure for this investigation is the Goffmanian theory of microsociology that regards immediate co-presence as the most basic foundation for elucidating the structure of human face-to-face interactions. At the same time, special attention has been paid to William Faulkner's "Yoknapatawpha Saga," especially The Sound and the Fury and Absalom, Absalom!, since his avant-garde style and its unique temporality, among other factors, provide valuable clues for writing an ethnography that attempts to reconstruct past incidents. The strategy of the ethnographic descriptions I am pursuing is to grasp the oral discourse as some kind of `gesture' and to illuminate the emotional expression emerging from it. The strategy is inspired by the thinking of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, who regarded spoken words as "a genuine gesture" rather than the reproduction of mental representations. My analysis focuses on six cases involving formal interviews with seven persons (three G|ui men, a G|ui woman, a G||ana woman, and a married couple consisting of a G|ui husband and a Ghana wife) that had been recorded and videotaped from 1994 to 2005 at the Xade settlement in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and the New Xade relocated village, both in Botswana. The cases cover such diverse ethnographic topics as a male initiation ritual, courtship, the death of the narrator's child, the experience of raising a mentally-retarded child, extramarital sexual relationships, and the birth of a baby whose father was unknown. For analytical tools, I relied on such well-known concepts as Bourdieu's habitus, Merleau-Ponty's inter-corporeality or style, and the 'enact/enactive/enaction' proposed by Varela et al. I also used two kinds of conceptual schema that I had proposed elsewhere, namely 'body configuration' and 'co-membership.' As for the first, the human perception of any incident is based on a particular body configuration whose substance consists of postural and/or proxemic arrangements, or peculiar patterns of interaction between participants. Through the iteration of recounting a past incident, the body configuration is crystallized into a relatively invariant mental image that reifies the 'core' meaning of the incident. As for the second, in speech act theory, an 'assertive' family of illocutionary acts deserves special attention, for an act of assessment always entails a triadic relationship among the speaker, hearer, and referent. The assessment value of an utterance varies according to how the speaker and hearer, respectively, cast the 'net of co-membership' to any one of three possible dyads constituting the above triad: namely, speaker/referent, hearer/referent, and speaker/hearer. The following seven points were abstracted from the discourse analysis of the above six cases: - When some kinship address terms, such as "grandpa" or "gandma," are used as interjections, expressive tones become prominent that are irreducible to formal semantics. - The scene of immediate co-presence, in which both the G|ui (G||ana) informant and the researcher participate, is immersed in the habitus (or inter-corporeality) peculiar to their societal lives. - The bodily action of a narrator `enacts' some unique pattern of body configuration that symbolizes the essential meaning of a past event, such as a ritual. - In an interview with one informant, the multiple facets of reality are illuminated through cross-referencing to another

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This paper focuses on a Buddhist group that has been reinvented through a religious and social movement in Nagpur City, India, where characteristics of the late modern period have emerged. One of the features of the late modern period is that individuals facing uncertainty often rebuild intermediate groups, such as criminal groups, nongovernmental organizations, and religious sects, and construct a new social solidarity to forge identities through self-reliance. In particular, this paper draws attention to the perspectives of Buddhist activists who have been engaged in the religious conversion movement from Hinduism to Buddhism. It also describes the so-called "half-Buddhist/half-Hindu" people, who, despite being influenced by activists' attempts to demarcate different religions, continue to stand on the borderline between the two religions. In particular, this paper investigates two forms of solidarity that exist within the Buddhist group: 1) the solidarity of classifiers, and 2) the solidarity of connectors. In the late modern period, the influence of family groups and local communities seems to have weakened, with nation-states tending to take on new roles through the radicalization of modernity. In that situation, half-Buddhist/half-Hindu people have tactically used existing webs of "kinship" relationships and the logic of national identity to build the solidarity of connectors, which differs from identity politics. In 1956, more than 300,000 Indian "untouchables," mainly from the Mahar caste, converted to Buddhism from Hinduism in Nagpur City. The mass conversions were led by B.R. Ambedkar (1891-1956) , known as "The Father of the Untouchables." In present-day Nagpur City, Buddhists call Ambedkar "Bdbdsdheb" (great father) and greet other Buddhists by saying "Jay Bhim" (victory to Ambedkar). The Buddhists in Nagpur City belong not just to a Buddhist community based on the teachings of Ambedkar, but also to a web of "kinship" relationships constructed in their daily lives. The former is a closed and exclusive community relying on the logic of national identity to create solidarity among Buddhists in order to resist discrimination. One of the distinct features of the teachings of Ambedkar is to present an essentialist and dualistic perspective that considers Buddhism to be "a religion of equality and science" and Hinduism "a religion of discrimination and superstition." By following his teachings, Buddhist activists in Nagpur City have established a distinct boundary between the two religions, creating a national identity for themselves as Buddhists, and have also classified nation-states according to religion. That process constructs the solidarity of classifiers. A web of "kinship" relationships is one of face-to-face connections based on the logic of relational identity. It links people through affection toward their families, the network of which extends horizontally. Through daily communication in their ordinary lives, half-Buddhist/half-Hindu people create a relational identity (e.g., the son in a parent-child relationship, or the younger brother in an elder sister-younger brother relationship) based on face-to-face relationships, and construct and reconstruct those ties based on the affection they feel toward their families. Moreover, those Buddhists use kinship terms to refer not only to their relatives, but also to unrelated people with whom they communicate daily and whom they consider to be "kin." As a result, a web of "kinship" relationships is established. In present-day Nagpur City, the closed and exclusive Buddhist community and the web of face-to-face relationships are brought into opposition with each other by the activities of the religious conversion movement. Buddhist activists ask half-Buddhist/half-Hindu people whether they

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As one of the world's major labor-exporting countries, the Philippines has attracted the attention of various researchers of migration studies. Recent literature in the area has focused on the sometimes neglected but important actor of migration, namely, immigrants' children. Until now, studies on such children have mainly focused on either the "children left behind," namely, those separated from their migrant parents, or the second-generation children born and raised in the host country. This study focuses on the so-called "1.5-generation youth" brought to the host country by their parents during childhood, and who often continue to shuttle between their host and origin countries even after migration. In that way, they are made to go through the processes of socialization and identification in both the host and origin countries. Hence, the more complex process of identity construction within the contemporary transnational social field can be readily understood by focusing on the 1.5 generation. The study specifically deals with 1.5-generation youth in California, where a major influx of Filipino migrants occurred especially after the enactment of the revised Immigration Act of 1965. Hence, the relatively long history of Filipino immigration presents the complex interaction taking place across different generations. Hitherto, studies on Filipino second-generation children have discussed various aspects of their identity and assimilation process and the ways in which they differ from the first generation. Wolf's study on Filipino second- generation youth in California, for example, found that "when asked what it means to them to be Filipino, (…) the most common response was a strong, spontaneous, and emotional statement about family as the center of what it means to be Filipino" [Wolf 2002: 261]. An interesting point in her argument, however, is that "although families create the ties that bind and bond, they can also be sites of intense conflict and contradiction, especially among immigrants" [Wolf 2002: 285]. Second-generation Filipino children, according to the study, face intense pressure from their parents-who have mostly immigrated to the United States as middle-class professionals-to maintain good grades and get upper-middle-class jobs after graduation. Wolf's study concludes that such pressure often causes serious psychological depression in the children, which sometimes leads further to suicidal thoughts or attempts among the second-generation youth. While appreciating Wolf's insight, this paper maintains that the study of the identity of immigrants' children should be more sensitive to a nuanced differentiation recognized by the immigrants themselves. Hence, the study focuses on the 1.5-generation children's identity, which contrasts with that of the second generation. A sense of family as the center of what it means to be Filipino, for example, is recognized quite differently by the 1.5 and second generations. As indicated in the narratives of the study, it should rather be considered as a contested notion mobilized into the representation of the 1.5 generation's identity. It is argued that the focus on the identity of 1.5-generation children brings into sharp relief the difference between various immigrants to the United States and their power relations, an aspect of which is indispensable to understanding the contemporary dynamism of the transnational social field. That field cannot be considered homogeneous in a way that accommodates the smooth, unidirectional assimilation of immigrants into the host society. On the contrary, it is a highly differentiated field consisting of asymmetrical power relations among the people. Hence, an ethnographic approach to the specific ways in which the transnational social field is structured by power-one that looks at how identity and subjectivity

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Recently, rural industries in West Bengal, India, have encountered severe market competition from modem factories and large producers. Consequently, most of them have adopted a collaborative rather than independent pattern of production as a strategy to survive as marginal producers. According to Marjit and Maiti [2005], there is a clear trend in the rate of increase of collaborative patterns of production among marginal producers in rural industries. Research for this paper was conducted from 2004 to 2006 in Bishnupur, Bankura district, West Bengal, where there are 28 brass-smiths and 27 blacksmiths. While a trend towards collaboration was seen in the brass-smith industry there, it was not evident in the blacksmith industry, although it faced similar competition owing to the severe effects of the spread of factory-iron products and shops. This paper clarifies the factors causing differences in the survival strategies of the blacksmith industry and other rural industries by examining the status of Bishnupur's blacksmith industry. Moreover, it discusses the strategies they have adopted to survive in the modern Indian society that emerged following economic liberalization, while maintaining an independent pattern of production. First, based on Maiti [2005], this paper examines the increasing trend toward collaborative patterns of production among marginal producers in the rural industry of West Bengal, as well as the reasons for the increase. Based on the data gathered, it studies certain trends in Bishnupur's brass-smith industry. Second, it investigates the status of the blacksmith industry in Bishnupur from the standpoint of survival strategies and change. Third, it explains the particular qualities distinguishing the blacksmith industry from other rural industries, such as their relationship with users and differences in their products. Further, it illuminates the strategies that enable blacksmiths to survive while maintaining independent patterns of production. In conclusion, this paper suggests that the particular nature of the blacksmith industry played an important part in the blacksmiths' strategy for survival in the modern Indian society that emerged following economic liberalization. It also suggests that-unlike other rural industries-when confronted with the severe effects of the spread of factory-iron products and shops, Bishnupur blacksmiths attempted to survive in modern Indian society by adopting a strategy to obtain customers by hiding the weaknesses of their business competitors and building a mutually beneficial relationship with them. That "symbiotic relationship" bestows upon them the benefits necessary for their survival.

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My research analyzed a small Melbourne community of non-Japanese practitioners of a Japanese martial art (kendo) , focusing on their understanding of their practice, Japanese culture, and Otherness. In particular, I focused on the way that non-Japanese practitioners interpret a practice of the Other by combining their kendo practices with images provided in the media. In the genealogy of representation related to Japan (including that country's martial arts culture), 'things Japanese' have always been targeted by Orientalists who expect a 'Japan that is uniquely Japanese.' Borrowing the words of Edward Said, who stated that 'the Orient is thus orientalized' (Said 1979: 67), Orientalists' views on things Japanese have 'Japanized' Japan, and established dichotomized images as if something essential divided Japan and the West. However, what I learned from the narrative of Melbourne kendo practitioners was the everyday reality that kendo practice does not necessarily stimulate their desire for 'things Japanese.' From my work, I would instead suggest that kendo practice in Melbourne is done to stimulate males' longing for sword-fighting, combined with the image of other Western knight adventure stories such as Star Wars. Some practitioners carry out kendo as a practice with the generalized image of knights' sword-fighting, and do not necessarily highlight its uniqueness as an exotic non-Western practice. They take kendo practice to be their preferred interpretation of invigorating their masculinity. Melbourne practitioners of kendo thus vacillate between the frameworks of dichotomized stereotypical representations produced in Japan and the West. Secondly, I further suggest that kendo for Melbourne practitioners is somehow related to a sense of 'familiarity' with such a practice that they have felt since early childhood. For some Australian middle-aged people, Japanese culture, including samurai sword fighting, represents a thrilling type of entertainment transported from abroad that they once consumed as children in school grounds and their backyards as an ordinary form of play. Analyzing the narrative of one male middle-aged kendo practitioner, I found that kendo practice for such Australians still forms part of the continual process of conducting their everyday lives, and that they make sense of their daily lives through foreign things.

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