Field scenes

Hearts, masks and drifts in the theatrical seasons in Villa Carlos Paz (Argentina)

Abstract

The knowledge woven in the ethnographic encounter has a bodily and scenic character that we investigate here. This article stems from the doctoral thesis in Anthropological Sciences: "Feather Dreams. An ethnography in the summer theatre seasons in Villa Carlos Paz, 2011-2017", which studied with theatrical categories how social life is re-staged in theatre seasons. This writing reflects on fieldwork experiences in this tourist city located in the hills of Cordoba, in the central region of Argentina. The aim is to analyze methodological approaches, within the framework of the study carried out. To do so, we will take up experiences as input to rethink the ways of knowledge in the framework of the Anthropological Sciences, particularly in ethnographies with performing arts. Among the main strategies for weaving links and knowledge, the paper highlights hunches, the use of masks and drifts. Hunching implies opening senses and valuing incidents and revelations in the study of scenes. Masks allow us to think about bodily marks that position us in a continuum of staged relations, with which we negotiate our performances in the field. The drifts show that what we manage to experience arises from the appropriation of techniques incorporated in the learning of the craft, from the possibilities opened up by the flows of the scenes in which we become involved in order to know. The stories offered here were woven from the reading of what happened in the heat of those summer nights, bustling, illuminated, fun, where the theatres brightened up social life.