Comment

Comment by M Izabel on December 14, 2010 at 2:15am

If there's something imponderable in a culture, what's the use of anthropology? The truth is that there's nothing that cannot be explained or evaluated in a culture if  we evaluate and explain it using concepts, definitions, and terms of that culture.  If we use its own logic, there will be no imponderabilia. 

Comment by Camilla Burkot on December 13, 2010 at 10:35pm

Hi there!  I am a Cambridge student working on Imponderabilia this year - although I wasn't around when the journal was founded either, I have to say I was somewhat surprised or taken aback by the idea that the title "Imponderabilia" might be considered elitist. Granted, it is something of an "insider" bit of knowledge - in that people who haven't studied anthropology aren't likely to have heard of Malinowski or his concept of "imponderabilia" - but I would expect most anyone who has taken an Anthropology 101 course to have heard of Malinowski and hopefully make the connection.  But then I've only ever studied anthropology at Cambridge (where our first assigned essay was on Malinowskian fieldwork...), so maybe I'm just taking this knowledge for granted!  But the way I see it, the title is meant more to be witty or a kind of in-joke, rather than demonstrating elitism.  

 

I'll try to get some of the original founding editors of Imponderabilia on here to get their comments.  Thanks for all the positive feedback so far!  We are busily working away on Issue 3 at the moment (hopefully to be published in March or April) and looking forward to sharing it with the anthropological world!

Comment by John McCreery on December 13, 2010 at 1:40am

Another bit of positive feedback from Anthropology-L: "I am so glad you found this resource! Thank you for sharing it with us. My next semester's students will enjoy reading some of these articles."

Re "Imponderabilia": I am going to stick my neck out and argue in my capacity as a professional copywriter that this is a brilliant naming. I use a framework suggested by Ohnuki Takuya, one of Japan's most brilliant and successful advertising creatives.

According to Ohnuki, successful advertising must pass five hurdles. it must be

1. Eye-catching: In a world over saturated with information, job no.1 is simply to be noticed.

2. Arouse interest: Those who notice the ad must also be motivated to pay sufficient attention to understand the message.

3. Be easy to understand: Simplicity beats complexity every time.

4. Be memorable: It doesn't just stick out in the flood of information; like a rock in a rapid, it is there, sticking out, whenever we try to recall it.

5. Add value: The audience is left with an improved image of the business or product in question.

To my mind "Imponderabilia" passes all of these hurdles. A more "informative" name would leave it buried among the hundreds of journals with more descriptive names, the ones we never get around to reading unless there is some direct connection to our own research or professional network. The name is also intriguing; it triggers a search to learn more. Could it be simpler? Perhaps. But the lead sentence of the explanation of the name not only evokes the hallowed name of Malinowski. It uses his words to point to the core value of ethnography, that there are things which cannot be learned by asking questions or counting alone, important things that require an exploration in depth made possible by experience. The idea is both simple and compelling. The combination of an unusual, eye-catching word with a simple, compelling message makes the journal memorable. It also, I would argue, adds value. This reader, at least, is left with a highly positive impression of social anthropology, a refreshing change from the gloom, doom and factionalism that infects so much of what I read about anthropology these days.m

Comment by Toby Austin Locke on December 12, 2010 at 4:55pm

Thanks for passing the URL on John. Really good to hear people received it so well.

Comment by Toby Austin Locke on December 12, 2010 at 4:54pm

It is certainly not the most accessible name for a new student journal, I agree Keith, I for one was unaware of the meaning of the word prior to my involvement with the journal. As previously mentioned, I was not involved with the creation of the journal so cannot really comment on how the name was decided upon. I certainly hope that the point of it was not to demonstrate elitism.

 

I am left wondering how I can respond to this observation, not being a Cambridge student myself, I fear I may miss the point or make statements with little or no grounding. A shorter, more contemporary and more accessible title may have been more appropriate and been less of a representation of elitism; however perhaps such a title would have been received with a small amount of contempt by more elitist members of the university and thus caused it to be brushed over somewhat. This is of course utter speculation and may be entirely unfounded as I have a very small amount of experience of Cambridge University.

 

It could also simply be a homage to the founder of the discipline: Malinowski. However if this is the case there is no reason this could have been achieved without evoking a seven syllable Latin tag.

 

Hopefully some other members of the team will join the group soon so that they can shed some light on how and why this title was chosen.

Comment by Keith Hart on December 12, 2010 at 4:24pm

I am very glad that Imponderabilia might make some use of the interactive space we provide here and conversely that OAC members may get to know the journal and perhaps contribute to it. I certainly have nothing against the Cambridge department that spawned it. But I have long wondered why a new journal would chose as its name a Latin tag of seven syllables. Don't you think it smacks just a little of elitism? Or is that the point?

Comment by John McCreery on December 12, 2010 at 2:01pm

Toby, I passed the URL along on Anthro-L and this is the first reply I got.

 

"Many thanks. The site is quite impressive and so are some of the links it offers."

Comment by Toby Austin Locke on December 12, 2010 at 12:31pm

Thank you John for your kind comments. I can't take any credit for the creation of this journal or for the past two issues as I've only become involved with this initiative recently but I'm sure the rest of the team will be delighted with your compliments.

I look forward to your further comments.

Comment by John McCreery on December 12, 2010 at 4:22am

Toby, I have just done a first, quick read of the first issue of Imponderibilia. Enjoyed it very much. More serious comments to follow. For now, to all involved, a brilliant initiative and a breath of fresh air.

Comment by Toby Austin Locke on December 11, 2010 at 11:23pm

Welcome the Imponderabilia OAC group!

 

feel free to get in touch if you need anything:

 

journal.imponderabilia@googlemail.com

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