c i t y // t e r r i t o r y
s o c i e t y // n a t u r e
r e s e a r c h // d e s i g n
ANTHONY BOURDAIN’S PARTS UNKNOWN: LESSONS IN WESTERN SENSORY ETHNOGRAPHY
We can learn a lot about a person through food; we express our identities and stories by what we eat and a shared meal provides the setting for getting to know one another. Anthony Bourdain’s television show Parts Unknown was a series of documentaries exploring diverse cultures around the world, using food as an entry point for discussion; Bourdain was the sensory ethnographer, pushing a progressive political agenda. As a white Western man, he encountered many people less privileged than him, sharing food and discussing the issues they face with them. This portfolio examines methods of cultural research, in terms of navigating a globally imbalanced world, interacting with people and sharing findings. Anthony Bourdain and Parts Unknown act as a case study of anthropology from a Western perspective. What can researchers learn from Bourdain’s studies? I conclude that embracing contradiction - conviction and open-mindedness, similarity and difference, clarity and ambiguity, finding answers and asking questions - and developing and owning honest opinions are crucial tools for us all as we continue learning about each other and sharing our worlds.
