Földessy Edina, Szűcs Alexandra, Wilhelm Gábor: Tabula 3/2 (Néprajzi Közlemények; Budapest, 2000)

ZEMPLÉNI ANDRÁS: Hallgatni tudni. A titokról és az etnológus mások életébe való betolakodásáról

ANDRÁS ZEMPLÉNI How to keep secrets. About secrets and the intrusion of anthropologists into the lives of others Anthropologists often forget that "participating" in the lives of others is actually - and unavoidably -an intrusion. One of the most common defences against this is the withholding of information, the keeping of secrets. The way in which a researcher handles the secrets entrusted to him or her is one of the main defining methodological features of any fieldwork. In the first half of the essay the author summarises his theory of interactive secrecy. Using this as a starting point he describes and analyses the events which were triggered by the unexpected and dramatic illness of the "younger brother" of an initiated Senufo. In the course of the ensuing ritual process it became clear that there was a secret behind this magical attack relating to an origin story which directly affected the author too, because the attackers were no others than his own sponsors in the community who wished to guard the secret of the slave origin of their lineage by "killing" the younger brother of the person who was willing to reveal the secret.