The article provides an answer to fundamental questions of what qualifies a name, specifically the (god) father’s name, as something unnameable comparable to the God’s name? What word is commonly used by the Bamilekes from the Grassfields region of Cameroon to name a name that cannot be named in public? What is substituted for when a name is unavailable? Why are these people engaged in a politics of sur-naming, despite the fact the fact they usually bear many names? Is the prevailing sur-naming practice justified by the lacking of proper name as Derrida argues? The text argues that in Bamileke societies where a respectable kinship system (in opposition to a joking kinship) prevails, an adult is rarely referred to by his/her name but rather by his/her ndap (eulogy name) that ends up obliterating the person’s proper name to the point of turning it into a dead name.

Basile Ndjio

Ethnography

A major new international journal successfully launched in 2000    Ethnography is a new international and interdisciplinary journal for the ethnographic study of social and cultural change. Bridging the chasm between sociology and anthropology, it is becoming the leading network for dialogical exchanges between monadic ethnographers and those from all disciplines involved and interested in ethnography and society. It seeks to promote embedded research that fuses close-up observation, rigorous theory and social critique.

Ethnography is a significant international journal that was successfully launched in 2000, focusing on the ethnographic study of social and cultural change. It bridges the gap between sociology and anthropology, becoming a leading platform for dialogical exchanges between monadic ethnographers and scholars from various disciplines interested in ethnography and society. The journal aims to promote embedded research that combines close observation, rigorous theory, and social critique.

《Ethnography》是一本自2000年成功推出的重要国际期刊，专注于社会和文化变迁的民族志研究。它弥合了社会学与人类学之间的鸿沟，正逐渐成为民族志研究者与各个学科之间进行对话交流的主要平台。期刊旨在促进嵌入式研究，融合细致观察、严谨理论与社会批判。

Category	Quartile
社会学	4
社会学, 人类学	4
社会学, 社会学	4

In the name of the (God) father: The unnameable name

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