Where Should the “Ontological Turn” Turn? Methodological Dilemmas in the Ethnography of Catholic Charismatic Renewal Community

Adrianna Biernacka

Published: 2018-06-29

Vol. 38 (2017)

Where Should the “Ontological Turn” Turn? Methodological Dilemmas in the Ethnography of Catholic Charismatic Renewal Community

Adrianna Biernacka

Abstract

In my research conducted in the community of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in Przeworsk, I was searching for a way to understand what the use of charismatic gifts (e.g. speaking in tongues and prophecising) meant to my interlocutors. Inspiration for the study was drawn from the methodological framework of the ‘ontological turn’, defined by Martin Holbraad and Morten Axel Pedersen. The present article illustrates how the methodological perspective influenced the research – what it allowed me to see and what it hindered. The conclusion presents the possible routes of evolution for the ontological turn that would make it possible to overcome the mentioned problems.

Keywords:

Ontological turn, Catholic Charismatic Renewal, anthropology of Christianity, spiritual gift

A photograph depicting the dance of worship. Source: http://www.chrystus-krol.przeworsk.pl, access: 15.12.2016

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Biernacka, A. (2018). Where Should the “Ontological Turn” Turn? Methodological Dilemmas in the Ethnography of Catholic Charismatic Renewal Community. Ethnologia Polona, 38, 47–70. Retrieved from https://journals.iaepan.pl/ethp/article/view/43

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Adrianna Biernacka

http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2915-1550

Affiliation:

Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology - University of Warsaw, Poland

Bio Statement (e.g., department and rank)

B.A. in ethnology at the IECA UW