“Critical Ethnocentrism” and the Ethnology of Ernesto De Martino

Abstract

Italian anthropologist, folklorist, and historian of religions Ernesto De Martino was an eclectic and creative intellectual who fostered a whole generation of studies on popular culture in Italy. In this article, I focus on one particular aspect of his work, a method referred to as “critical ethnocentrism,” attempting to situate De Martino's concerns in the historical moment of postwar ideological struggles. De Martino's approach, however, has a wider relevance to understanding the relationships between the ethnographer and the subjects of the research, as well as the historical and political contexts in which they meet.