De antropoloog als nar?

Anthropologists adhere to the ideal of blending in their fieldwork environment, denoted as ‘glass presence’ or becoming a ‘nobody’. Yet, in reality they stand markedly out from their informants. Anthropologists more often than not elicit laughter and humorous joking, to make familiar what is strange. The essay argues that this resembles the role of the court jester, and it advocates making our students more aware of it as part of their reflexive training.