Between the settlement and the camp: a reflection of tramping as a research problem in the anthropological sciences
Abstract
Czech Tramping has a very long, although variable, history and a firmly stabilized position among the Czech subcultures. At the same time, Czech Tramping as a subject is becoming increasingly attractive, especially to researchers and academic field in general.
One of the practical activities involved in tramping is staying and sleeping in the nature out of town. All of these activities take place in tramping in two positions.
The first is a spending time in a Tramp settlement, and the second is a free camping in the woods. Both positions are nowadays very popular and sought after among the Tramps.
They also form one of the pillars of the Tramp subculture itself. In order to perform a field research of Tramping, it is necessary to know and understand these two positions.
The purpose of this article is not to define what Tramping is, but to present the general outlines of the problem of anthropological field research of Tramping, possible related risks that face researchers and Tramps themselves, and also the current form of Tramp settlements and camps. Next to that, the article points out the practical facts associated with field research of this phenomena, the impact that its current popularity may have on the Tramps culture and the issues that researchers may face up in research.
The contribution is based on a reflection of my experience with the Czech tramping as well as my own fieldwork