Denis Vidal

Vidal completed his Ph.D. in 1983 at the EPHE and the University of Nanterre, under the supervision of {{ill|Charles Malamoud|fr|Charles Malamoud}}, with a doctoral thesis titled 'Le Culte des Divinités Locales dans une Région de l'Himachal Pradesh (The Cult of Local Divinities in a Region of Himachal Pradesh)'.{{cite web|title=Inventaire des thèses de doctorat Trouvé à l'intérieur – Page 73 ( 1983 ) . Th . 3e cycle : Ethnologic : E.H.E.S.S. : 1983 . 951. VIDAL ( Denis ) . - LE CULTE DES DIVINITES LOCALES DANS UNE REGION DE L'HIMACHAL PRADESH: and he published it at the Institut Français de Recherche Scientifique pour le Développement en Coopération in 1988, Volume 38 |first=Denis |last=Vidal |date=November 1988 |publisher=ORSTOM |place=France |language=fr |oclc=462316096 |s2cid=126554106 |url=https://hal.ird.fr/ird-01292755/file/Divinite%CC%81s%20locales%20del'Himachal%20Pradesh%20.pdf}}{{cite journal |journal=European Bulletin of Himalayan Research, 29–30 |year=2006 |publisher=French National Centre for Scientific Research (France); Social Science Baha (Nepal) |via=University of Cambridge, UK |issn=0943-8254 |editor1-first=Martin |editor1-last=Gaenzle |editor2-first=András |editor2-last=Höfer |editor3-first=Elvira |editor3-last=Graner |editor4-first=Michael |editor4-last=Hutt |editor5-first=David |editor5-last=Gellner |editor6-first=Ben |editor6-last=Campbell |editor7-first=Mark |editor7-last=Turin |editor4-link=Michael Hutt (academic and translator) |editor7-link=Mark Turin |display-editors=4 |title=Notes on Contributors |url=http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/ebhr/pdf/EBHR_29&30_full.pdf |quote-page=6 |quote=He worked in Himachal Pradesh in the 1980's and his Phd thesis (1989) is about the cult of local divinities in Himachal Pradesh.}}

Vidal is a social anthropologist. He is serving as a research director at the Institut de recherche pour le développement,{{cite web |title=SÉANCE ANNULÉE / Mythes et Machines - Robotique et Intelligence Artificielle : Penser la Technologie Aujourd'hui |work=French Academy of Sciences |place=Paris, France |url=https://www.academie-sciences.fr/fr/Colloques-conferences-et-debats/mythes-et-machines-robotique-et-ia.html |date=31 March 2020 |access-date=25 May 2021}}{{cite web |title=Journée d'Étude de la Chaire L'Humain au Défi du Numérique: Numérique et Diversité Culturelle |work=Collège des Bernardins |place=Paris, France |url=https://media.collegedesbernardins.fr/content/pdf/Recherche/synthese-numerique-diversitee-culturelle-juin-2017.pdf |date=23 February 2017 |access-date=25 May 2021}} and as the assistant director at the Paris branch of the Migrations and Society Research Unit (URMIS).{{cite web |title=Staff |work=Migrations and Society Research Unit |place=France |url=https://www.urmis.fr/en/staff/ |access-date=25 May 2021}}

Vidal has been exploring India since his doctoral studies. Some of his research works on India include the "archival exploration" of Sirohi State and his studies on the "economic organisation of the bazaar", the social and religious anthropology of the Himalayas, and "visual culture of the old city of Delhi".{{cite periodical |periodical=Social Sciences Winter School in Pondicherry |edition=5th |title=Heritage, Communities, Sustainability: Methodological and Theoretical Approaches in Social Sciences Research |date=December 2019 |publisher=French Institute of Pondicherry |place=Pondicherry, India |url=https://www.ifpindia.org/media/documents/12_2019_SSWSP_Booklet.pdf |at=Bios of Trainers and Coordinators |quote-page=57 |quote=He has been researching on India since his doctoral thesis on the worship of local deities in Himachal Pradesh. His works include an ethnohistorical exploration on a small kingdom of Rajasthan (Sirohi), an anthropology of feuds in the Himalayas, studies about local markets, the economic organisation of indian bazaars and the visual culture of the old city of Delhi. Currently, he is conducting research in collaboration with Dr. Balusubramanian (IFP-Pondicherry) on the artisanal construction of wooden cargo ships in Tamil Nadu.}} He delved into the disputed contest over the patent rights of Basmati rice between India and the United States.{{cite book |title=Globalizing India: Perspectives from Below |series=Anthem South Asian Studies |edition=illustrated |year=2005 |pages=1–14 |publisher=Anthem |place=London, UK |contribution=Introduction |first1=Jackie |last1=Assayag |first2=Christopher John |last2=Fuller |author2-link=Chris Fuller (academic) |isbn=978-1843311959 |lccn=2005031966 |oclc=742639689 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3juHflkUCF4C&pg=PA7}} Vidal has also explored "new ways of approaching technology from an anthropological perspective". In 2019, Vidal, along with D. Balasubramanian, carried out a study on the building of wooden cargo ships in India's Tamil Nadu.

Vidal and Philippe Gaussier co-developed a "robot art critic" dubbed Berenson (after the art critic Bernard Berenson). Berenson can take note of the reactions of people to art works and employ its neural network to learn from their reactions in order to develop its own aesthetic preferences and to express them through facial expressions.{{cite thesis |type=M. A. |title=ROVER: The Reactive Observant Vacuous Emotive Robot |chapter=Related Work: Robots in Media Arts – Contemporary Robotic Art |first=Hannah |last=Wolfe |date=July 2016 |publisher=University of California, Santa Barbara |place=Santa Barbara, California, USA |chapter-url=https://mat.ucsb.edu/Masters/Hannah_Wolfes_Masters_Thesis.pdf |quote-page=28 |quote=Berenson, named after Bernard Berenson, is a robot art critic by anthropologist Denis Vidal and robotics engineer Philippe Gaussier. (see Figure 2.9) The critic observes viewers' reactions to art and learns what is "good" and "bad" art. Then he moves toward art works that are "good" and smiles at them, and frowns at "bad" art. This robot uses a neural network to learn. (Pangburn 2016)}}

Vidal has been one of the curators of the exhibition Persona (Musée du Quai Branly, Paris, January - October 2016,{{Cite web|url=http://www.actes-sud.fr/node/54234|title = Persona, étrangement humain | Actes Sud}} and of the permanent exhibition on robotics at the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie, Paris (opening in April 2019) Laumond J.P., Vidal Denis, Boutin A.L. (ill.). (2018). Robots : le livre de l'exposition Robots : the exhibition book. [Paris] : Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie, ISBN 978-2-86842-197-5.

OF WOOD AND WIND.Sustainable cargo ships in France and in India.

DE BOIS ET DE VENT. Deux alternatives pour un transport maritime responsable

Co-produit par l'IRD et l'ADEME, avec le soutien de l'Institut français de Pondichery

Vidal's Violence and Truth: A Rajasthani Kingdom Confronts Colonial Authority (1995){{refn|group=note|Originally published in French in 1995; translated in English in 1997.}} was a study of history of the Sirohi State, focusing mainly on the influence exerted by British values and legal system on politics and society in Sirohi during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, providing "a vivid picture of caste-specific protest repertory". Vidal's study shed light on the relationship between the rulers of Sirohi and the Jain merchants with regard to the "colonial idea of economy"; inquired into the relationship between violence and mutineers in Rajasthan and how it was "remade through the colonial encounter"; and explored the Gandhian thought in apropos of the British colonial laws in India.{{cite journal |journal=American Journal of Sociology |volume=104 |number=3 |date=November 1998 |pages=909–911 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |title=Reviewed Work: Violence and Truth: A Rajasthani Kingdom Confronts Colonial Authority |first=Frank |last=de Zwart |doi=10.1086/210095 |jstor=10.1086/210095 |jstor-access=free}}{{cite journal |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |volume=58 |number=3 |date=August 1999 |pages=884–885 |publisher=Association for Asian Studies |editor1-first=Anand A. |editor1-last=Yang |editor2-first=Ann |editor2-last=Walter |editor3-first=Anne |editor3-last=Walthall |editor4-first=JaHyun Kim |editor4-last=Haboush |editor5-first=Amrita |editor5-last=Basu |editor6-first=Barbara Watson |editor6-last=Andaya |editor7-first=Joan |editor7-last=Judge |editor8-first=Michael A. |editor8-last=Fuller |editor9-first=Nicola |editor9-last=Di Cosmo |editor10-first=Ann |editor10-last=Sherif |editor11-first=Mark |editor11-last=Peterson |editor12-first=William R. |editor12-last=Pinch |editor13-first=Indira Viswanathan |editor13-last=Peterson |editor14-first=Juliane |editor14-last=Schober |editor1-link=Anand Yang |editor4-link=JaHyun Kim Haboush |editor5-link=Amrita Basu |editor6-link=Barbara Watson Andaya |editor7-link=Joan Judge |editor9-link=Nicola Di Cosmo |editor13-link=Indira Viswanathan Peterson |display-editors=4 |title=Reviewed Work: Violence and Truth: A Rajasthani Kingdom Confronts Colonial Authority by Denis Vidal |first=Ajay |last=Skaria |doi=10.2307/2659188 |jstor=2659188 |jstor-access=free}}

for various reviews of this book, see Norbert Peabody Violences et verites: un royaume du Rajasthan face au pouvoir colonialby Denis Vidal Review by: Norbert Peabody The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute DOI: 10.2307/3034949 Date: September, 1996 Christophe Jaffrelot,Vidal (Denis). Violences et vérités. Un royaume de Rajasthan face au pouvoir colonial [compte-rendu] Christophe Jaffrelot Archives de sciences sociales des religions Année 1996 94 pp. 106-107 Frank de Zwart,de Zwart, Frank (November 1998). "Reviewed Work: Violence and Truth: A Rajasthani Kingdom Confronts Colonial Authority". American Journal of Sociology. University of Chicago Press. 104 (3): 909–911. JSTOR 10.1086/210095. Ajay Skaria Skaria(August 1999).Yang, Anand A.; Walter, Ann; Walthall, Anne; Haboush, JaHyun Kim; et al. (eds.). "Reviewed Work: Violence and Truth: A Rajasthani Kingdom Confronts Colonial Authority by Denis Vidal". The Journal of Asian Studies. Association for Asian Studies. 58 (3): 884–885. JSTOR 2659188 And for an indepth study of it see Lawrence Babb, 2004Lawrence A Babb (2004), Myths of Identity and the Life of Trade in Western India Lawrence A Babb. Sage, New-Delhi

• Vidal Denis, Balusubrumaniam D, Sricandane G. (collab.). (2024). Boat Builders of the Coromandel: A craft and its makers; Tara Books, Chennai, 164 p. ISBN 978-93-90037-07-0
• Vidal Denis, Balusubrumaniam D, Sricandane G. (collab.). (2023). Wild craft: wooden cargo ships of South India. Marseille (FRA); Pondichéry: IRD; IFP, 369 p. ISBN 978-81-8470-249-1. https://www.ifpindia.org/bookstore/wild-craft/, https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/2023-11/010090498.pdf
• Laumond J.P., Vidal Denis, Boutin A.L. (ill.). (2018). Robots : le livre de l'exposition Robots : the exhibition book. [Paris] : Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie, ISBN 978-2-86842-197-5.
• {{cite book |title=Aux Frontières de l'Humain: Dieux, Figures de Cire, Robots et Autres Artefacts |trans-title=At the Human Frontiers: Gods, Wax Figures, Robots and Other Artifacts |series=Essai. Histoire. Anthropologie |first=Denis |last=Vidal |year=2016 |publisher=Alma |place=Paris, France |language=fr |isbn=978-2362791741 |oclc=936547857 |s2cid=165948940}}
• {{cite book |title=Violences et Vérités: Un Royaume du Rajasthan Face au Pouvoir Colonial |trans-title=Violence and Truth: A Rajasthani Kingdom Confronts Colonial Authority |series=Recherches d'Histoire et de Sciences Sociales, Volume 62 [Studies in History and the Social Sciences, Volume 62] |first=Denis |last=Vidal |year=1995 |publisher=EHESS |place=Paris, France |language=fr |isbn=978-2713210181 |lccn=95204209 |oclc=407004217}}
• Vidal Denis, Le culte des divinités locales dans une région de l'Himachal Pradesh Paris, ORSTOM, 1989, 320p.{{Cite book|url={{GBurl|dJzbV3pg_loC|p=320}}|isbn = 9782709909358|title = Le culte des divinités locales dans une région d'Himachal Pradesh|year = 1988|publisher = Éd. de l'ORSTOM}}

• Vidal Denis, Le culte des divinités locales dans une région de l'Himachal Pradesh Paris, ORSTOM, 1989, 320p.{{Cite book|url=http://www.sudoc.abes.fr/cbs/DB=2.1//SRCH?IKT=12&TRM=00140430X&COOKIE=U10178,Klecteurweb,D2.1,E21bf34b2-c7,I250,B341720009+,SY,QDEF,A%5C9008+1,,J,H2-26,,29,,34,,39,,44,,49-50,,53-78,,80-87,NLECTEUR+PSI,R109.221.208.153,FN|isbn = 9782709909358|title = Le culte des divinités locales dans une région d'Himachal Pradesh|year = 1988|publisher = Éd. de l'ORSTOM}}

• Emmanuel Grimaud, Yann Philippe Tastevin, Denis Vidal. dossier : Low tech ? Wild tech !. France. Techniques et culture, 1 (67), Éditions de l'EHESS, 288 p., 2017.{{Cite journal|url=https://doi.org/10.4000/tc.8260|doi = 10.4000/tc.8260|year = 2017|journal = Techniques & Culture|issue = 67|title = 67 | 2017 Low Tech ? Wild Tech !|editor1 = Grimaud, Emmanuel|editor2 = Tastevin, Yann Philippe|editor3 = Vidal, Denis}}
• {{cite book |title=Violences et Non-violences en Inde |trans-title=Violence and Non-violence in India |series=Puruṣārtha, Volume 16 |editor1-first=Denis |editor1-last=Vidal |editor2-first=Eric |editor2-last=Meyer |editor3-first=Gilles |editor3-last=Tarabout |year=1994 |publisher=EHESS |place=Paris, France |language=fr |isbn=978-2713210143 |lccn=94168835 |oclc=300439786}}{{Cite journal|url=https://journals.openedition.org/tc/8260|doi = 10.4000/tc.8260|year = 2017|issue = 67|title = 67 | 2017 Low Tech ? Wild Tech !|journal = Techniques & Culture|editor1 = Grimaud, Emmanuel|editor2 = Tastevin, Yann Philippe|editor3 = Vidal, Denis}}
• Denis Vidal. Dufrêne T. (ed.), Grimaud E. (ed.), Taylor A.C. (ed.), Vidal Denis (ed.). Persona : étrangement humain [exposition, Musée du quai Branly, Paris, 26 janvier-13 novembre 2016]Paris : Musée du Quai Branly; Actes Sud, 2016, 271 p. ISBN 978-2-330-03801-4 . France. Musée du Quai Branly; Actes Sud, 271 p., 2016.
• Grimaud E., Houdard S., Vidal Denis. (2006). Artifices et effets spéciaux : les troubles de la représentation. In : Grimaud E. (ed.), Houdard S. (ed.), Vidal Denis (ed.). Effets spéciaux et artifices. Terrain, 46, p. 5-14. ISSN 0760-5668.{{Cite journal|url=https://journals.openedition.org/terrain/3948?lang=en|doi = 10.4000/terrain.3948|title = Artifices et effets spéciaux|year = 2006|last1 = Grimaud|first1 = Emmanuel|last2 = Houdart|first2 = Sophie|last3 = Vidal|first3 = Denis|journal = Terrain|issue = 46|pages = 5–14|doi-access = free}}
• Dupont Véronique (ed.), Tarlo E. (ed.), Vidal Denis (ed.). (2000). Delhi : urban space and human destinies. New Delhi : Manohar, 261 p. ISBN 81-7304-366-3.{{Cite web|url=http://www.manoharbooks.com/BookDetails.asp?Id=1000457&isbn=9788173043666|title = Manohar Books}}
• Denis Vidal, Philippe Cadene. Webs of trade : dynamics of business communities in western India. India. CHS; Manohar, 196 p., 1997.Webs of Trade, {{ISBN|9788173041877}} {{Cite web|url=http://www.manoharbooks.com/BookDetails.asp?Id=2230&isbn=9788173041877|title = Manohar Books}}
• {{cite book |title=L'Inde dans Les Sciences Sociales |trans-title=India in the Social Sciences |series=Bulletin de Liaison, No. 13 |type=Les Communications et les Débats de la Journée Consacrée à "l'Inde dans les Sciences Sociales" Qui a eu Lieu le 12 Juin 1987 à l'ORSTOM à Paris |editor1-first=Denis |editor1-last=Vidal |editor2-first=Philippe |editor2-last=Cadène |year=1987 |publisher=ORSTOM |place=France |oclc=489929612 |url=https://hal.ird.fr/ird-01293082/document}}

• Vidal D, Balasubramanian D.« Les cargos en bois de l’Inde du Sud ». Face à la puissance: Une histoire des énergies alternatives à l’âge industriel, Paris, La Découverte, 2020.
• Vidal D, Balasubramaniam D « Comment s’inventent les bateaux ? Cargos en bois du Tamil Nadu » Low Tech ?Wild Tech ! Techniques et Culture, 2017
• {{cite journal |journal=Gradhiva |volume=15 |issue=Robots Étrangement Humains |year=2012 |pages=54–75 |publisher=Musée du Quai Branly |place=Paris, France |language=fr |title=Vers un Nouveau Pacte Anthropomorphique! Les Enjeux Anthropologiques de la Nouvelle Robotique |trans-title=Towards a New Anthropomorphic Pact! Anthropological Issues of the New Robotics |first=Denis |last=Vidal |doi=10.4000/GRADHIVA.2319 |s2cid=191706252 |url=https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/divers16-02/010058619.pdf |doi-access=free }}
• {{cite journal |journal=The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute |volume=13 |number=4 |date=December 2007 |pages=917–933 |publisher=Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland |title=Anthropomorphism or Sub-Anthropomorphism? An Anthropological Approach to Gods and Robots |first=Denis |last=Vidal |jstor=4623070 |jstor-access=free |doi=10.1111/j.1467-9655.2007.00464.x |s2cid=162190128}}
• {{cite book |title=Orientalism and Anthropology: From Max Müller to Louis Dumont |series=Pondy Papers in Social Sciences, Volume 24 |first1=Denis |last1=Vidal |first2=Jackie |last2=Assayag |first3=Roland |last3=Lardinois |year=1997 |publisher=French Institute of Pondicherry |place=Pondicherry, India |contribution=Max Müller and the Theosophists or the Other Half of Victorian Orientalism |contributor-first=Denis |contributor-last=Vidal |isbn=978-8184700770 |lccn=98900711 |oclc=246067073 |contribution-url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01293966/document}}
• {{cite journal |journal=Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales |volume=52 |issue=4, L'Hindouisme Aujourd'hui [Hinduism Today] |pages=881–915 |date=July–August 1997 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |language=fr |title=Empirisme et Croyance dans l'Hindouisme Contemporain: Quand les Dieux Boivent du Lait! |trans-title=Empiricism and Belief in Contemporary Hinduism: When the Gods Drink Milk! |first=Denis |last=Vidal |jstor=27585469 |jstor-access=free |doi=10.3406/ahess.1997.279606 |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/ahess_0395-2649_1997_num_52_4_279606}}
• {{cite journal |journal=Gradhiva |volume=9 |issue=1 |year=1991 |pages=30–47 |publisher=Musée du Quai Branly |place=Paris, France |language=fr |title=Les Trois Grâces ou l'Allégorie du Don: Contribution à l'Histoire d'une Idée en Anthropologie |first=Denis |last=Vidal |doi=10.3406/gradh.1991.1372 |trans-title=The Three Graces, or the Allegory of the Gift: A Contribution to the History of an Idea in Anthropology |translator-first=Eléonore |translator-last=Rimbault |s2cid=192540155 |oclc=1005923907 |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/gradh_0764-8928_1991_num_9_1_1372}}
• {{cite journal |journal={{ill|Études Rurales|fr|Études rurales}} |number=107–108, Paysages et Divinités en Himalaya |pages=71–83 |date=July–December 1987 |publisher=EHESS |place=Paris, France |language=fr |editor-first=Gérard |editor-last=Toffin |title=Une Négociation Agitée: Essai de Description d'une Situation d'Interaction Entre des Hommes et des Dieux |first=Denis |last=Vidal |volume=107 |jstor=20125061 |jstor-access=free |doi=10.3406/RURAL.1987.3203 |s2cid=161490826 |issn=0014-2182 |eissn=1777-537X |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/rural_0014-2182_1987_num_107_1_3203}}

{{Reflist|group=note}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite web |website=Academia.edu |title=Denis Vidal |url=https://univ-paris7.academia.edu/denisvidal}}
• {{cite web |title=The Story Behind Berenson the Robot: Interview with Denis Vidal and Philippe Gaussier |url=https://www.widewalls.ch/magazine/berenson-the-robot-vidal-gaussier |work=Lorenzo Pereira |publisher=WideWalls |place=London, UK |date=16 March 2016}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Vidal, Denis}}

Category:1954 births

Category:French anthropologists

Category:Social anthropologists

Category:21st-century French anthropologists

Category:21st-century French educators

Category:Anthropology writers

Category:Living people

Category:Himalayan studies