The Ethnographic Self As Resource : Writing Memory and Experience Into Ethnography

It is commonly acknowledged that anthropologists use personal experiences to inform their writing. However, it is often assumed that only fieldwork experiences are relevant and that the personal appears only in the form of self-reflexivity. This book takes a step beyond anthropology at home and auto-ethnography and shows how anthropologists can include their memories and experiences as ethnographic data in their writing. It discusses issues such as authenticity, translation and ethics in relation to the self, and offers a new perspective on doing ethnographic fieldwork. Peter Collins received CONTENTS PROLOGUE Chapter 1 THE ETHNOGRAPHIC SELF AS RESOURCE: AN INTRODUCTION PART I BEING SELF AND OTHER: ANTHROPOLOGISTS AT HOME Chapter 2 PLAYING THE NATIVE CARD: THE ANTHROPOLOGIST AS INFORMANT IN EASTERN GERMANY Chapter 3 FOREGROUNDING THE SELF IN FIELDWORK AMONG RURAL WOMEN IN CROATIA Chapter 4 SOME REFLECTIONS ON THE ‘ENCHANTMENTS’ OF VILLAGE LIFE, OR WHOSE STORY IS THIS? Chapter 5 THE ETHICS OF PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION: PERSONAL REFLECTIONS ON FIELDWORK IN ENGLAND PART II WORKING ON/WITH/THROUGH MEMORY Chapter 6 ETHNOGRAPHERS AS LANGUAGE LEARNERS: FROM OBLIVION AND TOWARDS AN ECHO Chapter 7 LEADING QUESTIONS AND BODY MEMORIES: A CASE OF PHENOMENOLOGY AND PHYSICAL ETHNOGRAPHY IN THE DANCE INTERVIEW Chapter 8 DUALLING MEMORIES: TWINSHIP AND THE DISEMBODIMENT OF IDENTITY Chapter 9 REMEMBERING AND THE ETHNOGRAPHY OF CHILDREN’S SPORTS Chapter 10 GARDENING IN TIME: HAPPINESS AND MEMORY IN AMERICAN HORTICULTURE PART III ETHNOGRAPHIC SELVES THROUGH TIME Chapter 11 THE ROLE OF SERENDIPITY AND MEMORY IN EXPERIENCING FIELDS Chapter 12 SERENDIPITIES, UNCERTAINTIES AND IMPROVISATIONS IN MOVEMENT AND MIGRATION Chapter 13 ON REMEMBERING AND FORGETTING IN WRITING AND FIELDWORK Chapter 14 THE ETHNOGRAPHIC SELF AS RESOURCE? Chapter 15 EPILOGUE: WHAT A STORY WE ANTHROPOLOGISTS HAVE TO TELL! NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS INDEX