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Culture Documents
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3 de junio de 2004
Ethnographic writing
by Martyn Hammersley
Martyn Hammersley is Reader in Eductaional and Social Research at the School of
Education, Open University. In recent years most of his work has been concerned with the
methodological issues surrounding social research. He has written several books: (with
Paul Atkinson) Ethnography: principles in practice (Tavistock 1983; second edition due
1994); The dilemma of qualitative method (Routledge 1989); Classroom ethnography
(Open University Press 1990); Reading ethnographic research (Longman 1991); and
What's wrong with ethnography? (Routledge 1992).
At one time very little attention was given to the character of ethnographic writing.
Minimal advice was offered to students about this aspect of the research process, and
virtually no attention was devoted to how ethnographers formulate their accounts of the
social world. The assumption was that 'writing up' research is relatively straightforward, a
matter of general writing skills.
govern them. Examples of the first style realist tales involve the almost complete absence
of the author from the text, scenes and events being described 'as they are'. Mundane details
are provided about the phenomena described (of a kind that would only be available on the
basis of first-hand observation), and quotations from participants are introduced to show
that the author knows whereof he or she writes. In 'confessional tales' the ethnographer is
centre-stage: what is told is the story of the research itself. Often such accounts take the
form of modest and unassuming reports of the problems and struggles of the fieldworker,
usually with a happy ending. Finally, there are what van Maanen calls 'impressionist tales'.
In these, literary or even poetic effect is primary, allowing the author to exaggerate in order
to make a point. It is suggested that impressionist tales may represent the contemporary
world more effectively than realist accounts, and that narrative ingenuity on the part of
ethnographers should be encouraged.
Marcus, G. and Cushman, D. (1982)
The authors identify the dominant genre in anthropology as ethnographic realism, and list
its characteristic conventions, as well as examining the textual strategies that ethnographers
use to establish their authority within this genre. At the same time they look at variations in
rhetoric as much as commonalities. A persistent theme in their discussion is how
ethnographers present particular places, events, people etc. as representing cultural wholes.
Marcus and Cushman also discuss experimental deviations from the realist pattern and look
at how textual authority is achieved despite these deviations.
Roth, P. A. (1989)
This article looks at the epistemological significance attributed by recent commentators to
the literary devices used by ethnographers. In particular, the focus is on the argument that
traditional ethnographic accounts conceal the author and therefore obscure her or his role in
their construction. Roth claims that explicit self-reflection no more guarantees authenticity
than does a pose of detachment. Finally, he challenges what he regards as the confusion of
epistemological and political representativeness. Following the article there are responses
from Clifford, Tyler and others, plus a reply by Roth.
Tyler, S. (1985)
Tyler argues that despite their appearance as representations of a world that has come to be
known directly by the ethnographer, ethnographies work through reference and allusion to
other texts. Furthermore, they draw on tropes and story forms that are common currency in
Western culture. He also questions the legitimacy of dialogical presentation; suggesting
that, like realist accounts, it too involves a pretence of representation. Instead he
recommends an allegorical, post-modernist ethnography that evokes rather than represents.
Webster, S. (1986)
This article considers ethnographic realism and criticisms of it from the point of view of
Critical Theory. Various interpretations of the concept of realism are identified. Webster
challenges some writers in the field for adopting an idealist position, and for not showing
how the study of rhetoric can further a radical reorientation of ethnography. He argues that
rather than ethnographic realism being an explicit application of fictional realist rhetoric, it
represents an implicit adoption of some of the latter's techniques so as to mark ethnography
off from literature and to present it as scientific. He considers the possibility of using the
resources of literary realism for critical purposes, but rejects both this and formalistic
experimentation in favour of ethnographic writing that self-consciously locates itself within
its socio-historical situation.
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