Writing and translating: the place of images in ethnography.

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (29) ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Iago Porfírio
Keyword(s):  
Production Technology ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Ethnographic Film ◽  
Ethnographic Cinema

In this article I intend to debate the place that images occupy in ethnographic research and their methodological interest, which characterizes the conditions for the insertion of a visual character in the ethnographic narrative. According to Novaes (2014), images communicate and, even in silence, it is necessary to take into account what they have to say, especially in empirical work. In this way, the article will focus on photography as an instrument that opens in gestures and expressions for field research, to think about its use as a production technology for the construction of a visual ethnographic narrative, such as the experience of ethnographic cinema, which will be presented shortly. The hypothesis to be developed here is whether photography can operate as a translation of knowledge gathered in the field. For this, it is important to highlight the methodological interest in the use of the image from the researcher-photographer to the researcher-filmmaker and, as an example, the ethnographic film Les Maîtres fous (The Crazy Teachers), by Jean Rouch (1954) is analyzed.

Ethnographic Documentary Production

Anthropology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harjant S. Gill
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Visual Anthropology ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Marginalized Communities ◽  
Ethnographic Film ◽  
Scholarly Output ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Ethnographic Cinema ◽  
Definition Of

The term “documentary production” within anthropology characterizes the making and circulation of ethnographic research and scholarship which includes film and video as the primary medium of storytelling and communicating cultural knowledge. These categories evolve frequently and what constitutes a film as “ethnographic” cinema is a topic of lengthy ongoing debates. In his Oxford Bibliographies in Anthropology entry “Ethnographic Film,” Matthew Durington provides an overview of some of these debates in attempting to narrow down theoretical frameworks and parameters of filmic ethnography. Ginsburg’s 1998 essay “Institutionalizing the Unruly: Charting a Future for Visual Anthropology” (cited under Foundations) charts the lineage of visual anthropology on the development of the subfield as “born of a union between anthropology and documentary film” (p. 173). From its earliest application within ethnographic research, some scholars have approached filmmaking as a methodological and analytical tool that privileges scientific rigor while others regard it primarily as a medium for storytelling and scholarly output. Early adopters of using film within anthropological research, including Mead and Bateson in their 1977 article “On the Use of Camera in Anthropology” (cited under Foundations), have openly quibbled about the role of the camera and the filmmaker in capturing culture on film. These disagreements have been useful in broadening the boundaries of ethnographic cinema, inspiring filmmakers to experiment with different ways of making meaning, as it has been customary from the genre’s inception led by pioneering figures like Jean Rouch, Robert Gardner, and Trinh T. Minh-ha. For a threshold for what constitutes “ethnographic film and media productions,” we can turn to Jean Rouch, who in his essay “The Camera and Man” (cited under Foundations) insists that ethnographic filmmakers must apply the same anthropological rigor—“spend a long time in the field before beginning to shoot (at least a year),” and thereby possessing an intimate understanding of the communities among whom they work while mastering essential “film and sound recording skills” (p. 40). Building on insights offered by Rouch and by drawing on scholarship from documentary and media studies, the goal of this entry is to outline the fundamentals of non-fiction filmmaking geared toward anthropologists who are already trained in ethnographic research. This entry also insists upon a more inclusive definition of ethnographic cinema, one that does not rely on the filmmaker’s academic pedigree as the primary criteria for inclusion into what has historically been a rather insular enterprise. Instead, a section of this entry is devoted to highlighting voices and perspectives from historically marginalized communities—queer, feminist, people of color, immigrants, indigenous filmmakers, who have been sidelined within the discipline of anthropology with its vestiges of colonialism. Another section of this entry highlights the need to decenter the hegemony of North American and European gaze when telling cross-cultural stories by focusing on transnational ethnographic and documentary production, specifically from countries in the Global South.

Ethnographic Research

2021 ◽  
pp. 138-159
Keyword(s):  
Research Method ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Separate Entity ◽  
Ethnographic Approach ◽  
The Stranger ◽  
Theoretical Foundations ◽  
Final Text

This chapter considers some of the essential features of ethnography as a qualitative method. The main theoretical foundations of ethnographic approach are explained; however, the emphasis is mainly on how ethnography is done. Thus, the techniques for collecting data used by ethnographers take the central part of this chapter with some special attention to the methodology of observation. Through many examples, the authors describe the various forms of observation as a social research method. It is useful to illustrate the approach of the ethnographer through the metaphor of the “stranger” because “reflexivity” is an important part of the qualitative approach of ethnography. The practicalities of recording the field research and writing memos are fully considered in conjunction with practical suggestions and conceptual discussion, including the writing up of the final text which should be the conclusion of a consequential process, rather than a separate entity.

Ethical dilemmas and challenges in ethnographic migration research

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-291
Author(s):  
Martha Montero-Sieburth
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Ethical Dilemmas ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Migration Research ◽  
The Us

PurposeArgued is the need for: (1) a clearer interpretation of procedural ethics guidelines; (2) the identification and development of ethical field case study models which can be incorporated into university ethics teaching; (3) an understanding of the vulnerabilities of researchers and participants as reflected in the researchers' positionality and reflexivity and (4) ethnographic monitoring as a participant-friendly and participatory ethics methodology.Design/methodology/approachThis article, drawn from the author's four-decade trajectory of collective ethnographic research, addresses the ethical challenges and dilemmas encountered by researchers when conducting ethnographic research, particularly with vulnerable migrant women and youth.FindingsThe author addresses dilemmas in field research resulting from different interpretations of ethics and emphasizes the need for researchers to be critically aware of their own vulnerabilities and those of migrants to avoid unethical practices in validating the context(s), language(s), culture and political landscape of their study.Research limitations/implicationsThe author presents case studies from the US and the Netherlands, underlining her positionality and reflexivity and revisits Dell Hymes' ethnographic monitoring approach as a participant-friendly, bottom-up methodology which enables researchers to co-construct knowledge with participants and leads to participatory ethics.Practical implicationsShe presents case studies from the US and the Netherlands underlining her positionality and reflexivity and revisits Dell Hymes’ ethnographic monitoring approach as a participant-friendly, bottom up methodology which enables researchers to co-construct knowledge with participants and engage in participatory ethics.Social implicationsFinally, she proposes guidelines for the ethical conduct of research with migrant populations that contribute to the broader methodological debates currently taking place in qualitative migration research.Originality/valueExpected from this reading is the legacy that as a qualitative migration researcher one can after 4 decades of research leave behind as caveats and considerations in working with vulnerable migrants and the ethical dilemmas and challenges that need to be overcome.

Digital Ethnography in an Age of Information Warfare: Notes from the Field

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip R. Kavanaugh ◽  
R. J. Maratea
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Field Research ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Information Warfare ◽  
Digital Ethnography ◽  
Principal Objective ◽  
Media Environments ◽  
Structural Perspective

In this article we engage the nature and role of the Internet in ethnographic research and reflect on how ethnographic methodologies may be adapted when researching digital forms of communication. We further consider how recent shifts in both the production and dissemination of textual discourse in networked media environments complicates conventional approaches to digital ethnography. Drawing on examples from our field research, our principal objective is to apply a Foucauldian structural perspective to David Altheide’s ethnographic content analysis to better contextualize the study of digital communiqué in a cultural moment where discourses are increasingly surveilled, modified, censored and weaponized.

scholarly journals Budismo primordial: histórias rem(c)ontadas

ILUMINURAS ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (38) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexsânder Nakaóka Elias
Keyword(s):  
Field Research ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Photographic Images ◽  
Joint Construction ◽  
Religious Importance

O presente trabalho tem o intuito de relatar minha experiência etnográfica junto à comunidade Honmon Butsuryu-shu (HBS), uma importante corrente do Budismo japonês e a primeira a alcançar as terras tupiniquins, através do sacerdote Ibaragui. O artigo é uma síntese da minha pesquisa de campo, realizada em maio de 2014, na qual, juntamente com uma caravana brasileira e japonesa, composta por sacerdotes e fiéis, pude acompanhar o chamado Caminho Primordial do Budismo, passando por diversos templos no Japão e pelas cidades sagradas da religião, na Índia e no Nepal (local do surgimento do Budismo). No contexto desta pesquisa etnográfica, fiz uso do método de observação, do registro de narrativas e, principalmente, de imagens fotográficas. O intuito principal é o de mostrar que a pesquisa de campo consistiu em uma construção conjunta com a comunidade, tendo como mediador e informante principal  o arcebispo Correia, personagem que possui importância religiosa e política fundamentais dentro da HBS do Brasil.Palavras-chave: Etnografia. Fotografia. Budismo. Pesquisa de campo. Mitologia.Buddhism primordial: stories reassembledAbstractThis study aims to report my ethnographic experience with the community Honmon Butsuryu-shu (HBS), one important Japanese Buddhist segment and the first to reach the brazilian lands, through the priest Ibaragui Nissui, in 1908.The article is a summary of my field research, conducted in may 2014, in which, along with a Brazilian and Japanese caravan, composed of priests and faithful, I could follow the path of Buddhism called Primordial, through various temples in Japan and the holy cities of religion in India and Nepal (site of the emergence of Buddhism).In the context of ethnographic research, I use the method of observation, the narratives record and mainly photographic images. The main aim is to show that the fieldwork consisted of a joint construction with the community, with the mediator and the main informant Correia Archbishop character that has religious importance and fundamental policy within the HBS of Brazil.Key words: Ethnography. Photography. Buddhism. Fieldwork. Mythology.

scholarly journals Etnografia osobista. Antropolożka i antropolog w terenie

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tarzycjusz Buliński ◽  
Aleksander Posern-Zieliński
Keyword(s):  
Field Research ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Research Results ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
Scientific Papers ◽  
Emotional Dimensions ◽  
Methodological Reflection

The article presents the idea of personal ethnography, i.e. the anthropologists’ individual experiences that include practical, existential, and emotional dimensions of ethnographic field research. Such experiences and their details are largely absent in scientific papers, due to their apparent irrelevance for research results. Nevertheless, they form an indispensable part of ethnographic research, influencing its scientific findings. This article not only emphasizes the need to include this aspect of ethnographic research in the methodological reflection, but also points out the differences and similarities between personal ethnography and autoethnography, following the main threads of personal experiences from fieldwork.

scholarly journals Suspension: Seeking Agency for Change in the Hypermobile World

2021 ◽  
Vol 94 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-250
Author(s):  
Biao Xiang
Keyword(s):  
Public Engagement ◽  
Analytical Approach ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Life Strategy ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
The Public ◽  
Chinese Term ◽  
Term Field

"Suspension" is the translation of the Chinese term xuanfu, which has been widely used in public discussions in China since the mid-2010s. Suspension indicates a state of being in which people move frequently, conduct intensive labour, and pause routine life—in order to benefit fast and then quickly escape. People keep moving, with no end in sight, instead of changing their current conditions, of which they disapprove. As a result, frantic entrepreneurial energy coexists with political resignation. Suspension is a life strategy, a multitude of experiences, a feeling—and now, a keyword: a crystallized consciousness with which the public problematize their experiences. This special issue develops this term into an analytical approach based on ethnographic research involving labour migrants in and from China. This approach turns migration into a basis for critical analyses on issues far beyond it; enables co-research between researchers, migrants, and the broader public; and seeks to cultivate agency for change among actors. This introductory essay, based on the author's long-term field research and public engagement, outlines why we need such an approach, and how we might develop it.

scholarly journals CARING NATIONAL IDENTITY THROUGH TEACHER CONTRIBUTIONS IN THE BORDER: PANCASILA ACTIONISTIC BASIC IMPLEMENTATION

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 649-661
Author(s):  
Jagad Aditya Dewantara ◽  
Efriani Efriani ◽  
Sulistyarini Sulistyarini
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Public Relations ◽  
Qualitative Methods ◽  
Field Data ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Professional Organizations ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Research Designs ◽  
Border Areas ◽  
Descriptive Qualitative

This study looks at the phenomenon of Nationalism Education in various tribes in the Entikong region of Indonesia which borders Malaysia. The purpose of this study looks at the contribution of teachers in the scope of nationalization directly and factually, this nationalization is closely related to the implementation of the Pancasila axillary values as forming national identity. This research is focused on students and the practice of teachers who live in border areas. Retrieval of field data using descriptive qualitative methods using research designs and semi-ethnographic research procedures. The results of the field research indicate that the teacher carries out nationalization practices and campaigns through learning integration in the classroom and outside the classroom. There are 6 contributions seen in this study: teachers as instructors, teachers as managers, teachers as mentors, teachers as evaluators, teachers as members of professional organizations, and teachers as public relations specialists. This implication is expected to be able to strengthen the basis of national identity, especially in instilling Panacasila axiological values aimed at students at the Entikong border

Revolutionary Law Abidance: Kachin Rebel Governance and the Adoption of ihl in Resistance to Myanmar State Violence

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 872-904
Author(s):  
Alicia de la Cour Venning
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
International Law ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
Field Research ◽  
State Violence ◽  
The State ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Rebel Governance ◽  
International Legal System

Although armed opposition actors are increasingly prevalent within contemporary conflicts, ethnographies seeking to understand and explain their relationship with international law are scarce. While scholars highlight the state-centric nature of international law, discussing at length how it privileges state over non-state actors, few examine the way rebels perceive and relate to the international legal system. Drawing on seven months of field research among Kachin civil society and the Kachin Independence Organisation / Army (kio/A), this article demonstrates how the kio/A’s nascent engagement with international law is being strategically pursued as part of a broader rebel governance project. Ethnographic research exposes the oft neglected rebel perspective. It reveals how rebels interact with international humanitarian norms as a means to facilitate and mediate relations with both local and international actors, in an attempt to promote nation building aspirations and thereby strengthen resistance to state violence.

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