The Anthropologist as Writer: Genres and Contexts in the Twenty-First Century / Edition 1

by Helena Wulff

Overview

Writing is crucial to anthropology, but which genres are anthropologists expected to master in the 21st century? This book explores how anthropological writing shapes the intellectual content of the discipline and academic careers. First, chapters identify the different writing genres and contexts anthropologists actually engage with. Second, this book argues for the usefulness and necessity of taking seriously the idea of writing as a craft and of writing across and within genres in new ways. Although academic writing is an anthropologist’s primary genre, they also write in many others, from drafting administrative texts and filing reports to composing ethnographically inspired journalism and fiction.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781785330186
Publisher:	Berghahn Books
Publication date:	03/01/2016
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Helena Wulff is Professor of Social Anthropology at Stockholm University. Among her publications are the monographs Ballet across Borders (1998, Bloomsbury), Dancing at the Crossroads (2007, Berghahn), and Rhythms of Writing (2017, Bloomsbury).

Table of Contents

List of Tables vii

Acknowledgments viii

Introducing the Anthropologist as Writer: Across and Within Genres Helena Wulff 1

I The Role of Writing in Anthropological Careers

1 The Necessity of Being a Writer in Anthropology Today Dominic Boyer 21

2 Reading, Writing, and Recognition in the Emerging Academy Don Brenneis 33

3 O Anthropology, Where Art Thou? An Auto-Ethnography of Proposals Sverker Finnström 46

4 The Craft of Editing: Anthropology's Prose and Qualms Brian Moeran 60

5 The Anglicization of Anthropology: Opportunities and Challenges Máiréad Nic Craith 73

II Ethnographic Writing

6 The Anthropologist as Storyteller Alma Gottlieb 93

7 Writing for the Future Paul Stoller 118

8 Life-Writing: Anthropological Knowledge, Boundary-Making, and the Experiential Narmala Halstead 129

9 Chekhov as Ethnographic Muse Kirin Narayan 143

III Reaching Out: Popular Writing and Journalism

10 On Some Nice Benefits and One Big Challenge of the Second File Anette Nyqvist 161

11 The Writer as Anthropologist Oscar Hemer 172

12 Writing Together: Tensions and Joy between Scholars and Activists Eva-Maria Hardtmann Vincent Manoharan Urmila Devi Jussi Eskola Swarna Sabrina Francis 188

IV Writing across Genres

13 Fiction and Anthropological Understanding: A Cosmopolitan Vision Nigel Rapport 215

14 On Timely Appearances: Literature, Art, Anthropology Mattias Viktorin 230

15 Digital Narratives in Anthropology Paula Uimonen 243

16 Writing Otherwise Ulf Hannerz 254

Index 271

Editorial Reviews

"Overall, the collection should be a mandatory reference for all working ethnographers in the social sciences and required reading in all graduate courses on ethnographic methods." - Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (JRAI)

"Due to the volume's overall approach to the writing process as part of the profession, the chapters offer insightful observations for scholars in both early and later stages of their careers... The strength of the edited volume is that each chapter takes a very concrete situation as departure point, from perspectives such as journalism, administration, publishing, activism or funding. These are the basis for wider observations about challenges and opportunities for the writer - the anthropologist - to take into account. As such, it is an extremely valuable resource for anthropologists and ethnographers working in academia." - Anthropological Journal of European Cultures (AJEC)

"This well-written collection of essays is not merely a programmatic statement about the need for anthropologists to experiment with genres, but indicates how it can be done. It succeeds in showing just as much as telling, with examples ranging from the thought-provoking to the entertaining." - Thomas Hylland Eriksen, University of Oslo

From the Publisher