Writing the Other, Writing the Self: Transforming Consciousness Through Ethnographic Writing

Abstract

This article examines the theoretical and methodological concerns of the new ethnographic writing, analysing writing practices of both professional anthropologists and student ethnographers who undertake ethnographic research as part of a modern languages degree course in universities in the UK. The emphasis is on qualitative writing as a heuristic process, on self-reflexivity in the text, and on self-transformation through writing. A selective discussion of some of the most salient contemporary debates is followed by a detailed exposition of student writing practices. Sub-sections of the article focus on seven issues which are seen as challenges to the writers of ethnographic texts: writing the self, ethnographic description, the question of evidence, drawing on concepts, using verbatim data, concluding and – of particular interest to teachers of language-and-culture – writing in the foreign language.