Bukharan Jews and the Dynamics of Global Judaism. Alanna E. Cooper. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2012. 336 pp (original) (raw)
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American Ethnologist, 2017
To further enhance the vitality of an ethnographic text, Ghodsee recommends including maps and other images that complement or illustrate ethnographic data and support the analytic argument. Ghodsee's strategies for writing compelling ethnographies are as useful as her conceptual guidelines are valuable. She tells us that authors should opt for endnotes instead of placing author-date citations in the text, that prose must be invigorating but lean, that simple words may communicate complex emotions and ideas, and that subjects and verbs must be kept together. Through illuminating examples and her own terse prose, she instructs us to master good grammar and syntax, privilege the active voice, avoid filler phrases, choose strong verbs, and limit adverbs and adjectives. Ghodsee's practical tips on stages of revision and line editing remind us that writing is a craft to be relished. In her discussion of writing rituals, she reiterates that ethnographic writing is and ought to be a personal enterprise. Her simple but ingenious 10-step process for writing a book-from beginning with an imaginary table of contents to collating draft chapters into a manuscript to submitting it for review-is likely to inspire even the most ambivalent or insecure of us to overcome writer's block. The value of From Notes to Narrative is as aesthetic as it is instrumental. Each chapter stirs in the reader the aspiration to write and to write well. Ghodsee's artful integration of excerpts from and examples of model ethnographies reinforces the power and beauty of her own message. Her plea for social scientists to write clearly and accessibly is prudent and timely. Graduate and undergraduate students, novice ethnographers, and even senior scholars in the social and behavioral sciences ought to read this book before they begin writing their next essay or their next book. Priceless!
American Ethnologist, 2017
To further enhance the vitality of an ethnographic text, Ghodsee recommends including maps and other images that complement or illustrate ethnographic data and support the analytic argument. Ghodsee's strategies for writing compelling ethnographies are as useful as her conceptual guidelines are valuable. She tells us that authors should opt for endnotes instead of placing author-date citations in the text, that prose must be invigorating but lean, that simple words may communicate complex emotions and ideas, and that subjects and verbs must be kept together. Through illuminating examples and her own terse prose, she instructs us to master good grammar and syntax, privilege the active voice, avoid filler phrases, choose strong verbs, and limit adverbs and adjectives. Ghodsee's practical tips on stages of revision and line editing remind us that writing is a craft to be relished. In her discussion of writing rituals, she reiterates that ethnographic writing is and ought to be a personal enterprise. Her simple but ingenious 10-step process for writing a book-from beginning with an imaginary table of contents to collating draft chapters into a manuscript to submitting it for review-is likely to inspire even the most ambivalent or insecure of us to overcome writer's block. The value of From Notes to Narrative is as aesthetic as it is instrumental. Each chapter stirs in the reader the aspiration to write and to write well. Ghodsee's artful integration of excerpts from and examples of model ethnographies reinforces the power and beauty of her own message. Her plea for social scientists to write clearly and accessibly is prudent and timely. Graduate and undergraduate students, novice ethnographers, and even senior scholars in the social and behavioral sciences ought to read this book before they begin writing their next essay or their next book. Priceless!
Review Essay: Exploring Alternative Forms of Writing Ethnography
Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung Forum Qualitative Social Research, 2000
Table of Contents 1. Autoethnography 2. Sociopoetics 3. Reflexive Ethnography 4. Concluding Notes References Author Citation ELLIS and BOCHNER have managed to put together a fascinating collection of texts that exemplify alternative forms of writing in the social sciences. They classified them under three categories-"autoethnography", "sociopoetics", and "reflexive ethnography". The reason for this, as they explain in the introduction (written in the form of a dialogue between them over the nature of the book, its aim and the different contributions) is that these texts "explore the use of the firstperson voice, the appropriation of literary modes of writing for utilitarian ends, and the complications of being positioned within what one is studying" (p.30). Let's deal with each of these kinds of texts. [1]
How to write? Experiences, challenges and possibilities of ethnographic writing
Ethnoscripts, 2021
Being a good ethnographer means, amongst other things, not forgetting the future reader during the writing process. This article discusses one possible approach for crafting reader-friendly ethnographies. I review basic strategies for creating stringent and straightforward texts, drawing on the journalistic canon of Reportage writing, and sketch how I personally apply or modify these techniques when composing an ethnography. I address elements such as clear formulation, coherent argumentation, adequate pars pro toto scenes, vivid language, and the difficult terrain of symbols and metaphors. I also suggest steps for reworking the first draft of the text. I conclude by arguing that cultivating and cherishing a recipient-friendly communication style is vital for the public visibility of cultural and social anthropology.
Ethnographic Writing (ANTH 678)
In this graduate seminar we will cover effective writing habits and methods, as well as develop a historical and conceptual framework for understanding ethnographic writing. The seminar is for anthropology graduate students who are working on a bibliographic essay, master's, or doctoral thesis. We will gain an understanding of how ethnographic writing has changed over the past century, the relevance of the "writing culture" debates of the 1980s, as well as work through the most recent reflections on anthropology and writing. Besides looking closely at what scholars have to say about writing practices, a series of speakers will relate their experiences, giving advice on how best to succeed at academic writing. All aspects of the process will be covered, from writing schedules, and the use of technology, to questions of style, formulating anthropological arguments, and publication. Those who enroll in the seminar will support each other with their writing tasks, give and receive feedback, as well as explore and adopt methods and strategies that will serve them throughout their writing careers.
On becoming an ethnographer: Joining an ongoing and dynamic community of social scientists
Linguistics and Education, 2010
in On Ethnography: Approaches to Language and Literacy Research, accomplish what few other authors of books and articles on ethnography have been able to do-bring readers into a dialogic and multi-faceted intertextual web of texts that engage readers in the authors' ongoing conversations, while simultaneously engaging readers in novice social scientist's (Molly) journey to learning how to be an ethnographer. This dialogic approach invites the reader to take a reflexive stance with the authors and Molly by engaging in interactive reading of the arguments proposed by the authors of the text(s). By embedding different kinds of texts (e.g., field notes or dialogue) within the expected theoretical or explanatory narratives about concepts underlying an ethnographic perspective, Heath and Street, or rather Shirley and Brian as they state in the book, interrupt the flow of text to provide an interactive space, not only for their own exploration of ideas using texts from the field, but also for readers.
Symbolic Interaction, 2006
In the spirit of autoethnography, I should perhaps begin with a bit of background on myself and the circumstances surrounding this review. I teach at a small liberal arts university, in a department of anthropology with approximately fifty undergraduate majors. I have taught some form of an introduction to ethnographic methods nearly every year since 1989. There is some irony here, because my own 1980s training was at a large institution that does not "teach" ethnographic methods to its anthropology graduate students. We were expected to learn by doing.
In: A. Ruth, A. Wutich and R. Bernard “The Handbook of Teaching Qualitative and Mixed Research Methods: A Step-by-Step Guide for Instructors”. London: Routledge: 102-105., 2023
An ethnographic text is the central outcome of eldwork. It is also the most important way in which anthropologists publish their research ndings. Despite the centrality of ethnographic texts, how to write ethnographically has not been discussed in any depth until recently. To prepare students to write ethnographically, they rst have to read ethnographies. Analyzing the ethnographic writing styles of others helps them develop their own writing. To apply this knowledge, students observe everyday social interactions, like riding an elevator, and write ethnographic texts about their observations. They receive constructive criticism from their peers and instructor(s) and learn how to revise their texts and improve their writing.