ACADEMIC AFFAIRS December 2004 Anthropology News

Uncovering Creative Writing in Anthropology

MI’IJSA C;\I~S~I:\IXN,AiXI) 7’I.l~HOI I\I(oOK dramatic arts, here we examine what it nieans to the readenhip we most wish to impact is cxclud- u Gl~,ol<(;lA use the literary arts to take an interpretive stance, ed froni our work ticcause the genres we tend to Writing serves multiple purposes in anthropolo- one that enables the researcher to gain unexpeaed write in are too long, too jargon-laden and too hy. Through writing we craft questions, record insight about others as well as about oneself. removed from the lived rcalitics of our partici- ohservations, analyze data and report findings. pants. In contrast, by writing ethnographies that However, the art of writing is seldom an explicit Bridging the Divide are engaging, we may enhance the visibility and topic of discussion. Like Clifford and Marcus in Creative writing approaches to anthropolobT pay impact of our projects, and, with hope, incrvasc. LVritiri‘y Qrltiilz~( 1986)and Behar in 7’lv Virlricrnbk attention to what is considered valid and valuable our influence on those who lead sociiil change. 0hcrvcJr (19961, our work builds on the premise in scholarly communities that are both literary that anthropologists generally and ethnogra- and scientific. A creative writer is encouraged to Developing the Poet Within phers specifically have much to gain froni an “show don’t tell” (let the details speak for thern- However, there is also concern about the quality of exploration of the craft and practice of creative selves) whereas an ethnographer is encouraged to this work. How can anthropologists untrained in writing as a method of inquiry. As a poet and fic- “show uriri tell” (show the details and tell the read- the literary arts engage in poetry or fiction? Is it pos- tion writer, we bring the rhythm and imagina- er what they mean). Creative approaches to sible to be well-trained and qualified in thc, arts and tion of creative writing to our anthropological ethnographic texts represent a hybrid form, rely- in anthropolohy? Where does ARR fit within the fieldwork in education. What can fiction and ing on fictional and poetic representations of data Institutional Review Board process? ‘I‘hese and poetry do that more traditional genres might not that embrace detail and assertion but engage the many other questions about the quality, validity during data collection, analysis and presentation? reader as the ultimate interpretive authority. and import of ARR are undergoing diwission’in a Creative approaches recognize multiple-and at large number of venues. Currently, the Society for ArtlAnthropology times-contradictory interpretations of cultural Humanistic hnthropolo&y enjoins discussions of (keative writers and anthropologists already share meaning, and offer a definition of social science at quality by awarding annual prizes for the best many of the same principles of quality work. the center of a literary-scientific divide. Fact/fic- ethnographic poetry and fiction, as well as the Foremost is a keen sense of observation and doc- tion, self/other, reason/emotion-AKR attempts Victor Turner prize for best-written ethnography. umentation of the descriptive details of lived to bridge these and other dichotomies that have The 2005 Qualitative Kesearch conference QLJK; experience. Thick description-from participants’ thus far prevented healthy mergers between the (www.coe.uga.edu/quig) will address the theme hairstyles to the sound of cicadas or bulldozers- social sciences, humanities and the arts. Likewise, “Art as Kesearch and Kesearch as Art.“ I:inally, a enables both creative writers and anthropologists the literary arts offer a means to come to hnow number of journals and publications explore this to draw meaning from the ordinary texture of points of view outside the limitations of our own area, including the “Ethnographic Alternative Book human experience. However, while ethnobva- Western, dichotomous constructions. Series” by Altamira Press. All of these forums are pliers are likely to record descriptive data during New forms create opportunities for new content beginning to take the import of ABK as a given and fieldwork, there are a number of reasons they are and new ways of sharing what we come to know. explore unanswered questions. less likely to draw on creative writing techniques Formal qualities of creative writing applied to the Perhaps the most important aspea of including during data analysis and presentation. inquiry process can be a means to open doors to an ABR perspective is to reshape graduatc educa- Understandably, anthropologists may perceive the unexpected. For example, crafhng first-person tion in the social sciences fo be more inclusive and the need to safeguard the field’s position in the vignettes in the voice of a participant or a compos- supportive of training in the literary, visual and per- sciences through claims to objective, scientific ite voice of many participants enables the forming arts. While new anthropologists receive truth. Positioning oneself as a creative writer in researcher to engage the other’s perspective and foundations in theories and methodologies of the anthropology puts one’s work at risk of being gain new insight to the human condition. An field, they also could benefit from introductions to labeled subjective, impressionistic, emotional exemplary project is Opportunity Noirse: the arts. Specifically,a focus on elements of creative and, consequently, invalid. It might also jeopard- Ettiricigruphic Stories of Mwitul Kc>turrlrrtiori (I998) by writing will enable future anthroploh’.wts to ana- ize access to funding, collegial respect and tenure. applied anthropologist Michael Angosino, who lyze data and craft findings in ways that are insight- However, if we consider that all claims to scien- created composite characters from data collected at ful, accessible and engaging to diverse audiences. tific truth are suspect, influenced by the cultural- a home for intellectually disabled men. He used fic- Arts-based approaches arc not an either-or ly bound nature of the researcher’s text, we can tional short stories to present multiple points of proposition to traditional research paradigms. We free ourselves to write in ways that name and view of a population traditionally gone unheard. do no service to ourselves as arts-based claim feeling, story and relationship. Another move that opens the door to empirical researchers to define ourselves in opposition to Postmodern approaches to anthropology ren- discovery is in connecting the anthropologist’s traditional prac-tices. Rather, the literary arts offer der all ethnographic accounts as partial and sub- cultural observations of others and the ways to stretch our capacities for creativity and jecTive. Researchers can never know all there is to researcher’s own subjective and emotional world knowledge. lhe free associative nature of creative know about their participants. Additionally, the during fieldwork. Cultural anthropologist Adrie writing offers an alternative to purely linear ways researcher is always present, implicitly or explic- Kusserow makes these connections in her recent of thinking and writing about culture, one that itly, in any ethnographic text. We argue that with book of poems Hunting Down the Mod (2002), explores the unsayable: the tacit knowledge our the advent of postmodernism, the project of weaving stories about others with stories about subjects sense but can’t necessarily articulate and anthropology has changed from one that only herself during and beyond fieldwork in Nepal and the researchers’ role in the cultural construction seeks to authentically represent the other to one Northern India. Through the literary techniques of knowledge. In this way we write an anthro- that acknowledges the ethnographers’ own per- of repetition, telling detail and compact, imagistic pology that is more valid, valued and visible. B ceptions of their cross-cultural travels. verse, Kusserow conveys a portrait of her field- Despite plentiful deterrents, we believe altema- work that would prove elusive in traditional Melisa Cuhnmanni.s mi ( it profiwor o/’/ut~p~~yi:c. tive genres for anthropological work are a vital part ethnographic prose. ~.tlItfUtionut the Utiivtnity qil. Hi7 pO?hi,y r(r(’ [)fib- Iblicrri witkdy iri AI’R, Quarterly West urid otlivr tititiotid of generating new knowledge. Accompanying a Embracing techniques in creative writing can lit- (wry tiiquzitii,.~.For frtrtlitr r@cwtr oti AHK 51~ call for alternatives must also be a call for critical make our discoveries more accessible and mean- (,’ditii?imti (2003)“Tlic, Crtp, /’rtrc.tic-i~,crrttl I’ocsibility of discussions of what can be gained from an Arts- ingful to readers-including readers who are par- Ptwtr), ir i Chrcutiot idKrctrrrc-/i” it I Ikiuca tic mil Kvsc.archcr. Kased Research (AHK) stance to anthropology. ticipants in our studies-stimulating dialohwe ‘kiHofbmk /ni\ pfib/i.s/fc~c/tofir rioveh tirid i.5 LI ~~~tr~lft~ik While ARR also includes the visual, musical and and cross-cultural understanding. Often times Shltk’tlf it1 t/fC u(;A ~,~lfi,~lll~,~L’~

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