One of the things I realized as I was going through my Resources pages and more specifically, my Reading Notes of Books I have Read is that I have not tweeted nor blogged enough about methods. This makes me feel particularly bad because well, I am a methods guy. So I figured I’d write about a book that masterfully blends two of my major interests: writing AND ethnography.
As I said in my Twitter thread, “From Notes to Narrative: Writing Ethnographies that Everyone Can Read” by Dr. Kristen Ghodsee is an absolute masterpiece. I will be using this book to teach how to write ethnography. Of course, I would very strongly encourage you to read my editorial in the International Journal of Qualitative Methods too, if like me, you are interested in teaching writing in the social sciences, and/or ethnographic methods: Writing Field Notes and Using Them to Prompt Scholarly Writing”
My Twitter thread offers my reading notes of Ghodsee. First I offered some context on my background as an ethnographer.
In “Writing Field Notes and Using Them to Prompt Scholarly Writing” https://t.co/Yeyww7ASpD #Free2DownloadAndRead I outlined a few ideas for how folks who do fieldwork and write field notes can use their notes to break free from the writer’s block stronghold. You should read it!
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) August 29, 2019
Then I discussed why I love Ghodsee’s book.
Ghodsee is a godsend. Her writing is compelling, clear and bold. She does NOT suffer fools gladly and she will tell you the truth. And the truth is, for some bizarre reason, many ethnographies are incredibly hard to read. Which given the nature of the method, they shouldn’t be! pic.twitter.com/BgEpiF7h0G
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) August 29, 2019
What I loved was that (and related to my earlier discussion of the importance of “repertoires”), she offered a repertoire of writing techniques, strategies and models to satisfy different disciplinary and audience requirements. Interweaving theory with data IS hard to do! pic.twitter.com/hY3LznFYAC
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) August 29, 2019
Bottom line: when I teach Ethnographic Methods next I’ll be using Ghodsee as one of the key texts. I do very strongly recommend that you read it. And while I may put her on the spot, Dr. Robin Nagle wrote one of the most compelling ethnographies I have ever read in my life.
I praise @rznagle with absolute respect for my fellow ethnographers, many of whom I have read (and whose work I’ve loved!), and whose books I have on my shelves. My thread on Robin’s book explains why I was breathless https://t.co/Ujshf52d84
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) August 29, 2019
Then, I offered a couple of reflections on doing (and writing) ethnography of vulnerable communities, a topic Dr. Kate Parizeau and I have published about.
Our #Free2DownloadAndRead article “Doubly Engaged Ethnography: Opportunities and Challenges When Working With Vulnerable Communities” https://t.co/aU5NldEPaL offers suggestions for how to write about vulnerable communities with an ethics of care. </end thread>
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) August 29, 2019
Hopefully my reading notes will be of use to those interested in improving their writing of fieldwork and ethnographic material.
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