Abstract

RUBIM, Gustavo. Observers Observed and the advanced studies in Literature and Anthropology. Etnográfica [online]. 2011, vol.15, n.2, pp.361-375. ISSN 0873-6561.

In this essay, a rereading of the book Observers Observed: Essays on Ethnographic Fieldwork (1983), first volume of the series History of Anthropology, edited by George W. Stocking, Jr., is attempted from the point of view of the connections between Literature and Anthropology. Special emphasis is given to “Following Deacon: the problem of ethnographic reanalysis, 1926-1981”, the contribution of the anthropologist Joan Larcom to that set of essays. The leading idea is double: on the one side, ethnographic fieldwork is defined by its literary component even at the level of observation; on the other side, the modern idea of “literature” is seen as deeply affected by the existence of anthropological discourse as a development of literary writing.

Keywords : anthropology; fieldwork; interpretation; literature; observation; reanalysis.

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