Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography

Citation

Clifford, J., & Marcus, G. E. (Eds.). (1986). Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography. University of California Press. (25th anniversary edition 2010, with a new foreword by Kim Fortun.)

Chapter Summary

Writing Culture is an edited collection: a preface, an introduction by James Clifford, nine essays by nine contributors (Mary Louise Pratt, Vincent Crapanzano, Renato Rosaldo, James Clifford, Stephen A. Tyler, Talal Asad, George E. Marcus, Michael M. J. Fischer and Paul Rabinow), and an afterword by Marcus, followed by a bibliography, notes on contributors and an index. The publisher presents the essays as placing ethnography at the intersection of interpretive anthropology, cultural studies, social history, travel writing, discourse theory and textual criticism, and as grappling with issues of power and poetics in situations of globalisation, post-coloniality and post-modernity.

Foreword and Preface

The 2010 edition begins with a foreword by Kim Fortun, which the publisher describes as exploring the legacies of the book in the twenty-first century. The preface that follows is listed without an author's name; the introduction after it is Clifford's.

Introduction: Partial Truths (James Clifford)

The editors' framing piece, written by Clifford. Its title indicates that ethnographic accounts are to be understood as partial truths.

Essays 1–4

• Mary Louise Pratt, "Fieldwork in Common Places". The title points to the commonplaces of fieldwork.
• Vincent Crapanzano, "Hermes' Dilemma: The Masking of Subversion in Ethnographic Description". The title points to the problem of how subversion is masked in ethnographic description.
• Renato Rosaldo, "From the Door of His Tent: The Fieldworker and the Inquisitor". The title sets the fieldworker beside the inquisitor.
• James Clifford, "On Ethnographic Allegory". On allegory in ethnographic writing, as the title states.

Essays 5–9

• Stephen A. Tyler, "Post-Modern Ethnography: From Document of the Occult to Occult Document". The title speaks of post-modern ethnography and of the document and the occult.
• Talal Asad, "The Concept of Cultural Translation in British Social Anthropology". On the concept of cultural translation in British social anthropology, as the title states.
• George E. Marcus, "Contemporary Problems of Ethnography in the Modern World System". On contemporary problems of ethnography in the modern world system, as the title states.
• Michael M. J. Fischer, "Ethnicity and the Post-Modern Arts of Memory". On ethnicity and the post-modern arts of memory, as the title states.
• Paul Rabinow, "Representations Are Social Facts: Modernity and Post-Modernity in Anthropology". Its title treats representations as social facts and addresses modernity and post-modernity in anthropology.

Afterword: Ethnographic Writing and Anthropological Careers (George E. Marcus)

By its title, the closing piece connects ethnographic writing with anthropological careers.

Key Concepts

Introduction and essays 1–4

• Partial truths: the idea in the title of Clifford's introduction.
• Ethnographic allegory: Clifford's essay title.
• Fieldwork and its description: the shared subject of the essays by Pratt, Crapanzano and Rosaldo, as their titles show.

Essays 5–9 and afterword

• Cultural translation: the concept examined in Asad's essay.
• Post-modern ethnography: the name carried in the titles of Tyler's and Fischer's essays.
• Representations as social facts: Rabinow's title.
• Writing and careers: Marcus's afterword.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• A focused theme. The publisher's description and the contents list show a collection concerned with how ethnographic texts are made, the poetics, and what they do, the politics, rather than with fieldwork techniques.
• Interdisciplinary range. The publisher lists interpretive anthropology, cultural studies, social history, travel writing, discourse theory and textual criticism, and the contributors' titles range from allegory to cultural translation to memory.
• Recognised impact. The publisher calls it "a source of generative controversy and innovation in anthropology" since 1986. The edition's reviews include American Ethnologist, which found the ethical concerns "important ones"; Oceania, which called it "an invaluable book for anyone concerned about anthropology's future"; and Hayden White, who commended the efforts to reimagine anthropology in terms of methodology, politics, ethics and historical relevance.
• A compact form. A short list of essays plus introduction and afterword, about 336 pages in the 2010 edition, lets the volume be read as a whole.

Limitations

• Not a methods text. Readers looking for how to carry out fieldwork should look to other books, such as Fetterman's Ethnography: Step-by-Step or Emerson, Fretz and Shaw's Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes.
• A 1986 snapshot. The essays predate later developments; the 2010 foreword is the only newer material, and the publisher presents it as reflecting on the book's legacies rather than updating the essays.
• Needs prior reading. A grounding in at least one or two full ethnographies and some anthropological theory is advisable, since the essays concern the genre of ethnographic writing and its conventions.

Where It Fits in the Course

Within the ethnographic methods course, Writing Culture is the reflective, critical counterpart to the practical books. Madden's Being Ethnographic, Hammersley and Atkinson's Ethnography: Principles in Practice, Fetterman's Ethnography: Step-by-Step and Emerson, Fretz and Shaw's Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes teach how to do and record ethnography, and Bernard and Wutich survey the whole research process; Clifford and Marcus's volume asks what is being done when ethnography is written up. It is best read after at least one of the practical books and after some ethnographies.

In the anthropological theory course it pairs with Marcus and Fischer's Anthropology as Cultural Critique (also 1986), and with Geertz's The Interpretation of Cultures for the interpretive tradition that many of its contributors engage. Bell's Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice cites it, together with Marcus and Fischer, in a note on the open debate over the social and political ramifications of particular forms of knowing.

How to Use This Book

It suits advanced undergraduates and graduate students who have read at least a couple of full ethnographies and some theory. A practical plan is to read the introduction first, then choose essays by interest: Clifford, Pratt and Rosaldo for the writing and authority of the fieldworker; Asad for translation; Marcus, Fischer and Rabinow for the wider setting; and the afterword last.

For each essay, write down in a sentence the claim about ethnographic writing and test it against a classic ethnography you have read. Read the 2010 foreword to see how the editors' project has been received. Consult the bibliography to move from these essays to the works they discuss.