From Participant Observation to the Observation of Participation: The Emergence of Narrative Ethnography on JSTOR

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Beginning in the 1970s there has been a shift in cultural anthropological methodology from participant observation toward the observation of participation. During participant observation ethnographers attempt to be both emotionally engaged participants and coolly dispassionate observers of the lives of others. In the observation of participation, ethnographers both experience and observe their own and others' coparticipation within the ethnographic encounter. The shift from the one methodology to the other entails a representational transformation in which, instead of a choice between writing an ethnographic memoir centering on the Self or a standard monograph centering on the Other, both the Self and Other are presented together within a single narrative ethnography, focused on the character and process of the ethnographic dialogue.

Current issues are now on the Chicago Journals website. Read the latest issue.The Journal of Anthropological Researchis published in the interest of general anthropology. It was founded by Leslie Spier in 1945 as the Southwestern Journal of Anthropology. JAR publishes substantive, peer-reviewed research articles and book reviews in all subfields of anthropology, totaling approximately six hundred pages of text annually. It sponsors and publishes the JAR Distinguished Lectures by leading scholars in the discipline. JAR is an independent, non-profit medium for the dissemination of significant, theoretically informed, broadly contextualized research results of interest to the international profession of anthropology. It has over one thousand subscribers worldwide. Institutions may receive JAR electronically for a modest fee in addition to the hard-copy subscription.

Since its origins in 1890 as one of the three main divisions of the University of Chicago, The University of Chicago Press has embraced as its mission the obligation to disseminate scholarship of the highest standard and to publish serious works that promote education, foster public understanding, and enrich cultural life. Today, the Journals Division publishes more than 70 journals and hardcover serials, in a wide range of academic disciplines, including the social sciences, the humanities, education, the biological and medical sciences, and the physical sciences.

This item is part of a JSTOR Collection. For terms and use, please refer to our Terms and Conditions Journal of Anthropological Research © 1991 The University of Chicago Press Request Permissions

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https://www. jstor. .org. Beginning in the 1970s there has been a shift in cultural anthropological methodology from participant observation toward the observation of participation. During participant observation ethnographers attempt to be both emotionally engaged participants and coolly dispassionate observers of the lives of others. In the observation of participation, ethnographers both experience and observe their own and others' coparticipation within the ethnographic encounter. The shift from the one methodology to the other entails a representational transformation in which, instead of a choice between writing an ethnographic memoir centering on the Self or a standard monograph centering on the Other, both the Self and Other are presented together within a single narrative ethnography, focused on the character and process of the ethnographic dialogue. Current issues are now on the Chicago Journals website. Read the latest issue.The Journal of Anthropological Researchis published in the interest of general anthropology. It was founded by Leslie Spier in 1945 as the Southwestern Journal of Anthropology. JAR publishes substantive, peer-reviewed research articles and book reviews in all subfields of anthropology, totaling approximately six hundred pages of text annually. It sponsors and publishes the JAR Distinguished Lectures by leading scholars in the discipline. JAR is an independent, non-profit medium for the dissemination of significant, theoretically informed, broadly contextualized research results of interest to the international profession of anthropology. It has over one thousand subscribers worldwide. Institutions may receive JAR electronically for a modest fee in addition to the hard-copy subscription. Since its origins in 1890 as one of the three main divisions of the University of Chicago, The University of Chicago Press has embraced as its mission the obligation to disseminate scholarship of the highest standard and to publish serious works that promote education, foster public understanding, and enrich cultural life. Today, the Journals Division publishes more than 70 journals and hardcover serials, in a wide range of academic disciplines, including the social sciences, the humanities, education, the biological and medical sciences, and the physical sciences. This item is part of a JSTOR Collection. For terms and use, please refer to our Terms and Conditions Journal of Anthropological Research © 1991 The University of Chicago Press Request Permissions.