01 / Classic Textbook Recommendation
Classic Textbook Recommendation
Citation
Clifford, J., & Marcus, G. E. (Eds.). (1986). Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography. University of California Press.
Why it belongs
Ethnography is not only a technique for collecting observations; it is also an act of interpretation and representation. This collection makes the writing choices behind anthropological authority visible and debatable.
Core coverage
Read the essays for questions about voice, translation, partial perspective, and the ethics of describing other people’s lives. It is especially useful before designing an ethnographic project.
Selection note
MIT’s Anthropological Theory course assigns excerpts from this collection: MIT OCW anthropological theory readings.