Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
6
Recording the Miracle
Writing
The difference between the right word and the nearly right word is the
same as that between lightning and the lightning bug.
—MarkTwain
Ethnography requires good writing skills at every stage of the enterprise.
Research proposals, field notes, memoranda, blogs, shared collaborativeWeb-
based word processing and spreadsheet documents,Web sites, interim reports,
final reports, articles, and books are the tangible products of ethnographic
work. The ethnographer can share these written works with participants to
verify their accuracy and with colleagues for review and consideration.
Ethnography offers many intangibles, through the media of participation and
verbal communication. However, written products, unlike transitory conversa-
tions and interactions, withstand the test of time.
Ethnographicwritingisasdifficultandassatisfyingasdescriptionsofnature.
From simple notes about small events, special landmarks, or even the tempera-
ture to efforts to describe an experience or explain a sudden insight, ethno-
graphic writing requires an eye for detail, an ability to express that detail in its
proper context, and the language skills to weave small details and bits of mean-
ing into a textured fabric. The ethnographer must re-create the varied forms of
social organization and interaction that months of observation and study have
revealed. The manifold symbolism every culture displays and the adaptiveness
of people to their environment must somehow come to life on the page.
Ethnographic writing comes in a variety of styles, from clear and simple to
byzantine. Many ethnographers model their efforts on those of an author they
admire. They adapt their model to suit various subjective and objective con-
siderations: tone, context, message, time constraints, purpose, and so on.As a
result, each writer develops a literary voice that becomes clearer and more
individual with experience. All ethnographers, however—regardless of how
well developed their style—need to adapt their writing to suit their particular
and varying audiences. As is the case with every writer, the ethnographer's
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