Introduction
A written ethnography is a descriptive account of a given culture written to a foreign audience especially the westerners. The ethnographers of such accounts normally write about ‘other’ cultures to inform the native people of these foreign cultures. However, this has to be done with a lot of care; as the ethnographers studying the culture often impose their cultural biases and subjective points of view onto the culture under study. This paper describes what makes a written ethnography work; as well as gives an account of the elements that must be included in such writing (Kottak 26).
Main Body
A written ethnography work constitutes an account of how the culture of the people under study is; covering who they are, what their values, experiences, and perspectives are. This is the case as this forms the foundation of the account; as the ethnographic account should provide a sense-making from the reflection of the given culture. An example here is the “Eating Christmas in Kalahari” account by Richard Borshay, where his initial observation of a fattened bull contrasted those of the Kung when they referred to it as being a bag of bones. However, as he learned afterward, the Kung people were in the process of humbling him based on understanding their hunting traditions (Lee 13).
An ethnographic account should give a description and analysis of the beliefs, practices, and cultural variables of the group under study portray the insider as well as the outsider perspective. An ethnographic account should be guided by the investigator’s mental mold, which is often based on the researchers guiding paradigm or theory about the way things are. However, the paradigm has to continually evolve when exposed to facts that do not fit into their original model. An example here is the understanding developed by lee after receiving an explanation from Tamazo regarding the misunderstood acts and words (Lee 17).
Conclusion
Ethnographic accounts give an allowance for observing a complex world about the interrelationship between and among previously unknown themes and patterns. An example here is the conclusion by Deborah Tannen in the account “I Can’t Even Open My Mouth”; where she emphasizes that the comparison between the actual and perceived message is very comparable to the real meaning of a word and its implications. This is to show that this comparison can only be established from understanding the related themes and patterns (Tannen 12-14).
Works cited
Brettell, Caroline, Ed. When They Read What We Write. Westport: Bergin & Garvey, 1993. P: 14.
Grills, Scott, ed. Doing Ethnographic Research. Thousand Oaks: Sage, 1998. P: 24.
Kottak, Conrad. “Anthropology and its Applications.” Mirror for Humanity: A Concise Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. New York: McGraw Hill, 2005. P: 23-41.
Lee, Richard. “Eating Christmas in the Kalahari.” In Conformity and Conflict: Readings to Accompany Miller, Cultural Anthropology, 4 ed., ed. Spradley and McCurdy. Pearson, 2008.
Tannen, Deborah. I only say this because I love you. New York: Random house Publishing. 2002. P: 12-14.