T he S pirit of H umanistic A nthropology

In this paper, I explore the anthropologist, in my case a single, white North American "girl," often referred to as niña in Spanish, as an imagined orphan in the indigenous community of Lumbisí, Ecuador. Lumbiseños' understanding of being "alone" propelled a long process of incorporation that slowly developed my social connections to the community through friendships, alternative fictive kin constructions, and reciprocity. This reflective piece draws on the work of Bruce Grindal, whose profound influence on humanistic anthropology shaped my approach to ethnographic research. His vision of an anthropology based on real human connections, the long-term responsibility of research, self-reflection, a critical eye, and the effective communication of human experiences we share with everyone, not just academics, inspired several generations of scholars, who carry on this tradition in his name. Using three vignettes experienced in crucial phases of this ongoing collaborative research, I attempt to illuminate the process of relationship building, the conflicts experienced, and the resolution we obtained in the spirit of Grindal's (2011) final publication, "Confrontation, Understanding, and Friendship in a Redneck Culture." [Orphans, research relationships, indigeneity, Andes, Ecuador]

Section: Anthropology and Humanism: Lessons Learnedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Of Orphans and Anthropologists: A Personal Reflection on Forming “Family” and Research Relationships in the Field

Williams

2015

“…They have taught us to write proper conversations (dialogue) instead of the clinical block quotes of bygone and even present anthropology. We learn the power of the story from the fiction and poetry of Bruce Grindal (1993Grindal ( , 1999, Kirin Narayan (1999), Alma Gottlieb et al (1995Gottlieb et al ( , 1998, and Jeanne Simonelli (2000Simonelli ( , 2003Simonelli ( , 2005. This knowledge has also released for us many personal true ethnographies, called "memoirs" and such by publishers, but which teach profound anthropological truths that could not be told any other way.…”

Section: The Story Of the Two Dutch Policemenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Introduction to the Art of Ethnography

Turner

2007

The most human side of anthropology is its ethnography, that is, the significant facts an anthropologist gives about a culture, the living events that the researcher needs to relate to convey how that culture works. Where the researcher's participation in the culture has been vigorous and full, the style of ethnography is often magnificent. This article discusses two kinds of writing, the kind that our field friends would themselves appreciate and the kind that university examiners and grant givers would appreciate. I explain the storytelling method as a tool for conveying a picture nearer to the natural tenor of people's lives. [Keywords: ethnography, participation, academic writing, ontological inversion, storytelling]The purpose of anthropology is to supply humankind with information about itself. However, humanistic anthropology draws nearer to the living human being. It seeks to give humankind an understanding of the heart of the human being in relation to his or her fellows. Its goal is stated in the mission statement on the inner front cover of Anthropology and Humanism: [It] concerns the central question of the discipline: 'What is it to be human?' Humanistic anthropology seeks to bring out the intricate and contradictory processes of life in other cultures-including those of the anthropologist. Whether working with life histories or demographics, poetics or nutrition, artistic expression or scientific writing, this journal strives to maintain a focus on the human actors themselves. AH values writing that delights, writing that outrages, writing that evokes the human condition in all its messiness, glory, and misery-writing that reveals the blockages that are deleterious to our social and physical environment, and is thus able to promote cross-cultural understanding. 1

“…In the spirit that animates the words of these practitioners, I see important resonances with Ghodsee's reflections on her years of ethnographic fieldwork in post‐Communist East Europe: “[M]y favorite souvenirs,” she writes, “have always been the personal stories that I collected along the way” (:14). Capital defense advocates and humanistic anthropologists alike, eager to give and receive some sense of the “felt life” of human experience (Grindal :47), value stories as an essential currency of our respective trades. Yet, these narrative drops of gold do not fall into our laps simply for the asking.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethnographic Advocacy Against the Death Penalty

Cheng

2018

SUMMARY This article develops the concept of “ethnographic advocacy” to make sense of the humanizing, open‐ended knowledge practices involved in the defense of criminal defendants charged with capital murder. Drawing from anthropological fieldwork with well‐respected figures in the American capital defense bar, as well as my own professional experience as an investigator specializing in death penalty sentencing mitigation, I argue that effective advocacy for life occurs through qualitative knowledge practices that share notable methodological affinities with contemporary anthropological ethnography. The article concludes with a preliminary exploration of what the concept of ethnographic advocacy might reveal about academic anthropology's own advocative engagements.