“The Management of Hunger”: Using Fiction in Writing Anthropology

Abstract

This piece is a short story based on the author’s fieldwork in contemporary U.S. strip clubs. The story revolves around an ongoing relationship between an exotic dancer and a married customer—a relationship that only exists inside the club and that is based on the mutual construction of fantasy. It is followed by a brief discussion of the use of fiction in experimental ethnography and of the author’s own motivations for and experiences in writing short fiction.

Retelling tales: The (missed?) representation of working class women’s stories of leisure

“…As such, the overwhelming presence of these stories resonated with the ethical consciousness of the researcher and remained there, long after she had cropped them to the shape of realist tales. She felt the complexities of the lived experience were lost, and other researchers have expressed similar concerns as a rationale for using this form of presentation (e.g., Diversi, 1998;Frank, 2000).…”

“…This format allows the voice, emotional texture and multilayered experiences of participants to be fore-grounded. It allows the reader to experience participants living their lives, and to engage readers at an immediate emotional level (Frank, 2000).…”

“…Allowing readers to "meet" the participants ensures that voice and multilayered immediacy of participants' own experiences are not lost (Frank, 2000;Krizek, 1998). Creative fiction was used here to "show not tell" stories (Denzin, 1997, p. 40), and we hope that the second mode of presentation illustrated a different kind of relationship between author, text and the reader.…”

Are we allowed to use fictional vignettes in cultural geographies?

“…In the book, no details are provided about the methodology at the heart of this blending, and Augé's book is mostly a provocative critique of the idea that social sciences have to be detached, objective and unbiased, rather than a well-defined methodological alternative. 17 All these works emphasise the hybrid status of fictional elements; on the one hand, fictional vignettes may be imagined as methodological devices which allow for accessing and analysing specific social phenomena (such as domestic violence in the made-up paper presentation at the beginning of this article), and, on the other hand, as representational tools for describing and translating, in an effective and appealing way, the results of research. 18 In fact, the use of fiction as a style for presenting the results of analysis may enhance the interest of the reader or the audience, provide a deeper sense of participation, suggest open-ended alternative endings and conclusions, and widen the accessibility of research advancement outside the borders of the academia.…”

Exploring taboo issues in professional sport through a fictional approach

“…Storytelling through fictional forms of representation is one alternative tale which we have used in response to the dilemmas our research has raised (see Carless & Sparkes, 2008;Douglas & Carless, 2008c). It is not our intention here to debate the benefits of fictional approaches as these have been addressed elsewhere (e.g., Coles, 1989;Clough, 2002;K. Frank, 2000;Sparkes, 2002;Watson, 2000).…”