“The use of travelling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are.”
Ethnography is a new word for me, but I’ve received a crash course this week in some of its dimensions. Ethnography, according to Oxford Dictionaries is “[t]he scientific description of the customs of individual peoples and cultures.” This definition seems simple enough on its face—it doesn’t take much of a leap to understand it as the fruits of a field study, the knowledge gathered when one was out there that is communicated back to the rest of us in here. It is qualitative data, and we can do with it what we care to do, whatever that is. It is information.
But that’s on its face. It is also a troublesome thing if done for purposes of mistranslating a culture or justifying one of the varieties of imperialism (cultural, political, military, etc.) or colonialism, and the end result—the thing to be read, which informs about what is out there—is false or falsified. Ethnography is a natural companion to travel writing, according to Joan Pau Rubies: “Ethnography is central to some forms, clearly secondary to others, and often entirely absent” (244). When it is present, it is subject to ethical scrutiny for the very simple reason that whatever I see and report back on in my studies will educate those who seek that information, whether expedition planners, missionaries, colonial or domestic administrators, historians, cultural advisors, other ethnographers and anthropologists, and anybody else who might benefit from, as Johnson said, “regulat[ing] imagination by reality.”
Because of its potential for harm and its association with traveling, this new phrase has clouded my judgment of travel writing. I hadn’t thought of my Rebecca Wests, my Martha Gellhorns, or even my Bill Brysons (et tu, Bill?) as complicit in any type of imperialist or colonialist enterprise before, yet now I am asking whether or not they have wittingly or unwittingly been complicit in something dark and untoward. If I’m to believe Edward Said’s complaints about the hazards of Westerners attempting to translate the Not-West (as synthesized in Steve Clark’s “Travel Writing and Empire” and possibly misunderstood by me), or James Clifford’s criticism of the bourgeois mentality underlying much travel writing, then I will be forced to consider if I really understand the world as it is or as the storytellers wish me to see it. If I was a travel writer, would I be a tool in the service of dissembling the real world?
As you can imagine, this study of travel writing is causing me to hyperbolize in ways I usually mock, so for now, I will stay further comment on these themes until my next entry. I’ll leave with an experience I had looking over reviews of The Best American Travel Writing 2012, edited by Jason Wilson and William T. Vollmann. I noticed that the customer reviews, which are usually 3-5 stars for the series, were evenly sorted between 1 and 5 stars for this edition. Now, Vollmann can be divisive for some (he is the darkness when he wants to be), so it wasn’t surprising, but really, it’s just a travel anthology, so what could the reasons be? Freda didn’t like it because it contained stories about places she wouldn’t travel to, Janie HS felt it lacked the sense of excitement and adventure she expected, and several others were miffed that accounts of travels to Northern Ireland and the garbage fields of Calcutta were included. As one reviewer noted, these are about culture not travel, so what gives?
Indeed.
--Samuel Johnson
Ethnography is a new word for me, but I’ve received a crash course this week in some of its dimensions. Ethnography, according to Oxford Dictionaries is “[t]he scientific description of the customs of individual peoples and cultures.” This definition seems simple enough on its face—it doesn’t take much of a leap to understand it as the fruits of a field study, the knowledge gathered when one was out there that is communicated back to the rest of us in here. It is qualitative data, and we can do with it what we care to do, whatever that is. It is information.
But that’s on its face. It is also a troublesome thing if done for purposes of mistranslating a culture or justifying one of the varieties of imperialism (cultural, political, military, etc.) or colonialism, and the end result—the thing to be read, which informs about what is out there—is false or falsified. Ethnography is a natural companion to travel writing, according to Joan Pau Rubies: “Ethnography is central to some forms, clearly secondary to others, and often entirely absent” (244). When it is present, it is subject to ethical scrutiny for the very simple reason that whatever I see and report back on in my studies will educate those who seek that information, whether expedition planners, missionaries, colonial or domestic administrators, historians, cultural advisors, other ethnographers and anthropologists, and anybody else who might benefit from, as Johnson said, “regulat[ing] imagination by reality.”
Because of its potential for harm and its association with traveling, this new phrase has clouded my judgment of travel writing. I hadn’t thought of my Rebecca Wests, my Martha Gellhorns, or even my Bill Brysons (et tu, Bill?) as complicit in any type of imperialist or colonialist enterprise before, yet now I am asking whether or not they have wittingly or unwittingly been complicit in something dark and untoward. If I’m to believe Edward Said’s complaints about the hazards of Westerners attempting to translate the Not-West (as synthesized in Steve Clark’s “Travel Writing and Empire” and possibly misunderstood by me), or James Clifford’s criticism of the bourgeois mentality underlying much travel writing, then I will be forced to consider if I really understand the world as it is or as the storytellers wish me to see it. If I was a travel writer, would I be a tool in the service of dissembling the real world?
As you can imagine, this study of travel writing is causing me to hyperbolize in ways I usually mock, so for now, I will stay further comment on these themes until my next entry. I’ll leave with an experience I had looking over reviews of The Best American Travel Writing 2012, edited by Jason Wilson and William T. Vollmann. I noticed that the customer reviews, which are usually 3-5 stars for the series, were evenly sorted between 1 and 5 stars for this edition. Now, Vollmann can be divisive for some (he is the darkness when he wants to be), so it wasn’t surprising, but really, it’s just a travel anthology, so what could the reasons be? Freda didn’t like it because it contained stories about places she wouldn’t travel to, Janie HS felt it lacked the sense of excitement and adventure she expected, and several others were miffed that accounts of travels to Northern Ireland and the garbage fields of Calcutta were included. As one reviewer noted, these are about culture not travel, so what gives?
Indeed.
"Ethnography" was a new term for me, too, but when I began reading its description, within a paragraph or two I was struck by its similarities to (cultural) anthropology. It's interesting that you note that there's the potential for mistranslating a culture or for purposes of justification. I can see how the former reason might be accidental: How likely is it that we're likely to completely understand a culture with which we have no familiarity, let alone taking into consideration all the subtleties within a culture. As for the latter reason, I could also see cases in which one's own imperialism isn't something recognizable in oneself.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I have a clouded judgment of travel writing, just yet, at any rate, but I do find that I've been slightly put off by some of the authors of this past week's readings with their implications that all travel writers have nefarious purposes.
A number of years ago, a former boyfriend introduced me to the Best American Non-Requred Reading series; I was initially skeptical, but have really come to love that series, as well as the Best American Short Stories series. (And before going to Iceland last summer, I bought one of the Best American Travel Writing books because it had an essay that featured Iceland.) I find them to be very good series.
I'm with you on the points about whether travel writing is really just up to no good. That it is suspect is a result of a whole bunch of us having read indications that it might be, and now we're (or I'm, at least) seeing imperialists under the bed, the same way I saw doppelgangers everywhere in the Gothic lit course. There must be a phrase for grad students wrapping themselves in new ideas, a sort of academic dress-up that lasts until we start to parse the first week's readings from what comes next.
DeleteAs for the travel anthologies, have you read any of the Granta travel issues? If not, they offer excellent companion pieces to the Best Travel series since they are international selections and have a bit more of an edge to them. Linked at right under "Good to know."
Craig, very intriguing posts. What is the backstory on Dr. Strangefruit? Why did you select that title for your blog? I really enjoyed reading the information that you posted because the term "ethnography" is new to me too. I agree that ethnography can misrepresent a culture if used as a justification of imperialism or colonialism. I believe that accurate documentation of a culture for anthropological reasons is beneficial but the keyword is "accurate." For me, learning about ethnography in travel writing, has put into perspective how modern travel publications present information and shape their stories. When I read a travel publication, there is certain information that I come to expect -- information about the people, their culture, customs, food, language, religion and type of government. This information gives me enough basic information about the country to make me want to learn more, choose to travel there or decide whether I have no interest in visiting that destination. Learning about ethnography and ethnology also expanded my view of travel writing as a discipline because previously, I always read travel publications for the entertainment value and did not examine the content as a discourse.
ReplyDeleteYour blog layout is phenomenal, it draws the reader by giving a warm welcome. Other than using this blog for academic purposes, do you have a specific theme for travel writing? Do you want to write about your local environment or write about international locations or traveling for teenagers? I tried finding an "About" section for your blog to get an overview of the types of information to be shared but was unable to find any content. Prof. Gruber indicated that our blogs can be formal or informal so a mix of the two may appeal to additional followers other than our classmates.
Cynthia--
DeleteDr. Strangefruit is a mashup of Dr. Strange from Marvel comics, the Kubrick movie about nuclear insanity, and "Strange Fruit," the Billie Holliday song about lynching. I like the absurdity of it. Thanks for the comments about the blog.
Your comments are helpful--I'll need to work on the "About" section; the layout doesn't offer one, but I can probably add a text box somewhere. On Google Blogger, the link to my profile is all you get for that but I've resisted using it so far. As for the themes, I'm actually trying to work through that right now. After only a week, I'm still getting my feet wet but the clock is ticking. Hopefully this week's posts will frame things a little more concretely.
Hi Craig, like other comments have mentioned, "ethnography" was a new word for me too - probably for all of us! Based on the readings, it appears to be a subset of anthropology that emphases the study of customs and cultures. It would be an interesting exercise to re-read some of our favorite travel writing pieces for signs that overtly, or subtly, promote imperialism or colonialism. And if there is such evidence, it doesn't mean you can't continue to enjoy their writing - you'll just be able to read with a more critical mind.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I enjoyed your post! Great evidence that you are grappling with the material. I think something many of us will be working on is how to revise our posts to include our own travel experiences. I recall on the discussion boards, you mentioned some past interesting road trips - I wonder how this material could relate to that. -- Heidi