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Pulling the Right Threads

Pulling the Right Threads

The Ethnographic Life and Legacy of Jane C. Goodale

Edited by Laura Zimmer-Tamakoshi and Jeanette Dickerson-Putman

Contributions by Laura Zimmer-Tamakoshi, Jeanette Dickerson-Putman, Jane C. Goodale, Michele Dominy, Miriam Kahn, Pamela Sheffield Rosi, Deborah Bird Rose, Michael D. Lieber, Joy A. Bilharz, William W. Donner, Eric Venbrux and Jane Fajans

Published by: University of Illinois Press

Imprint: University of Illinois Press

272 Pages, 152.00 × 229.00 mm, 8 black & white photographs

Paperback
9780252074844
Published: February 2008

£26.99

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Description
Contents
Authors
Praise

A tribute to Jane C. Goodale, Pulling the Right Threads discusses the vibrant ethnographer and teacher's principles for mentoring, collaborating, and performing fieldwork. Known for her ethnographic research in the Pacific, development of the Association of Social Anthropology in Oceania, and influence in the anthropology department at Bryn Mawr College, Goodale and other contributors renew the debate in anthropology over the authenticity of field data and representations of other cultures. Together, they take aim at those who claim ethnography is outmoded or false.

Acknowledgments   vii
Introduction   1
LAURA ZIMMER-TAMAKOSHI
1. An Ethnographic Life   27

JEANETTE DICKERSON-PUTMAN

2. Pulling the Right Thread 44

MICHELE DOMINY

3. It's Not about Women Only 56

LAURA ZIMMER-TAMAKOSHI

4. "Every Action Is a Human Interaction" 77

MIRIAM KAHN

5. Remember Malinowski's Canoe and Luk Luk Gen 92

PAMELA SHEFFIELD ROSI

6. Ethics of Attention 110

DEBORAH BIRD ROSE

7. The Squabbling Stops When Everybody Wins 123

MICHAEL D. LIEBER

8. From Pig Lunch to Praxis 137

JOY A. BILHARZ

9. Separation and Support, Conflict and Romance in the Relations between Sikaiana Men and Women 149

WILLIAM W. DONNER

10. Indigenous Religion in an Intercultural Space 168

ERIC VENBRUX

11. Food and Ghosts: Dance in the Context of Baining Life 187

JANE FAJANS

Conclusion: What Is Ethnography? Is It Real? 209

JANE C. GOODALE

References   227
Contributors   247
Index   253

Laura Zimmer-Tamakoshi is a research associate in anthropology and cofounder of the Owl Network at Bryn Mawr College. Jeanette Dickerson-Putman is an associate professor in the department of anthropology at Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis.

“A celebration (and defence) of ethnography as the essence of anthropology. . . . This volume certainly speaks to a monumental ‘legacy.’”--Anthropological Forum
"Debate in anthropology over the role of ethnographic research and writing has been fierce over the past two decades, calling into question the legitimacy of anthropological reportage and its representation of exotic (and not so exotic) societies. This collection, by examining the life work of an outstanding contemporary ethnographer and the legacy that she has created through the work of those she has trained, renews this lively debate. The contributors are unanimous in their commitment to the ethnographic enterprise and clear in their confrontation with those who decry it. This book will stir the best kind of anthropological argument, and that is in and of itself a significant contribution."--David Counts, professor emeritus, Department of Anthropology, McMaster University, and adjunct professor of anthropology, University of British Columbia, Okanagan.