In Writing Anthropology, fifty-two anthropologists reflect on scholarly writing as both craft and commitment. These short essays cover a wide range of territory, from ethnography, genre, and the politics of writing to affect, storytelling, authorship, and scholarly responsibility. Anthropological writing is more than just communicating findings: anthropologists write to tell stories that matter, to be accountable to the communities in which they do their research, and to share new insights about the world in ways that might change it for the better. The contributors offer insights into the beauty and the function of language and the joys and pains of writing while giving encouragement to stay at it-to keep writing as the most important way to not only improve one’s writing but to also honor the stories and lessons learned through research. Throughout, they share new thoughts, prompts, and agitations for writing that will stimulate conversations that cut across the humanities.
Contributors. Whitney Battle-Baptiste, Jane Eva Baxter, Ruth Behar, Adia Benton, Lauren Berlant, Robin M. Bernstein, Sarah Besky, Catherine Besteman, Yarimar Bonilla, Kevin Carrico, C. Anne Claus, Sienna R. Craig, ZoË Crossland, Lara Deeb, K. Drybread, Jessica Marie Falcone, Kim Fortun, Kristen R. Ghodsee, Daniel M. Goldstein, Donna M. Goldstein, Sara L. Gonzalez, Ghassan Hage, Carla Jones, Ieva Jusionyte, Alan Kaiser, Barak Kalir, Michael Lambek, Carole McGranahan, Stuart McLean, Lisa Sang Mi Min, Mary Murrell, Kirin Narayan, Chelsi West Ohueri, Anand Pandian, Uzma Z. Rizvi, Noel B. Salazar, Bhrigupati Singh, Matt Sponheimer, Kathleen Stewart, Ann Laura Stoler, Paul Stoller, Nomi Stone, Paul Tapsell, Katerina Teaiwa, Marnie Jane Thomson, Gina Athena Ulysse, Roxanne Varzi, Sita Venkateswar, Maria D. Vesperi, Sasha Su-Ling Welland, Bianca C. Williams, Jessica Winegar
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction. On Writing and Writing Well: Ethics, Practice, Story / Carole McGranahan 1
Section I. Ruminations
1. Writing in and from the Field / Ieva Jusionyte 23
2. List as Form: Literary, Ethnographic, Long, Short, Heavy, Light / Sasha Su-Ling Welland 28
3. Finding Your Way / Paul Stoller 34
4. The Ecology of What We Write / Anand Pandian 37
5. When Do Words Count? / Kirin Narayan 41
Section II. Writing Ideas
6. Read More, Write Less / Ruth Behar 47
7. Pro Tips for Academic Writing / C. Anne Claus 54
8. My Ten Steps for Writing a Book / Kristen R. Ghodsee 58
9. Slow Reading / Michael Lambek 62
10. Digging with the Pen: Writing Archaeology / ZoË Crossland 66
Section III. Telling Stories
11. Anthropology as Theoretical Storytelling / Carole McGranahan 73
12. Beyond Thin Description: Biography, Theory, Ethnographic Writing / Donna M. Goldstein 78
13. Can't Get There from Here? Writing Place and Moving Narratives / Sarah Besky 83
14. Ethnographic Writing with Kirin Narayan: An Interview / Carole McGranahan 87
15. On Unreliable Narrators / Sienna R. Craig 93
Section IV. On Responsibility
16. In Dialogue: Ethnographic Writing and Listening / Marnie Jane Thomson 101
17. Writing with Community / Sara L. Gonzalez 104
18. To Fieldwork, to Write / Kim Fortun 110
19. Quick, Quick, Slow: Ethnography in the Digital Age / Yarimar Bonilla 118
20. That Generative Space between Ethnography and Journalism / Maria D. Vesperi 121
Section V. The Urgency of Now
21. Writing about Violence / K. Drybread 127
22. Writing about Bad, Sad, Hard Things / Carole McGranahan 131
23. Writing to Live: On Finding Strength While Watching Ferguson / Whitney Battle-Baptiste 134
24. Finding My Muse While Mourning / Chelsi West Ohueri 137
25. Mourning, Survival, and Time: Writing Through Crisis / Adia Benton 140
Section VI. Writing With, Writing Against
26. A Case for Agitation: On Affect and Writing / Carla Jones 145
27. Antiracist Writing / Ghassan Hage 149
28. Writing with Love and Hate / Bhrigupati Singh 153
29. Peer Review: What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger / Alan Kaiser 158
30. When They Don't Like What We Write: Criticism of Anthropology as a Diagnostic of Power / Lara Deeb and Jessica Winegar 163
Section VII. Academic Authors
31. Writing Archaeology "Alone," or a Eulogy for a Codirector / Jane Eva Baxter 169
32. Collaboration: From Different Throats Intone One Language? / Matt Sponheimer 173
33. What Is and (Academic) Author? / Mary Murrell 178
34. The Writing behind the Written / Noel B. Salazar 182
35. It's All "Real" Writing / Daniel M. Goldstein 185
36. Dr. Funding or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Grant Writing / Robin M. Bernstein 188
Section VIII. Ethnographic Genres
37. Poetry and Anthropology / Nomi Stone 195
38. "SEA" Stories: Anthropologies and Poetries beyond the Human / Stuart McLean 201
39. Dilations / Kathleen Stewart and Lauren Berlant 206
40. Genre Bending, or the Love of Ethnographic Fiction / Jessica Marie Falcone 212
41. Ethnographic Fiction: The Space Between / Roxanne Varzi 220
42. From Real Life to the Magic of Fiction / Ruth Behar 223
Section IX. Becoming and Belonging
43. On Writing from Elsewhere / Uzma Z. Rizvi 229
44. Writing to Become . . . / Sita Venkateswar 234
45. Unscholarly Confessions on Reading / Katerina Teaiwa 239
46. Guard Your Heart and Your Purpose: Faithfully Writing Anthropology / Bianca C. Williams 246
47. Writing Anthropology and Such, or "Once More, with Feeling" / Gina Athena Ulysse 251
48. The Anthropology of Being (Me) / Paul Tapsell 256
Section X. Writing and Knowing
49. Writing as Cognition / Barak Kalir 263
50. Thinking Through the Untranslatable / Kevin Carrico 266
51. Freeze-Dried Memory Crumbs: Field Notes from North Korea / Lisa Sang Mi Min 270
52. Writing the Disquiets of a Colonial Field / Ann Laura Stoler 274
53. On Ethnographic Unknowability / Catherine Besteman 280
Bibliography 283
Contributors 293
Index 305
