On the other hand, I will also be lugging along many hundreds of cloud-synced PDFs, including many books. I’m hoping to not have to get into these very often, but I must admit the idea of having them for reference is comforting.

Slightly off topic, I think this is an interesting part of how notions of ‘the field’ have changed dramatically thanks to the internet and communications. I’m going to a place that not so long ago was written about as “remote.” I’ll be texting with my informants, blogging some of my field notes, syncing the rest to ‘the cloud,’ reading international news daily, and skyping with my family and perhaps my advisors.

I packed a lot of books to take to the field too, but didn’t do much reading. Most of the time you’re simply too busy doing other things. Of the methodology works I found the most useful to be Spradley’s books on interviewing and participant observation.

there are definitely parts of Wolf’s Europe and the People w/o History that I like to check out from time to time.

Sons of the Shaking Earth would be my own choice if I were carting along something by Wolf to Mexico.

I like how Ingold frames things, a lot.

I personally prefer how his friend Philippe Descola frames things. That’s just me, though.

First it was Global Transformations, and now it’s Ingold! What next?!! I think I am going to have to start an Antrosio-inspired reading list! 😉

In all seriousness, I have read SOME Ingold, and what I have read I have really liked a lot. I read two chapters of Perception of the Environment for a class a while back, and I still go back to those notes. I like how Ingold frames things, a lot. He also wrote a great piece about the differences between anthropology and ethnography that I really like. Long story short: Ingold is another good call, especially a book that’s about taking people seriously. Thanks for the comment!

Good call on bringing a book by Don Delillo. A great writer, IMO. I haven’t read Underworld, but White Noise has always been one of my favorite books. I think it’s a good idea to bring a nice stack of lit books into the field…for some time off, yes, but also because it helps get the ideas going too. At least for me.

“I think younger anthropologists have very different fieldsites and reading habits than we gen-xers.”

Hmmm. Well, I’m a bit of an older grad student who lands on the edge of the fuzzy gen x line, so maybe that explains my habit of carting too many books from point A to point B. Interesting.

@Tracey:

“I am not sure if my directionless reading has gotten in the way of doing effective research. Maybe if I had to settle on half a dozen methodological and theoretical works it would impose some discipline on my thinking?”

You know, I kind of like your explanations about why you might want to read ethnographies in the field–to have a hold on what’s possible, to test what you’re thinking, or just for a break. Makes sense to me. Maybe you’re doing all three. As for how your reading has affected your research, I don’t know, it sounds like it might be a good way to think through things and generate ideas. I’d like to hear how things go. Everyone has their own way of working through this stuff, and it’s pretty interesting to hear some of these different methods. Thanks.

@Lowie: Never heard of that book–and it looks like a good one. Thanks for posting that.

@Laura:

“I have found both methods books and ethnographies really useful in different ways…”

Ya, I am right there with you on that. I brought a few books for the same kinds of reasons as you I think. More to have them on hand to check every now and again, and also for some ideas, etc. I have already read most of the methods books that I brought, but I took them along just so I could peruse certain sections if needed. I have been re-reading parts of Agar on these first few days back into the field, and its been pretty useful for some reminders, etc).

“…I loved reading book-length ethnographies of the same country where I am working to get inspiration and ideas.”

Yep, I know what you mean. When I did my MA work in Oaxaca, I really got a lot out of reading some of the ethnographies there. Where I am working in Mexico now there aren’t exactly a lot of ethnographies per se, but there are a lot of travel lit type books written about the region (Baja California)–I didn’t mention this in the main post but I took a few of these along as well. Yes, I have a book problem, it’s true…

@Claire:

“I cannot imagine why anyone in their right mind would bring Foucault, Wolf, or god forbid “Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes” to your actual fieldwork.”

Well, we all have our own styles I guess. I kinda dig some of the stuff in the Emerson book, and there are definitely parts of Wolf’s Europe and the People w/o History that I like to check out from time to time. But that’s just me. Although, it’s certainly plausible that I am not in my right mind–you may be on to something there.

“I brought novels, from Tolstoy to Franzen, and ended up reading most of them and also reading parts of a few somewhat recent dissertations of some anthropologists I know to be smart.”

I definitely agree with you about bringing novels and other lit along. It’s good on many levels. I like to bring along books by people like William Vollmann, Annie Dillard, and Rebecca Solnit. Solnit’s Landscapes for Politics is one that I gave away last time I was here, so I need to grab another copy.

Susanna Kaysen is a fantastic writer, thanks for the tip about that one. I have only read Girl, Interrupted–which I have always felt was a really good commentary on certain social science practices and assumptions (especially regarding psych, of course). I’ll have to look into this other one too…thanks.

I brought novels, from Tolstoy to Franzen, and ended up reading most of them and also reading parts of a few somewhat recent dissertations of some anthropologists I know to be smart.

I would HIGHLY suggest Susanna Kaysen’s Far Afield, a brilliant novel that is the best account of anthropological fieldwork I’ve ever read, including ethnographies.

– Bernard’s tome on research methods
– Bernard’s more recent book on qualitative data analysis (very clearly written)
– some of the multi-book series The Ethnographer’s Toolkit by Schensul and LeCompte (I like its mix of straight forward how-to with vignettes of actual fieldwork)
– about 6 ethnographies from various regions and times of Madagascar

I am in the middle of my fieldwork in eastern Madagascar, and had two long flights and one long bus ride to get to where I am living, so space and weight was also a concern. I have found both methods books and ethnographies really useful in different ways. Every time I start a new phase of my research it has been nice to have a couple references to read quickly to remind myself of what I should be doing (or not) from the methods books. And when I had some more down-time at the start of my project, I loved reading book-length ethnographies of the same country where I am working to get inspiration and ideas.

I am not sure if my directionless reading has gotten in the way of doing effective research. Maybe if I had to settle on half a dozen methodological and theoretical works it would impose some discipline on my thinking?

I remember bringing:

Underworld, Don DeLilo
Infinite Jest, David Foster Wallace
Brothers Karamazov, Dostoevsky
Anna Karenina, Tolstoi
Theory of Communicative Action v.2, Habermas
Forest of Taboos, Valerio Valeri
Research Methods, Barnard (should have brought “Fieldnotes” by Emerson)
Research Practices in the Study of Kinship, Barnard and Good

I was there for 2 years. I read all of the novels and the how-to manual on kinship. Who says fieldwork isn’t good for building cultural capital?

I think younger anthropologists have very different fieldsites and reading habits than we gen-xers.

Really interesting stuff! Hope the Trouillot Global Transformations is OK–the good news on that is in a pinch it can stand-in for the Eric Wolf you forgot (and since you are in Mexico you may try Wolf’s Sons of the Shaking Earth anyway). Would agree with Lilly above that Trouillot’s Silencing the Past is worth a look on how history gets made and told.

I actually found Bourdieu’s Outline of a Theory of Practice made much more sense in the field than trying to read it in graduate school. I also benefitted a lot from Antonius C.G.M. Robben, Sons of the Sea Goddess: Economic Practice and Discursive Conflict in Brazil which I don’t see used much but has great ethnographic matieral and ideas.

Would put in a plug for Tim Ingold’s Perception of the Environment. Hefty, yes, but with lots of great little ethnographic-interpretive essays. It’s really an account of how to take people seriously, and that’s a useful lesson for the field.

Thanks!

Jason