An Archive of the Self: Or, What I Learned from Re-Reading Chats from the Field
This article considers how forms of technology and electronic communication - particularly email and online chats - both reflect and shape the selves of the field in relationship to the selves of home. It argues for recognizing and consciously cultivating the use of email and chat as a kind of "...
| Published in: | Fieldwork in religion |
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| Subtitles: | Special Issue: Shifting Sites, Shifting Selves: The Intersections of Homes and Fields in the Ethnography of India |
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Equinox
[2020]
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| In: |
Fieldwork in religion
|
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Women ethnologists
/ Self-image
/ Field-research
/ Scientific working habits
/ Communication
/ Social media
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| IxTheo Classification: | AA Study of religion AD Sociology of religion; religious policy KBM Asia ZA Social sciences ZB Sociology ZG Media studies; Digital media; Communication studies |
| Further subjects: | B
Fieldwork
B Ethnography B Field B Email B Archive B Selfhood B Rajasthan B Whatsapp B India B Stevens, John C.: Home |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (doi) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This article considers how forms of technology and electronic communication - particularly email and online chats - both reflect and shape the selves of the field in relationship to the selves of home. It argues for recognizing and consciously cultivating the use of email and chat as a kind of "archive of the self" to draw on in the writing process in addition to, or sometimes in lieu of, fieldnotes. Attending to this archive helps to reflect more deeply on the complex selves that we inhabit during fieldwork and that we present in our academic work. The article concludes with reflections on how technologies, particularly WhatsApp, also bring the selves of the field into our lives "back home" and how the continued demand for presence in absence can be both uncomfortable and promising for continuing to compile the "archive of the self". |
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| ISSN: | 1743-0623 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Fieldwork in religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1558/firn.18356 |