On Ethnographic Sincerity

This paper will compare two articles related to ethnographic research and the approach taken by modern cultural anthropologists. The question raised in both articles is whether or not a change should be implemented in the accepted method of current standards of writing and recording field research. Additionally these articles question the idea of ethnographies being solely reported through intellectual analyses, and pose the idea of incorporating and taking into account more human emotions, or affect, of the cultures being studied. John Jackson’s paper “On Ethnographic Sincerity” discusses his opinion on why anthropologists need to approach ethnographic research with more sincerity. Ethnography is defined as “practices, methods,

2). Its purpose is to bring a more scientific and analytical approach to studying the collective emotions of a group. This paper discusses how social science has had difficulty with concepts between mind and body, self and other, and affect science and analyses could help to fill in the gap of understanding (Skoggard, Waterson 2015:para. 2). They are attempting to create a “structure of feeling” (Skoggard, Waterson 2015:para. 6) beyond the current normative analytical ethnography to create what is theorized as the “evocative ethnography” (Skoggard, Waterson 2015:para. 3). Studying Affect focuses on feelings more than thoughts, and they are using concepts of neuroscience and neurobiology to understand how different parts of the brain associated with emotion and cognition handle affect and influence behavior (Skoggard, Waterson 2015:para. 4). Unconscious emotions are at the heart of Affect theories (Skoggard, Waterson 2015:para. 5). Affect focuses on social activity, social interaction, and the affect on collectivity. When large groups gather there is a unique emotional connection that is shared by everyone, such as when attending church, a funeral, or a celebration. The group environment has an affect on them, and would have an

There is also a shared emotional connection among a group of people having similar emotions over time, such as generations of slavery or war (Skoggard, Waterson 2015:para. 5). There have been regions in the United States that have collectively been affected for generations because of historical loss of land rights, and this sense of loss has shaped their current culture (Garcia 2010:Print). Although these feelings of loss are classified as emotions and therefore do not fit into the practical system of ethnography, it would be impossible to get an accurate portrayal of a culture without understanding it’s collective affect. But since Affect is a new theory in anthropology more research will need to be done to definitively shape its structure. And unlike Habermas’ practical structures, Affect is largely based on emotions and the subconscious and would be difficult to give it a normative structure (Skoggard, Waterson 2015:para. 11). Trying to form a structure around emotions could lead to a hollow and useless new branch of