Tina Bell
English 5870
Dr. Devries
12 May 2009

Commentary 10

“The way in which we choose to write is an ethical issue” (Pryer 10). When I read this line from Pryer’s article two week’s ago, I thought it summed up my dilemma concerning the use of memoir or narrative as an ethnographic form of research. In my commentary, I discussed the difficulty in trusting this genre as valid. I have been conditioned my entire academic life to believe that research must be written in a rather stark, scientific way. Only in this way can writers even begin to reach objectivity. But from Ruth Ray to Paul Stoller, the word, subjectivity keeps popping up surprising me over and over again. And now, tagging along with this word like inseparable best friends are the frightening ideas of fiction, story and imagination. I can feel my stomach turning in knots and my beliefs turning upside down.

Paul Stoller opens his article “Ethnography/Memoir/Imagination/Story” with an interesting piece of narrative. From the first line, I could feel a difference in my connection to the text. Such a different feeling than the one I get when I read most scientific text. Through Stoller’s use of narrative technique, I felt as though I too were in Talabir, Niger listening to his conversation with Adamu Jenitongo. Even in these short passages, “I felt like I was there” (180). I identified with the characters and the author, and most importantly for Stoller, I wanted to read more.

One of Stoller’s central questions as an ethnographer is “how can an ethnographic work, based on long-term research remain open to the world?” (180). This too should be one of our central questions as we step forward into the world of ethnography. One of my chief concerns has always been the general public’s view of an actual classroom. I often find that people base their notions on what they remember from their days as students when their youthful minds may have colored the experience. I believe that their perceptions seen through their own viewpoints are valid. But, from my teacher viewpoint (one who has taught thousands of students), I find that students recollections of themselves tend to be either far better or far worse than they rally were. As I let Stoller settle part of my inner debate, I believe the form of a story, one that “combines evocative narrative with insightful analysis” (18). Might be the best way to describe the classroom To place the teachers and the students into a setting in which the reader is drawn and sense of identification is created would keep it “open to the world.” More people would want to read such a work could capture the voices of all involved.