The 25th-anniversary edition of the groundbreaking book that changed anthropology, asserting that ethnographers needn’t exclude themselves or their vulnerabilities from their work
In a new epilogue to this classic work, renowned ethnographer and storyteller Ruth Behar reflects on the groundbreaking impact The Vulnerable Observer has had on anthropology, sociology, and psychology and on scholarly writing. A pocket companion for writers, journalists, documentarians, and activists alike, this book speaks to the power of including oneself in the story, bringing deeper meaning to the relationship between writer, subject, and reader.
In a move revolutionary for its time, The Vulnerable Observer proposed a new theory and practice for humanistic anthropology. No longer should ethnographers write at a distance, clad in their shroud of “objectivity.” In six luminous essays, Behar calls instead for a fresh approach to ethnography, one that is lived and written more openly. Through this very personal account, readers can travel and relate to other peoples and the world around them.
Eloquently interweaving ethnography and memoir, Behar encourages her readers to be open about their experiences, as open as their subjects are with them. She does so in the hope that this work will lead us toward greater depth of understanding and feeling, not only in anthropology but in all efforts to document the shared vulnerability of the observed and the observer.
“As ‘a woman of the border’ . . . [Behar] infuses her vision with insight, candor and compassion.”
—Diane Cole, The New York Times Book Review
“Behar has convinced me that ethnographic empathy will produce an anthropology that has greater meaning than the distanced and detached academic anthropology of the past.”
—Barbara Fisher, The Boston Globe
CHAPTER 1
The Vulnerable Observer
CHAPTER 2
Death and Memory: From Santa María del Monte to Miami Beach
CHAPTER 3
My Mexican Friend Marta Who Lives across the Border from Me in Detroit
CHAPTER 4
The Girl in the Cast
CHAPTER 5
Going to Cuba: Writing Ethnography of Diaspora, Return, and Despair
CHAPTER 6
Anthropology That Breaks Your Heart
EPILOGUE
The Vulnerable Observer: Anthropology That Breaks Your Heart
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index