Composing Ethnography: Alternative Forms of Qualitative Writing (Ethnographic Alternatives)
Ellis and Bochner establish the need, importance and centrality of new forms of qualitative writing for interpretive ethnography . . . [establishing] autoethnographies, sociopoetics, and reflexive texts as central points of reference for innovative ethnographic practice in the next century. There is much to be learned from these important exemplars. (Norman K. Denzin, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)I highly recommend this book....Each of their authors provides a well-crafted example of social science writing that is evocative, embodied, artistic, and often deeply emotional. (Barbara Tedlock, (SUNY Buffalo), SUNY Buffalo)The articles... illustrate the kinds of writing that many of us in more traditional disciplines would like to see more widely used.... Most importantly... these authors acknowledge the development of a new form of consciousness that was spiritual and political. (Alfredo GaitanForum: Qualitative Social Research)Each [article] is meant to engage readers personally, allowing them to gain critical insight into their own lives through understanding of the writer's lives. The editors recognize that works like these are at the fringes of academic norms. By presenting them as innovative alternatives they push readers to examine their own beliefs about what research, ethnography, and academic writing should be. (Quarterly Journal Of Speech)