Fieldnotes | Reflections | Ethnography
I'm working on a new collection of essays and experimenting with different forms of writing. This post is from my book in progress tentatively titled, “The White Man is My Driver: Fieldnotes on Belonging.” Readability and narrative will be privileged over theory and abstraction. In other words, the book consists of mostly the good parts. [1900 …
I rarely react to celebrity deaths. And I typically avoid the social media detritus strewn in their wake. I don't identify with the famous. Perhaps what makes my sentiments around Bourdain’s passing different is that he was one of ours. We won’t admit it, but despite some quirks, many anthropologists envied him. His fieldwork. His …
The following post reflects on shifting and malleable forms of personhood--a construct that we often consider to be a given and fixed throughout life. This is an enhanced version of some material originally appearing in Spirit Children: Illness, Poverty, and Infanticide in Northern Ghana. [1,300 words] Elijah and I sat chatting with three elder men …
I'm not big on business clichés and recycled quotes. However, I came across an interesting statement by someone describing Bruce Lee's method. It's pointless in isolation, but when I applied it to thinking about ethnography it made me consider the value of learning and doing "classic" ethnography (immersion and long-term participant observation). Having the opportunity …
Continue reading A Brief Reflection on Learning and Doing Ethnography
My commentary on Rodney Frey's latest ethnography, Carry Forth the Stories: An Ethnographer’s Journey into Native Oral Tradition, was reciently published. It was an honor to be able to review and comment on his book. Rodney was my first mentor and MA advisor. Much of what he taught, and what his mentors showed him, shaped who I …
Continue reading Narrative Transformations: Reflections on Frey’s “Carry Forth the Stories”
The following are some thoughts that I shared with my Culture, Health, and Disease students on belief and reality. I thought I would share them here too. [1000 words] “Why would anyone admit they are a sorcerer or witch?” is a question that arises when I teach topics related to witchcraft, sorcery, and belief. This …
“Cynthia,” I called across the courtyard. “Tell me about the White Maggi.” Cynthia was a cook and an expert at helping me figure out the obvious—although she never missed a chance to tease me for asking silly questions. She laughed and shook her head, “Oh, Mr. Aaron, you don’t want it. It’s bad! It will …
The following is an excerpt from the introduction of my recent book, Spirit Children: Illness, Poverty, and Infanticide in Northern Ghana. The following ethnographic vignette introduces the spirit child phenomenon through the case of N’ma. [2,600 words] Outside his office one morning Joe was urgently awaiting my arrival. With a notebook and mobile phone in hand, he quickly …
Continue reading An Introduction to Spirit Children: The Case of N’ma
This work in progress is part of my emerging collection of essays. Details on this effort and the first essay are here. This piece moves further into how culture shapes our our interpersonal concerns. [3,000 words] I must have seemed slightly unhinged. I was in the middle of a long period of fieldwork and starting to …
The following is a second excerpt from my recent book, Spirit Children: Illness, Poverty, and Infanticide in Northern Ghana. Within rural Northern Ghana, the Nankani people describe how disabled or ill children and those whose births coincide with tragic events are spirit children sent from the bush to cause misfortune and destroy the family. Upon identification, …
Continue reading Spirit Children and Family Misfortune: The Case of Victor
