Chin Woo crouching tiger quarterstaff stance, Singapore, 2007.
Introduction
We are fortunate to be able to share the following guest post as part of our ongoing series on fieldwork in martial arts studies. This essay, by D. S. Farrer, outlines a number of issues and pitfalls that young ethnographers should consider as they embark on their projects.
Readers may recall that Farrer also contributed the first post for this occasional series, which provided a global overview of issues associated with ethnographic studies of the martial arts. The essay that he is sharing with us today offers a more personal take on some of these same questions, drawn from reflections on his own work. His introductory discussion of “performance ethnography” alone is worth the price of admission. Click the link to read more!
The Perils and Pitfalls of Performance Ethnography
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dr. Douglas Farrer is Head of Anthropology at the University of Guam. His research interests include martial arts, the anthropology of performance, visual anthropology, the anthropology of the ocean, digital anthropology, and the sociology of religion. On Guam he is researching Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Pilot research on Yap, Micronesia, 2013.
