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The only honest thing: autoethnography, reflexivity and small crises in fieldwork

2009; Routledge; Volume: 4; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/17457820802703507

1745-7831

Sara Delamont,

Anthropological Studies and Insights

Abstract There has been a rising acceptance of autoethnography in the past 15 years. Instead of studying social phenomena, in an appropriately reflexive way, some scholars have taken to researching themselves. Drawing on concrete examples from an ongoing ethnographic project, the paper contrasts the beneficial, even essential, practices of autobiographical and reflexive thinking about fieldwork with the narcissistic substitution of autoethnography for research. Keywords: capoeira autoethnographyfieldworkBrazilfamiliarityreflexivityaccessethics Acknowledgements Earlier versions of this paper were given at the ESA Qualitative Methods conference in 2006 and at BERA in 2007. I am grateful to my critical audiences at both those meetings and to Mrs Rosemary Bartle-Jones for word processing the paper. Criollo was supportive of its production. Achilles, Lunghri, and Rodrigo Ribeiro have all helped me begin to understand capoeira. Trovao, as an insightful social scientist has been invaluable for this research. I am particularly grateful to Mestre Belisarius for obvious reasons. All the teachers and students I have watched instruct, learn and enjoy capoeira deserve recognition for being the best informants any scholar could ever want to study. Notes 1. All capoeira teachers have been given pseudonyms from classical mythology and history, such as Priam and Clytemnestra. All students have pseudonymous capoeira nicknames. 2. All towns have pseudonyms except London, which has at least 50 capoeira clubs, so only the identity of London instructors needs disguising. 3. I saw four classes in 2002 before capoeira got properly established in Tolnbridge. 4. Capoeira events always start late. UK students talk of 'capoeira time' and shrug off lateness saying 'it's Brazilian'. A prompt start was 10.45 for a event at 10.00. 5. Axe, which is a mystical term meaning force, or energy, is the spirit of good capoeira. 6. The berimbau, a bow strung with wire struck with a stick, is an African origin instrument which is the soul of capoeira. Its sound is distinctive and the rhythm played on the lead berimbau determines the style and speed of the play. 7. At all capoeira events, mestres are normally welcomed: 'We have with us today, all the way from Florianopolis, Mestre Priam: claps for Mestre Priam everybody'. No one at the embassy event had announced that Mestre Belisarius was present, and he had remained silent in the body of the hall. Some mestres are huge, flamboyantly dressed African–Brazilians, who are hard to overlook, but Mestre Belisarius is a small middle-aged man and had been dressed in a very non-descript manner. 8. Criollo has read and approved this text about himself. 9. Achilles lives in Cloisterham, teaches in both its universities, delivering six classes a week there. He travels to Tolnbridge to do two classes, and oversees a class run by an advanced student at Bramborough by visiting it once or twice a month.