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  3. Ethnography is the study of a particular human society or the process of mak

Ethnography is the study of a particular human society or the process of mak

游客2025-01-08  20
问题     Ethnography is the study of a particular human society or the process of making such a study. Contemporary ethnography is based almost entirely on fieldwork and requires the complete immersion of the anthropologist in the culture and every- day life of the people who are the subject of his study. Ethnography, by virtue of its intersubjective nature, is necessarily comparative. Given that the anthropologist in the field necessarily retains certain cultural biases, his observations and descriptions must, to a certain degree, be comparative. Thus the formulating of generalizations about culture and the drawing of comparisons inevitably become components of ethnography.
    Modern anthropologists usually identify the establishment of ethnography as a professional field with the pioneering work of the Polish-born British anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski in the Trobriand Islands of Melanesia. Ethnographic fieldwork had since become a sort of rite of passage into the profession of cultural anthropology. Many ethnographers reside in the field for a year or more, learning the local language or dialect and, to the greatest extent possible, participating in everyday life while at the same time maintaining an observer’s objective detachment.
    This method, called participant-observation, while necessary and useful for gaining a thorough understanding of a foreign culture, is in practice quite difficult. Just as the anthropologist brings to the situation certain inherent, if unconscious, cultural biases, so also is he influenced by the subject of his study. While there are cases of ethnographers who felt alienated or even repelled by the culture they entered, many -- perhaps most -- have come to identify closely with "their people", a factor that affects their objectivity. In addition to the technique of participant-observation, the contemporary ethnographer usually selects and cultivates close relationship with individuals, known as informants, who can provide specific in- formation on ritual, kinship, or other significant aspects of cultural life. In this process also the anthropologist risks the danger of biased viewpoints, as those who most willingly act as informants frequently are individuals who are marginal to the group and who may provide other than objective explanations of cultural and social phenomena. A final hazard inherent in ethnographic fieldwork is the ever-present possibility of cultural change produced by or resulting from the ethnographer’s presence in the group.
    Contemporary ethnographies usually adhere to a community, rather than individual, focus and concentrate on the description of current circumstances rather than historical events. Traditionally, commonalities among members of the group have been emphasized, though recent ethnography has begun to reflect an interest in the importance of variation within cultural systems. Ethnographic studies are no longer restricted to small primitive societies but may also focus on such social u- nits as urban ghettos. The tools of the ethnographer have changed radically since Malinowski’s time. While detailed notes are still a mainstay of fieldwork, ethnographers have taken full advantage of technological developments such as motion pictures and tape recorders to augment their written accounts. [br] It is implied in the last paragraph that the method used by earlier ethnographers was ______.
选项 A、detailed note-taking
B、random selection
C、tape-recording
D、on-the-spot investigation
答案 A
解析 该题问：最后一段暗示早期人种学家用的方法是什么?本段最后两句提到，与马林诺夫斯基时代相比，文化人类学家使用的工具已经发生了根本的变化，虽然详细记笔记仍然是实地考察工作的主要办法，文化人类学家已经学会了充分利用技术的发展——如摄像机、录音机等，以充实记录的内容。则此推断，在马林诺夫斯基时代，文化人类学家基本上是靠做笔记来记录实地考察的内容。
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