Spy-glass

2 Pages 408 Words

Thus far, as I have come to understand as a student of anthropology, being a successful ethnographer must involve providing an accurate and ethical representation of the culture on the other side of Hurston’s “spyglass” while at the same time taking into consideration one’s own biases and experiences that affect the situation at hand and the representation itself. With these things in mind, getting at the tacit culture can be very difficult, especially when we also have to consider how our own ethnic and racial backgrounds will affect our ability to obtain information from informants. This becomes clear when reading Carol Stack’s Call to Home, in which she, as a white women, attempts to capture the essence of the Diasporas of the Southern African-Americans who are once again returning home from the “white” city.
While reading, I found myself pondering how clever her approach to connect with her informants is. Before the reader even looks at the table of contents they are confronted with a quote from Bernice Johnson Reagon that evokes images of soul searching and a spiritual journey of finding one’s self.. This theme carries over into the text with Stack’s question of whether or not the mass exodus from the city actually has to do with a desire for discovering a cultural heritage and a true home. Quoting Stack, “For some, home is the setting of dreams deferred: the safe haven from urban storms.” The town which Stack focuses on, Burdy’s Bend, seems to be wrought with country people who are becoming country again. The broader arena of social change is illustrated more specifically by the individual struggle to find a place where they themselves can change.
Style influences what information is conveyed, how the message is perceived, and how the story, itself, takes shape. Call to Home certainly emphasizes the theme of how important the style in which the ethnographer writes. In addition, Stack’s work...