{"id":62,"date":"2025-01-01T19:00:58","date_gmt":"2025-01-02T02:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mulmod\/?p=62"},"modified":"2025-01-01T19:00:58","modified_gmt":"2025-01-02T02:00:58","slug":"chapter-5-ethnographic-storytelling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/multimodalethnography\/2025\/01\/01\/chapter-5-ethnographic-storytelling\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 5. Ethnographic Storytelling"},"content":{"rendered":"

Image: \u201cOn the Market\u201d by d28b73, via flickr<\/a>, licensed under CC BY 2.0<\/a><\/p>\n

At a glance…<\/h5>\n

Narrative can function both as a mode of representation and a method of inquiry. To capture the richness of lived experience, we must move beyond the conventional divide between analytical and literary forms and rethink how ethnographers convey experience through diverse storytelling genres. Each genre offers distinct narrative, affective, and multimodal affordances that can help us document complexity, foreground emotion, and engage broader audiences. Aligned with multimodal approaches, ethnographers should critically reflect on how form shapes ethnographic knowledge and actively experiment with alternative modes of storytelling in their own research practice.<\/p>\n

Learning objectives…<\/h5>\n

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Explain the relationship between storytelling and ethnographic analysis<\/strong>, and critique the perceived division between narrative and scholarly representation.<\/li>\n
  2. Identify and describe the formal features of four experimental genres<\/strong>: tap essay, flash ethnography, (ethno)graphic novels, and ethnographic fiction.<\/li>\n
  3. Assess the ethnographic relevance and potential of each genre in representing field experiences<\/strong>, particularly affective, sensory, or ethically complex phenomena.<\/li>\n
  4. Analyze published examples of experimental ethnographic writing<\/strong> and reflect on how each genre shapes interpretation, audience engagement, and ethical considerations.<\/li>\n
  5. Reflect on how genre and form influence what can be known, communicated, and imagined<\/strong> in anthropological research and writing.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    In this chapter…<\/h5>\n

    5.1. Introduction: Stories, ethnographies, and personal experiences<\/a>
    \n    5.2. Genres<\/a>
    \n    5.3. Learning activities<\/a>
    \n    5.4. Showcase<\/a>
    \n    5.5. Insights from experts: Illustrating anthropology<\/a>
    \n    5.6. Suggested readings<\/a>
    \n    5.7. Other resources<\/a>
    \n    5.8. Works cited<\/a><\/p>\n

    5.1. Introduction: Stories, ethnographies, and personal experiences<\/h2>\n

    Upon initial examination, analysis\u2014something anthropologists strive to achieve\u2014may appear distinct from storytelling. For example, the latter is geared towards eliciting emotions, while the former exudes an aura of detachment and indifference\u2013or as Geertz (1988, 2) describes the common understanding of ethnography, \u201cGood anthropological texts are plain texts, unpretending\u201d.<\/p>\n

    Yet, upon closer inspection, an affinity between stories and analyses becomes apparent. Drawing on her insights from a course led by Renato Rosaldo at Stanford, Kirin Narayan (2012, 8) contends that stories possess inherent analytical qualities, and within the sequence of reasoning, analysis takes on a narrative structure. Consequently, it is hardly surprising that ethnographers, despite the deeply analytical nature of their accounts, employ narrative forms and methods that storytellers have long embraced in their craft.<\/p>\n

    Stories rely on experience as their source. Storyteller is a craftsperson who draws on \u201cthe raw material of experience, [\u2026their] own and that of others, in a solid, useful, and unique way\u201d (Benjamin 2007[1936], 108). Benjamin argues that experience, though, has fallen in value, while information that \u201clays claim to prompt verifiability\u201d (Benjamin, 2007[1936], 89) has gained value. Similar to stories\u2019 reliance on experience, the ethnographer\u2019s experience in the field is the basis of ethnographic analysis.\u00a0 Sharing the personal experience with an interested audience is common between ethnographic accounts and stories. However, Renato Rosaldo (1989, 60) argues that \u201calthough personal narratives often appear in ethnographies written\u00a0 in the classic mode, they usually have been relegated quite literally to the margins: prefaces, introductions, afterwards, footnotes, and italicized or small-print case histories.\u201d Similarly, when anthropologists see \u201ccommonalities between their own work and that of artists and literary writers,\u201d they often choose to reestablish the line between the two genres and the truths each of the two draws on (McLean 2017, 45) through attempting \u201cto find a basis for distinguishing them\u201d (McLean 2017, 47).<\/p>\n

    Questioning the basis for distinguishing the two, more recent forms of ethnographic representation, however, have more openly\u00a0 embraced narrative forms of storytelling and experimented with engaging means that in the past may have been considered \u2018unscientific\u2019 or insufficient for a claim to represent reality. Allowing ethnographers more creatively capture the essence of their experiences, these experimentations help researchers share experiences that cannot readily be explored in classic forms of ethnographic accounts due to academic constraints (Musharbash and Gershon 2023, 17).<\/p>\n

    In the next sections, we introduce a few genres that you may find interesting to experiment with when it comes to representing the findings of your ethnographic research.<\/p>\n

    Back to Table of Contents<\/a><\/p>\n

    5.2. Genres<\/h2>\n
    Tap essay<\/h5>\n
    \"\"
    Fish sketch, Indrajit Das. Source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Tap essay is a unique form of digital storytelling introduced by fiction writer Robin Sloan in his 2012 essay\u00a0Fish<\/em><\/a>\u00a0which exploresthe distinction between \u201cliking something on the internet and loving something on the internet\u201d (Sloan, 2022). This narrative form adopts a rhythm, leverages different visual features, and cues the reader. Sloan describes the experiment by defining the new format as an essay \u201cpresenting its argument tap by tap, making its case with typography, color, and a few surprises.\u201d Fish was originally created as an iPhone app, but tap essays can be created using PowerPoint. Open the Box by Nikki Gordon<\/a> (2020) is an example of a tap essay created by PowerPoint. It is essential to note that \u201cOpen the Box\u201d discusses domestic abuse and violence. If you prefer not to explore the entire essay, the first ten slides offer a sense of the format without directly addressing the sensitive content.<\/p>\n

    If ethnographers seek to learn from storytellers about engaging their audience, tap essay proves to be an exceptional genre worth studying and experimenting with. This form demands reader engagement at the very least, as they are required to tap or press the spacebar to progress through the narrative and explore each element.<\/p>\n

    Flash ethnography<\/h5>\n

    Classic ethnographic accounts are usually long. Built upon the idea of flash fiction, Stone and McGranahan (2020) describe flash Ethnography as a form of narrative that is intended to be brief and intense, stripped of excess. The genre has a condensed and stark storytelling potential as they are compressed and rich in vivid imagery and affect. The genre also offers the opportunity to transform ethnographic material through innovative forms. Stone and McGranahan (2020) state that each flash essay is a self-contained whole rather than an excerpt from a larger work. The essays begin in medias res, avoiding lengthy exposition, and invite readers to peel back layers with each sentence. Like traditional ethnography, flash ethnography remains accountable to the real and explores the complexities of being-in-the-world and understanding other worlds. The genre however benefits from the power of brevity and conciseness.\u00a0They suit things, events, and expressions that risk losing their force under the strain of belaboured explanations or analysis\u2014that which is irretrievably stilled and reduced when theorized. Their immediacy makes them particularly well-suited to evocative, abject, or affective instances. Flash ethnographies give partial form to the unspeakable, the \u201cstories\u201d, as Rubaii writes, that one \u201cnever know[s] what to do with\u201d (2020), that which defies analysis and adequate representation yet raises important grievances that demand being addressed.\u00a0 They\u00a0demanding presence from their readers and expression in direct and candid forms, possessing an effect beyond the content they convey.<\/p>\n

    Essays that appear in the collection Stone and McGranahan edited are approximately 800 words long, a condensed form that presents its own miniature world while also gesturing outward to broader contexts. You can check them out\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    (Ethno)graphic novels<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n

    We have discussed sketches and drawings in a separate module that you can find here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    \"\"
    The New Yorkers Map of the United States. John T. McCutcheon, 1922, Chicago Tribune. Source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    We may think of graphic novels as the combination of drawings and text, but Stacy Leigh Pigg (2015) argues that graphic novels occupy a distinctive position as a third medium, offering unique possibilities that go beyond being mere illustrated texts or drawings accompanied by captions. Reflecting on possibilities this \u2018third medium\u2019 would provide, Pigg writes that shots can be utilized to plunge the reader directly into a particular setting, while close-ups can be used to delve into the inner thoughts of characters. Similarly, simplifications can help direct focus, and relationships between individuals are conveyed through gestures, poses, and actions. Panels can be skillfully composed to offer multiple perspectives and guide the reader\u2019s movement. Page layouts can implicitly connect ideas and present arguments about their interrelatedness. This helps to unearth layers to dialogue and dynamics between<\/p>\n

    Illustrated scene-to-scene panels also capture a sense of\u00a0 being in-motion, this capacity subverts the immobilizing effect that written accounts are often liable to. Graphic depictions also offer an avenue to extend the reach of academic work by encouraging wider engagement; they are candidly intended to be both public and artistic. This makes them particularly valuable to the aim of establishing and building rapport with one\u2019s interlocutors and engaging those that they intend to represent. While anthropology relies on the information and insights of many, the register of academic writing often risks rendering it accessible, desirable, and legible to only few. Depending on the ambitions and intended audience of the ethnography, offering an additional alternate medium for one\u2019s work can be evident of a genuine commitment to engage with those that it depends on.<\/p>\n

    These are some reasons that some anthropologists have been experimented with the format and are convinced about \u201cthe virtues of the format\u201d and believe that it fits \u201creally well with ethnography\u201d (Brackenbury 2015). A good example of how graphic novel as a genre is utilized to represent ethnographic experiences is the\u00a0ethnoGRAPHIC<\/em>\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0series published by the University of Toronto Press.<\/p>\n

    Ethnographic fiction<\/h5>\n
    \"\"
    Kodachrome image of Zora Neale Hurston taken 1946 July 18 by Carl Van Vechten. Image’s source<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Although the 1970s marks the turn towards experimenting with ethnographic forms, the practice of writing ethnographic fiction has a long history within the discipline. In her concise historical survey of ethnographic fiction, Narayan (1999, 136) identifies Adolph Bandelier\u2019s 1890 novel,\u00a0The Delight Makers<\/em>, as the first of its genre. Narayan further demonstrates how the pioneers of modern anthropology in North America, such as Franz Boas, Edward Sapir, Robert Lowie, and Paul Radin, engaged in writing fictional works that focused on their research topics. Zora Neale Hurston also notably incorporated ethnographically-informed insights into her fictional narratives. Likewise, Ella Deloria, a researcher who collaborated with Boas, authored\u00a0Waterlily<\/em>\u00a0 in the 1940s, a novel \u201cset in the past of her own tribe, the Dakota Sioux\u201d (Narayan 1999, 136).Numerous scholars have recognized both the similarities and differences between the genres of ethnography and fiction. James Clifford famously posited that ethnographic writings can rightfully be regarded as fictions in the sense of \u2018something made or fashioned,\u2019 embracing the underlying notion of the word\u2019s Latin root\u00a0fingere<\/em>\u00a0(Clifford 1986, 6). Clifford Geertz, in particular, argued that ethnography relies on the powers of fiction (Pandian 2017, 146; McLean 2017, 45). He contends that \u201cthe writing of ethnography involves telling stories, making pictures, concocting symbolisms, and deploying tropes\u201d (Geertz 1988, 140). While this generally holds true for any form of ethnographic writing, some anthropologists have ventured into writing fictional narratives informed by their field research. This approach has been particularly explored when authors recognize that the subjects of their studies, including other-than-humans (McLean 2017; Musharbash and Gershon 2023; Porter and Gershon 2018), can be more comprehensively captured, embracing their inherent complexity, through the medium of fiction.<\/p>\n

    A recap<\/h5>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
    Genre<\/strong><\/td>\nDefinition<\/strong><\/td>\nKey features<\/strong><\/td>\nEthnographic relevance<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Tap essay<\/strong><\/td>\nThe tap essay is a digital storytelling format. It delivers its narrative tap by tap\u2014one screen or slide at a time\u2014using rhythm, interactivity, and visual design to guide interpretation.<\/p>\n

    \n<\/td>\n

    		Tap essays are sequential and minimal. Readers must interact with the narrative by tapping (or pressing a key) to reveal one phrase or sentence at a time. The format emphasizes pacing, typographic play, visual layout, and affective resonance. It relies on visual cues (font size, color, placement), repetition, and sometimes sound or motion, creating a reading experience that unfolds dynamically.<\/p>\n

    \n<\/td>\n

    		For ethnographers interested in multimodal experimentation, the tap essay offers a format that foregrounds affect, mood, and timing. It requires active audience engagement and invites new ways of thinking about voice, structure, and storytelling. The format is particularly useful for sharing personal, situated experiences that are better conveyed through rhythm and minimalism than through conventional prose. It also opens space for representing fragmented, nonlinear, or emotionally charged content.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Flash ethnography<\/strong><\/td>\nFlash ethnography is a short-form ethnographic writing style modeled on flash fiction. It conveys sharp, condensed insights in ~800 words or fewer.<\/td>\nFlash ethnographies begin in the middle of events (in medias res<\/em>), are stripped of background exposition, and center on vivid detail, affect, and tension. Flash ethnographies are complete narratives\u2014not excerpts\u2014that evoke layered realities with minimal explanation. The genre values compression, partiality, and intensity.<\/td>\nFlash ethnography allows for the representation of moments that are fleeting, affectively complex, or ethically sensitive. It is well suited for conveying the unspeakable, the intimate, or the unresolved aspects of fieldwork. These texts make space for that which resists theory but demands attention, often inviting deep reflection through their conciseness.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    (Ethno-)graphic novel<\/strong><\/td>\n(Ethno)graphic novels combine visual art and ethnographic narrative in sequential panels, blending storytelling and research representation.<\/td>\nGraphic novels use panels, close-ups, perspective shifts, and layout to tell stories visually. They capture gestures, interactions, movement, and emotion. Their narrative is conveyed not just through text but through visual pacing, spatial relations, and symbolic elements. This interplay allows for multimodal forms of communication beyond linear narration.<\/td>\nGraphic ethnography provides a public-facing, emotionally resonant form of research communication. It is particularly effective at portraying dynamic processes, embodied practices, or affective experiences. It can make research accessible to non-specialist audiences and deepen collaborative engagement with interlocutors. Graphic elements often communicate across language and literacy barriers, extending ethnographic reach and interpretive potential.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Ethnographic fiction<\/strong><\/td>\nEthnographic fiction is a genre that uses fictional narrative to represent ethnographic insight. It blends storytelling techniques with field-based knowledge to explore social realities in imaginative ways.<\/td>\nEthnographic fiction draws on real ethnographic material but reconfigures it through fictional characters, settings, and plots. It often employs literary strategies such as character interiority, dialogue, symbolism, or speculative framing. These narratives do not falsify evidence but offer alternative, creative ways to convey complexity and nuance.<\/td>\nFiction allows anthropologists to portray experiences that are difficult to fully represent in traditional academic forms, especially those involving other-than-humans, contested truths, or emotional depth. It can explore ambiguity, contradiction, and the unsayable, and it opens new pathways for empathy, critique, and public engagement. Fiction can challenge the boundaries of disciplinary authority and experiment with new epistemologies of representation.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

    Back to Table of Contents<\/a><\/p>\n

    \n

    5.3. Learning activities<\/h2>\n

    Learning by doing<\/h5>\n

    Create a tap essay about a space in which you have lived experience. The space can include your current neighborhood, your childhood city, or a digital space where you spend time. Your essay should tell a story and has a message that is supported by evidence.<\/p>\n

    As you create your story, reflect on:<\/p>\n