An anthropologist in Japan : glimpses of life in the field / Joy Hendry.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hendry, Joy.

Series:

ASA research methods in social anthropology (Routledge (Firm))

ASA research methods in social anthropology

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ethnology--Fieldwork--Japan.

Ethnology.

Ethnology--Fieldwork.

Japan.

Hendry, Joy.

Japan--Social life and customs.

Manners and customs.

Women ethnologists--Japan--Biography.

Women ethnologists.

Genre:

Biographies.

Autobiographies.

Physical Description:

xiv, 167 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 1999.

Summary:

"An Anthropologist in Japan" is a highly personal narrative which draws the reader into a fascinating cross-section of Japanese life. Joy Hendry tells the story of her nine-month period of fieldwork in a Japanese seaside town. She originally sets out on a study of politeness, but a host of unpredictable events--including a volcanic eruption, a suicide and her son's involvement with the family of a powerful local gangster--dramatically changes the direction of her research. In vignettes that illuminate the education system, religious beliefs, politics, family and neighborhood in modern Japan, the book exemplifies the role of chance in anthropology and the way that moments of insight can be embedded in a mass of everyday activity. A brilliant example of reflexive anthropology in action, "An Anthropologist in Japan" demonstrates how ethnographic fieldwork can uniquely provide a deep understanding of linguistic and cultural difference.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (page 155) and index.

ISBN:

041519573X

0415195748

OCLC:

39545945