Practicing Ethnography: A Student Guide to Method and Methodology by Lynda Mannik & Karen McGarry

Author:Lynda Mannik & Karen McGarry
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Published: 2017-11-20T00:00:00+00:00

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Kathryn Dudley is a professor of anthropology and American studies at Yale University. Much of her research focuses upon how different groups of Americans (e.g., farmers, artisanal guitar makers) respond to and are influenced by the varied demands and pressures of capitalism.

The Ethnographic Encounter: Who is Representing Whom?

Figure 7.1: Portrait of Kathryn Dudley, 2011. Photograph by Rebekah Butler. Courtesy of Kathryn Dudley.

I was two weeks into a six-month period of fieldwork with George Youngblood, a luthier in Guilford, CT (Figure 7.2). Among guitar aficionados in the Boston–New York City area, Youngblood is recognized as a premier restoration specialist who has been making, selling, and repairing stringed instruments since 1976. On this particular day, I was dressed in the shop apron that Youngblood had given me the week before. It was the apron he usually wore. Putting on an old denim one instead, he had waved aside my demurrals, claiming the suede was “too fancy” for his taste and he only wore it because it had been given to him as a gift. When I tied the apron behind my back, I’d felt the thrill of undergoing a small initiation rite.

The day progressed much as I’d come to expect, with Youngblood explaining the tasks I was to perform and me, with more or less success, trying to accomplish them. I was learning to “set up” guitars, making the minor alterations that enhance an instrument’s performance and playability. I had graduated from adjusting a guitar’s neck relief and string height to “dressing” its frets by leveling out areas worn down by the pressure of vibrating strings.

Figure 7.2: George Youngblood reattaching a separated fretboard at the Youngblood Music Workshop, 2007. Photograph by Kathryn Dudley.

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