Tsing vs. Pritchard: Comparing Ethnographic Methods

Introduction: Flipping the Ethnographic Perspective

If Anna Tsing, author of In the Realm of the Diamond Queen, were to apply her methodologies, theories, and approaches to ethnography to the Nuer people, the result would be a far different book than E.E. Evans-Pritchard's (1969) The Nuer. Flipping the perspective would completely alter Tsing's goals in the research and the view the researcher takes on the appropriate role of the ethnographer in providing context and meaning to the work.

Both Tsing and Evans-Pritchard would remain concerned about issues like kinship, lineage, and basic socio-political structures. Both would also include explication of economic institutions and processes, and might mention gender roles, norms, and hierarchies as well. However, Tsing would bring multiple dimensions to a Nuer study that Evans-Pritchard misses. By contrast, applying Evans-Pritchard's methods to the Meratus people of Indonesia would produce an equally divergent account — one stripped of historical and political context in favor of structural description.

How Tsing Would Study the Nuer

Tsing starts her analysis of the Meratus people by describing how they are perceived not by the foreign ethnographer, but by the modern nation-state in which they find themselves: Indonesia. Applying this initial point of reference to the Nuer would mean that Tsing would first place and describe the Nuer in terms of their being a part of Sudanese culture and society.

Tsing would find ways of describing the role of the traditional cattle-based economy within the framework of globalization, and would show how colonialism, nationalism, urbanization, and population migration have all impacted the Nuer before devising methods of describing kinship and social organization. Tsing might say about the Nuer something similar to what she says about the Meratus: that the Nuer might find themselves engaged in complex negotiations with a nation-state establishment that does not recognize or acknowledge the legitimacy of alternative worldviews, social orders, or economic institutions. The Nuer people of South Sudan, like the Meratus, occupy a politically marginal position relative to the dominant state apparatus, making them a fitting subject for Tsing's analytical lens.

Feminist and Postcolonial Dimensions in Tsing's Approach

Tsing could not ignore the issues of colonization and cultural hegemony that impact Nuer life. Like Evans-Pritchard, Tsing might choose to remain an observer rather than engage fully in participant-observation. However, Tsing would apply rich, layered feminist critical theory to the location of the Nuer within twentieth-century Sudanese society, discussing the means by which social relations may need to be re-negotiated. Rather than focusing on structures and lineages alone, Tsing would take into account other expressions of society and culture. She might introduce storytelling, shamanic ritual, and non-linear methods of understanding the Nuer. Evans-Pritchard's photography provides one means of gathering data, and Tsing would add to that by providing surveys and interviews as well.

Working within the alternative framework of cultural relativity, Tsing would note the ways that acculturation to the dominant Sudanese societies would impact the worldview and individual self-concepts of the Nuer. The impact of globalization, oil, and other economic forces on the Nuer would need to be addressed within a critical framework. There would also be express derision for systematic oppression. Just as the Meratus have been marginalized, so too were the Nuer, and Tsing would point out that ethnology does not describe a culture in a vacuum at one singular point in time. Rather, the ethnographer must consider a broader historical and socio-political framework. Issues related to power, subjugation, and the legitimacy of authority need to be taken into account when addressing the tools and objectives of the anthropologist.

Nuer women would also be re-located within the society, viewed not just in terms of their relationships with men but independently. This would require interviews, surveys, and potentially a shift into the participant-observer stance. However, Tsing would acknowledge the limitations of the participant-observer stance in offering anything approaching authenticity, as the observer inevitably changes that which is being observed.

Conclusion: Methodology Shapes the Narrative

Both Evans-Pritchard and Tsing would benefit from flipping the perspective and engaging in a mutually illuminating dialogue about their respective ethnographic methods. Anthropology is always determined by methodologies, as the biases of the participant-observer or observer will remain salient. The finished narrative and body of research lends insight into the particular areas of interest to the researcher and reflects broader trends in scholarship. What each ethnographer sees, records, and ultimately represents is inseparable from the theoretical and cultural assumptions they bring to the field.

References

Pritchard, E.E.E. (1969). The Nuer. Oxford University Press.

Tsing, A.L. (1993). In the Realm of the Diamond Queen. Princeton University Press.