Narrative threads: ethnographic tourism, Romani tourist tales, and fiber art

[摘要] This thesis examines the need for the ethnographer to process their own emotions and experiences as part of the ethnographic experience.Specifically, it argues for the credibility of artistic expression resulting from fieldwork.Drawing on the author’s experience during the 2012 inaugural Romani Music, Culture, and Human Rights study abroad program at the University of Pittsburgh, this thesis offers an analysis of five works of fiber art.Originally perceived by the author as separate from the thesis writing process, they became an integral part of thesis once they were recognized as the non-verbal processing of the my emotional response to events abroad and, therefore, essential components of the research process.I argue that emotional processing is an integral part of writing an ethnography, for as the ethnographer works through their experiences, their understanding of the events changes, and this in turn impacts the ways in which the ethnographic is perceived and analyzed.

[发布机构] the University of Pittsburgh