Comparison of Two Ethnographies

Paper Summary:

Two anthropologists present their ethnographic studies in their books, "Amazon Journey", by Dennis Werner, and "To the Mountain and Back", by Jody Glittenberg. The paper explains how the two show different interests, have different methods, and come to different conclusions about the subjects they study. The paper discusses how Werner describes the Amazonian Indians, while Glittenberg presents her study on the native tribes of Guatemala, especially the Ladino and the Cakchiquel Mayan Indian.

From the Paper:

"Both ethnologists enter the society and observe, but Glittenberg makes herself more of a participant than does Werner, raising the question of how much her participation affected the subjects and so how much her own involvement in the culture changed what she was observing even as she observed it. Werner was also in the culture he observed, but he observed more than participated, observing to such an extent that he did not even want to hear stories directly from the source. Glittenberg is open about this, even asking certain questions at the outset about how much one can learn by observing. She says that fieldworkers give a general description of a culture, while what she wants to know is answers to questions about family formation."

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