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Factual Conflicts and the Hegemony of Interpretation : Four Narratives and the Anthropologist’s Version

DOI zum Zitieren der Version auf EPub Bayreuth: https://doi.org/10.15495/EPub_UBT_00005559
URN to cite this document: urn:nbn:de:bvb:703-epub-5559-5

Title data

Kroeker, Lena:
Factual Conflicts and the Hegemony of Interpretation : Four Narratives and the Anthropologist’s Version.
In: Ethnoscripts. Vol. 23 (5 May 2021) Issue 1 . - pp. 59-77.
ISSN 2199-7942

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In between Life and Death. HIV-Positive Women in Lesotho and their Obstetric Choices
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Project financing: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
BIGSAS

Abstract

During ethnographic research on HIV-positive pregnant women in Lesotho, I found myself confronted with conflicting narratives, but what we do know is that MaMeli’s baby passed away the day after she gave birth in the hospital. Trying to reconstruct what had happened, I interviewed the young mother, her mother-in-law, a midwife, and a paediatrician. Their stories differed significantly from each other. Yet, despite the inconsistencies between them, they proved valuable for my study. Ethnographic storytelling can reveal an informant’s present view on past occurrences and give insights into the social roles of narrator and audience. A narration always implies two time periods: the past situation as experienced (erzählte Zeit) and the situation now when the occurrence is being interpreted (Erzählzeit). Hence, whilst analysing the stories did not bring me any closer to understanding what had happened to the baby, an examination of the four versions taught me much about each narrator’s present situation and how they related to each other. In other words, the different renderings of the event allowed an understanding of the hegemony of interpretation. I argue in this paper that contradictions in narratives are more a chance than a challenge for ethnographic writing. I call on anthropologists not to erase out inconclusive stories in their ethnographic data but to delve into them and to find plausible explanations for why it is not possible to achieve conclusive solutions.

Further data

Item Type: Article in a journal
Keywords: Methodology; Ethnographic Writing; Interpretation; Lesotho
DDC Subjects: 100 Philosophy and psychology > 170 Ethics
300 Social sciences > 300 Social sciences, sociology and anthropology
300 Social sciences > 360 Social problems, social services
300 Social sciences > 390 Customs, etiquette, folklore
Institutions of the University: Faculties > Faculty of Cultural Studies > Chair Social Anthropology
Graduate Schools > BIGSAS
Faculties
Faculties > Faculty of Cultural Studies
Graduate Schools
Language: English
Originates at UBT: Yes
URN: urn:nbn:de:bvb:703-epub-5559-5
Date Deposited: 31 May 2021 08:24
Last Modified: 07 Oct 2021 06:34
URI: https://epub.uni-bayreuth.de/id/eprint/5559

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