Author Introduction
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"'From the Native's Point of View': On the Nature of Anthropological Understanding" / 326 Biographical information for Geertz can be found at http://www.anthro.mankato.msus.edu/information/biography/fghij/geertz_clifford.html. Geertz' influence is wide ranging, shedding light on interpretive ethnography. This is important in composition studies for both researchers and writers. Ethnography is including cultural aspects and influences. For the researcher, it's always important to remember that the researcher's very presence affects the study. For writers, this enables us to add detail and breadth and richness to what we present as text. This is what Geertz calls "thick description." How can you use this detailed description in your own writing? Gary Olsen has pointed out Geertz' huge influence in an article titled "Clifford Geertz on Ethnography and Social Construction" in the Journal of Advanced Composition (http://jac.gsu.edu/jac/11.2/Articles/geertz.htm). For instance, with regard to the value of legitimatising subjective points of view or qualitative research or the underprivileged' songs, Geertz points out in an interview with Olsen that "What is different-I guess because I'm an anthropologist I think about culture-is that the culture has changed. I do think the attempt to raise consciousness has in that sense succeeded. People are very aware of gender concerns now. There is much greater legitimacy of investigations from the point of view of gender concerns in everything, again, from literature to science." Ethnography is centered around understanding culture. Think about how this works as you read Geertz and the companion critical readings. In "'From the Native's Point of View'" On the Nature of Anthropological Understanding," Geertz eludes to Clyde Kluckhohn's Mirror for Man (1949), which points out that the term "culture" refers to the following:
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