Paper short abstract:

The changing practice of ethnographic presentation as witnessed by an anthropologist whose field reports have progressed from observing 'whole communities,' to a society dispersed in an urban environment, to the portrayal of unrelated participants in voluntary associations and support groups.

Paper long abstract:

The paper presents the changing practice of ethnographic presentation as witnessed by an anthropologist whose field reports have gradually progressed from the introduction of "whole communities" (village and suburb) to the presentation of a society dispersed in an urban environment (an immigrant ethnic group), to the portrayal of participants in voluntary associations and support groups in a metropolitan city (religious institutions, organizations of sexual minorities, and addiction self-help networks). The waning of "thic communal observations" effects a transformation of the type and style of ethnographic description. We will address the issue of maintaining ethnographic authority under the growing incentive to engage in reflexive and literary strategies of writing.