Stepping Between Different Worlds: Reflections Before, During and After Fieldwork
Author(s)
Bacchiddu, Giovanna
Abstract
Before beginning fieldwork, the anthropology student pictures herself in a totally different dimension: an ‘indigenous’ world in which she will be immersed for the whole fieldwork period: she does not know the native language, she has no idea of who she will meet or where she will spend most of her time. Then, the ‘limbo’ state ends and she finds herself suddenly active, even when she does nothing. To be doing fieldwork means to be constantly observed by other people as well as having to observe all around oneself. This paper explores issues I lived through and experienced before, during and after my fieldwork in southern Chile. The events illustrate the difficulty of overcoming the ‘innocence’ typical of the inexperienced fieldworker and the impossibility of stepping outside one’s own cultural expectations, despite months of serious professional training.
