Qualitative inquiry reveals synergies between anthropological fieldwork and poetic expression, suggesting combined methodologies foster more holistic representations of human experience.
This autoethnographic poem explores the complementarity of two approaches to comprehending and rendering experience. Each approach seeks to illuminate the worlds in which the researcher is immersed as well as the changes wrought in the researcher by prolonged engagements with others. Anthropology provides the opportunity for and analysis of intimate encounters with self and other. Poetry provides a language for deepening those encounters and depicting them in an authentic and evocative manner. The approaches are synergists that promote a more holistic interpretation of research phenomena. Together, they animate our understanding.
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John F. Sherry (2026) studied this question.
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