David,
Thanks for this helpful summary. I would add to this list: John Van Maanen's Tales of the Field: On Writing Ethnography, also published in Chicago's Guides to Writing and Publishing. http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/I/bo24957290.html
On academic writing in general, see chapters 2 and 3 from Pinker's The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century.
Cheers,
Priya
Priya Nelson, Editor
Anthropology and History
The University of Chicago Press
1427 East 60th Street, Chicago, IL 60637
V: 773-834-4759 | T: @PRIYASNELSON
http://press.uchicago.edu/books/editorbio/pnelson.html
-----Original Message-----
From: The Anthropology-Matters forum mailing list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Cooper, David
Sent: Tuesday, December 19, 2017 4:29 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Discipline-specific writing guides for social anthropology
Hi again all,
Many thanks for the helpful responses. Here are the suggestions I have received;
Kirin Narayan's 'Alive in the writing' was by far the most-recommended book. I've read the first few chapters now and it does indeed seem excellent. Andrea Weiss noted in her email that 'Even though Kirin Narayan's book targets more accomplished anthropologists, rather doctoral level and beyond, master students might find selected parts and some of the exercises insightful.'
Howard Becker's 'Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or Article' was also recommended multiple times. As the subtitle makes clear, it's pitched at a similar level.
'How to Read Ethnography' by Gay y Blasco & Wardle is recommended as being relevant for writing as well as reading.
Savage Mind's tags allow a search for 'anthropology' and 'writing'; https://savageminds.org/tag/anthropology-and-writing/
Eric Hayot, 'The Elements of Academic Style: Writing for the Humanities'. This is by a literary scholar, is geared towards publishing academics, and gets into real detail about topics such as structure, paragraphing, transitions.
Chapter 5, "Writing about data", in Adrian Holliday's 'Doing & Writing Qualitative Research'. Eva Soom Ammann noted in her message, 'the chapter is not about writing in general, but specifically about writing about data. However, as only a few texts on writing do, the chapter also focuses on how to build an argument and how to organize different kinds of knowledge (i.e. for example empirical data and theoretical literature).'
For 'the first science-based guide to writing' (as the blurb puts it), there is 'The Reader's Brain: How Neuroscience Can Make You a Better Writer' by Yellowlees Douglas.
Finally, when looking at Narayan's book, the UC Press website auto-recommends Kristen Ghodsee's 'From Notes to Narrative: Writing Ethnographies That Everyone Can Read'. This is firmly situated in socio-cultural anthropology, and is also oriented towards more advanced anthropologists. Note that the text contains a bibliography section titled 'Selected Books On Ethnographic Methods And Writing'.
Thanks again for sharing your recommendations.
Best wishes,
David
--
David Cooper
ESRC GCRF postdoctoral fellow
Department of Anthropology
University College London
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-----Original Message-----
From: The Anthropology-Matters forum mailing list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Cooper, David
Sent: 18 December 2017 12:05
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Discipline-specific writing guides for social anthropology
Dear all,
I would be interested to hear of any good writing resources with a specific reference to social / cultural anthropology. I'm looking for material that can be recommended for Masters' level students to help with structure, argument and analysis in essays. Currently the only discipline-specific guide I'm aware of is the following, produced by Harvard University; https://writingproject.fas.harvard.edu/files/hwp/files/anthropology_writing_guide_2010.pdf
Books, online resources, youtube videos - anything you consider useful and relevant would be of great interest. Please email me directly on [log in to unmask], and I'll reply to the list compiling any suggestions I receive.
Many thanks,
David
--
David Cooper
ESRC GCRF postdoctoral fellow
Department of Anthropology
University College London
[log in to unmask]
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