Tales of the Field

On Writing Ethnography, Second Edition

Maanen John

For more than twenty years, John Van Maanen's "Tales of the Field" has been a definitive reference and guide for students, scholars, and practitioners of ethnography and beyond. Originally published in 1988, it was the one of the first works to detail and critically analyze the various styles and narrative conventions associated with written representations of culture. This is a book about the deskwork of fieldwork and the various ways culture is put forth in print. The core of the work is an extended discussion and illustration of three forms or genres of cultural representation – realist tales, confessional tales, and impressionist tales. The novel issues raised in Tales concern authorial voice, style, truth, objectivity, and point-of-view. Over the years, the work has both reflected and shaped changes in the field of ethnography.

In this second edition, Van Maanen's substantial new Epilogue charts and illuminates changes in the field since the book's first publication. Refreshingly humorous and accessible, "Tales of the Field" remains an invaluable introduction to novices learning the trade of fieldwork and a cornerstone of reference for veteran ethnographers.

Reviews

"John Van Maanen here gives us a spirited, self-reflexive guide to the rhetorical styles used in 'the cultural representation trade', a quirky performance-art Strunk and White for ethnographers and their readers" – American Journal of Sociology

"Van Maanen has written a powerful statement, in the guise of a mere introduction, that compels us to rethink what we are doing and how well we are doing it... This book is a terrific piece of work!" – Karl E. Weick, Administrative Science Quarterly

"With a new epilogue featuring the same laid-back insight and comprehensive grasp as the original, this teachable classic remains the essential work to both enter into and reflect upon the flourishing of ethnography since the 1980s" – George E. Marcus, director of the Center for Ethnography at theUniversity of California, Irvine

"'Tales of the Field' succeeds admirably in what it sets out to do, providing a useful service for those who make ethnographic writing part of what they teach" – John Dorst, New York Folklore

"This unusually clear and readable study should be an invaluable eye-opener for general readers, but especially for advanced undergraduates in sociology and anthropology" – Choice

Back to the list of books