Reconsidering the vignette as method

Demetriou, Olga

doi:10.1111/amet.13145

Reconsidering the vignette as method

Demetriou, Olga

Authors

Professor Olga Demetriou olga.demetriou@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Abstract

When ethnography is used in fields outside anthropology, vignettes often take a central role. Yet methodological discussions of the vignette are not as central to anthropology as their cross-disciplinary use might warrant. By dwelling on, but perhaps less stringently guarding, disciplinary boundaries, anthropology can gain a clearer view of its own central tools—in this case, vignettes. Reconsidering these tools holds particular relevance for work on refugee studies, an inherently interdisciplinary field that anthropology has had a key role in shaping. Artistic works focused on refugees are considered here from a meta-ethnographic perspective that pays attention to the processes through which a specific series of artworks were produced alongside their content. Central to this analysis is the role of the vignette in the artist's presentation of her work, which enables an inquiry into the double role of the vignette as both method and presentation in anthropology.

Citation

Demetriou, O. (2023). Reconsidering the vignette as method. American Ethnologist, 50(2), 208-222. https://doi.org/10.1111/amet.13145

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Dec 31, 2021
Online Publication Date	Mar 30, 2023
Publication Date	2023
Deposit Date	May 10, 2023
Publicly Available Date	May 10, 2023
Journal	American Ethnologist
Print ISSN	0094-0496
Electronic ISSN	1548-1425
Publisher	Wiley
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	50
Issue	2
Pages	208-222
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1111/amet.13145

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© 2023 The Authors. American Ethnologist published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Anthropological Association.

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