ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book provides some observations and suggestions about teaching and learning ethnographic writing. Ethnographies are meant to represent human lifeworlds in ways that are systematic, and at the same time evoke richly textured worlds inevitably immersed in contradictory detail. Unlike literary journalism and memoir, ethnography is part of social science. In ethnography, good social science and creative craft are not mutually exclusive. Creative writing needs to be evocative and original, and also requires diligent practice and good models to learn from. Models may be useful to some extent, but ethnographic practice centers on unique case studies positioned within broader scholarly conversations. Both Anton Chekhov and his characters show ethnographic prowess for capturing the subtle detail that reveals social structure and symbolic systems of meaning.
