Writing Up Imaginatively: Emotions, Temporalities and Social Encounters

Abstract

Fieldwork involves imagination, social encounters and a recognition of feelings, emotions, in observer and observed. As with ‘ the field’ itself, emotions and encounters are dynamically temporal, whether they are observed, or felt by the investigator, or described by interlocutors. If we want to develop anthropological work on emotions and their significance, we must be aware of the layers of interpretation that mediate between a fieldwork event and its often manifold recensions. ‘Writing up’ therefore requires consideration of how to (re-) present persuasive accounts and analyses: examples are discussed of such modes in different media and the role of mediators in academic descriptions of emotion.