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On Studying Ethnologs (Not Just People, Societies in Miniature)

The Necessities of Ethnography, History, and Comparative Analysis

University of Waterloo

Because language is so central to community life, everyone who acquires a language effectively becomes an ethnolog or a "society in miniature." This is because language does not just consist of sounds and their referents but is interconnected with all realms of knowing and acting within the community. Moreover, even in achieving some rudimentary degree of intersubjectivity with the other, one begins to access the broader, historically accomplished, and actively engaged resources of human group life. In discussing ethnologs as instances of societies in miniature, the author not only attends to (a) the processes, functions, and "whatness" of language but also considers (b) how ethnologs routinely assume roles as ethnographers, historians, philosophers, pragmatists, moralists, and politicians; (c) memory as a socially enabled, humanly engaged process; and (d) the necessity of using ethnography, history, and comparative analysis for achieving a more genuine, informed, and productive social science.

Key Words: language • ethnography • pragmatism • memory • symbolic interaction • history • comparative analysis

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Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, Vol. 36, No. 6, 669-703 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0891241606299030


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Prus, R. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?