Category Archives: Yemen

Reflections on Fieldwork in Yemen

Anthropology/Sociology, Yemen

 

Reflections on Fieldwork in Yemen: The Genealogy of a Diary in Response to Rabinow’s Reflections on Fieldwork in Morocco
by Daniel Martin Varisco


[Anthropologist at rest with cat, al-Ahjur, Yemen, 1978]

[The following excerpt is from an article recently published in Anthropology of the Middle East (Volume 1(2):35-62, 2006).]

Abstract: In preparation for writing an ethnographic monograph on fieldwork in Yemen, I compare and contrast my field diary, written in 1978–9, with Paul Rabinow’s ‘Reflections on Fieldwork in Morocco’ (1977). The underlying question is what post-fieldwork reflections reflect meaningfully about the immediacy of ethnographic fieldwork. I criticize the reflexivist trope of privileging ‘writing culture’ over the significance of ‘being there’ in the field. Point by point, I examine the implications of graduate training in anthropology, culture shock, health problems, language skills, the unreflective male voice, visual ethnography and the rhetoric of narrative writing.

Keywords: culture shock, ethnography, fieldwork, reflexivity, Visual Anthropology

Continue reading Reflections on Fieldwork in Yemen →

Hate the One Your With

Danish Cartoon Controversy, Islamophobia, Muhammad, Traditions (hadith literature), Yemen, Zaydi


[Photo of Muhammad al-Asadi by Mohammad al-Sharabi for Newsweek.

If your down and confused
And you don’t remember who your talking to
Concentration, step away
‘Cause your baby is so far away
And there’s a rose and it fits me close
And the eagles fly with the doves
And if you can’t be with the one you love honey
Love the one your with
Love the one your with
Love the one your with
You gotta Love the one your with
— Will Young

There is no dearth of Islamophobic and outright anti-Muslim rhetoric in both American and European public opinion forums. A litany of recent events, from the 9/11 Twin Tower tragedy to the Danish cartoon controversy, makes it seem to many people that Muslims are on the attack against “civilized” secular society. Muslims in Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine (perhaps even Dubai these days) look at their nightly news and see an indiscriminate political war against their moral principles as well as individual lives. The rash of suicide bombings against Western targets, especially U.S. and British military in Iraq, gets precedence because it falls into the usual tit-for-tatness that uncontrolled violence feeds on. But how are we to understand the increasing threats and actual mayhem between fellow Muslims? Continue reading Hate the One Your With →

When Kidnapping is not International Terrorism

Terrorism Issue, Tribalism, Yemen

The following news item just came across the wires from Arab News, an English language daily based in Saudi Arabia. Think of your gut reaction as you read…

SANAA, 3 January 2006 — Tribesmen holding five Italian tourists hostage in northeastern Yemen yesterday threatened to kill them if troops encircling the area move to rescue them, a local official said.

The five Italians, three women and two men, were snatched from Marib, some 195 km northeast of the capital Sanaa on Sunday and taken to the Serwah district, about 30 km away. Continue reading When Kidnapping is not International Terrorism →

Yemen Bashing Needs a Reality Check

Anthropology/Sociology, Journalism and Media, Yemen

Most Americans know little about the country of Yemen, located beneath (geographically and metaphorically for many foreign policy makers) America’s oil-friendly ally Saudi Arabia. I have been going to Yemen since 1978, when I lived for over a year as an ethnographer in a highland tribal village northwest of the capital Sanaa. Since that time my academic career has focused largely on the history and culture of Yemen. I edited a bulletin (Yemen Update) devoted to all aspects of Yemeni Studies for a decade, and I have returned frequently as researcher and development consultant. Over the years there have been very few news articles about Yemen by American correspondents. The few that have appeared are generally so full of stereotypes and misinformation that I often turn the paper aside in disgust. The major 3-part article begun last weekend (Dec. 18, 19, 20) by David Finkel on a democracy development project in Yemen for the Washington Post is sadly yet another ignorant and dangerous posting that needs a reality check. Continue reading Yemen Bashing Needs a Reality Check →