|
|
Re: field gear
Thomas Love (tlove@CALVIN.LINFIELD.EDU)
Wed, 21 Dec 1994 09:25:53 -0800
I'd like to second what Douglass wrote - I wish I'd had this sort of
advice before I went off to fieldwork in Arequipa, Peru in the late
70's. Mail was slow, costly, unpredictable and insecure in those days,
so people hesitated sending me things. I brought along a small tape
player and, yes, did have electricity in the house I rented. J.S. Bach
Well-tempered Klavier got me through many long nights and reminded me of
the possibility of order and beauty in the midst of chaotic fieldwork notes
and ideas. Workingman's Dead also kept me connected to my cohort back
home in a curious sort of way. Most important by far, however, were a
sense of wonder and openness to new ideas and people, incredibly kind
neighbors who befriended me, and a supportive
major professor who came to visit a year into the 22 month fieldwork period.
Tom Love 45N, 123W
Dept. Soc/Anth
Linfield College
McMinnville, OR 97128
tlove@linfield.edu
On Wed, 21 Dec 1994, Douglass Drozdow-St.Christian wrote:
> On Tue, 20 Dec 1994, Ruby Rohrlich wrote:
>
> > I think that all the postings about things to take to the field are
> > fascinating and should be collected and published in book form. Ruby
> > Rohrlich
> >
>
> now there's an idea.....brief essays by all us seasoned
> fieldworkers...entitled Field Gear, this collection of advice and
> recollections explores how to prepare physically, materially, and
> emotionally, for the field experience.....
>
> it would make a fascinating collection, especially if we take the idea of
> field gear beyond notebooks and ear plugs and look at the other kinds of
> gear each of us took with us....senses of humour and wonder...books of
> poetry...billie holliday tapes...a thick skin and profound modesty....
>
> the more i think about this, the more i like it...
>
> anyone interested in thinking this further...
>
> in the meantime, let me ask another question, apropos of the reference to
> billie holliday...since i was in western samoa, which means regular [
> sort of] electricity and the like] i took music with me...billie holliday
> was one.....britten's string quartets was another...
>
> i am curious what sorts of music and books people either took with them,
> or wished they had taken with them....
>
> talofa,
> dougl....
>
> <->------<->------<->------<->
> douglass st.christian
> anthropology - mcmaster u.
> hamilton - canada
> stchri@mcmail.cis.mcmaster.ca
> 905 529 4992
> <->------<->------<->------<->
>
|