Journal of Narrative and Life History - Volume 2, Issue 1, 1992

AbstractThis article unveils the aftermath of writing life narratives for publication. As biographer of Pete Seeger and Aldous Huxley, I draw on my experiences to categorize response from family, community, and subject. The thesis is that such anticipated response inevitably shapes the work, before publication, via prior censorship. (Oral history; oral biography interviewing; author/subject

AbstractA collaboration begun 20 years ago between Nisa, a !Kung San (Bushman) woman of northwestern Botswana, and myself, an American anthropologist, has affected both women's lives. In 1989, after a 14-year absence (and 8 years after the results of their collaboration was published: Nisa: The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman), I returned to meet Nisa again, now approximately 68 years old. Over the course of 10 new interviews, we discussed the changes that had taken place in Nisa's life, her aging process, her views on culture change, her future prospects, and the impact that the book and monetary payments (primarily in the form of cattle) have had on her life. Selected memories were also reviewed to explore whether time and additional years of living had affected her view of her life story. (Anthropology)

AbstractThis article discusses the two ends of the life-history process: the reasons for its undertaking and the research assumptions these engender, and the impact of the published account on readers. In doing so, I draw on my own experience in the research and writing of Nan: The Life of an Irish Travelling woman (Gmelch, 1986/1991) and upon the responses of Traveller and non-Traveller readers to this life history. (Ethnographic research; life-history interviewing, editing, and narra-tive construction; literary criticism)

AbstractThis article discusses the two ends of the life-history process: the reasons for its undertaking and the research assumptions these engender, and the impact of the published account on readers. In doing so, I draw on my own experience in the research and writing of Nan: The Life of an Irish Travelling woman (Gmelch, 1986/1991) and upon the responses of Traveller and non-Traveller readers to this life history. (Ethnographic research; life-history interviewing, editing, and narra-tive construction; literary criticism)

AbstractEarly life histories were written with little consideration of the native community as audience. Today's life histories make their way back to the native communities where they are sold to locals and tourists, absorbed into the school or community library, and even read. Publication of two life histories of Native American women invites reflection on how these books have been "read" in their native communities and their impact on their narrators and on native-initiated life-history research in these same communities. These works also raise the issue of whether anthropologist authors can write life histories for a culturally diverse audience or whether we must present life stories differently to the multiple audiences our works now address. (Life history interviewing and editing; issues of cultural representation; cross-cultural communication)

AbstractThis article raises issues of rendering oral narratives as text, the different needs of audiences in oral and literate settings, and how the relationship of narrator and collaborator influences the information and its presentation. Successfully addressing these issues demands that the anthropologist also consider the literary impact of the work. I conclude that the literary consideration raised in this genre of writing is basic to the most important of anthropological concerns, the cross-cultural communication of understandings. (Participant observation; life-history interviewing, editing, and narrative construction; cultural representation; writing for culturally diverse audiences)