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Cyberanthropology and Netnography:The Internet as an Intersubjective Tool of Ethnographic Writing
Zhou Lei
Abstract:This paper intends to synthesize the major relevant argu-ments that can be used to contribute to a better understanding of a new writing enterprise‐e‐graphy or netnography.The new loci of cy-berspace have embroiled anthropology and ethnographic writing in a new sphere that Malinowski,and many founding figures of anthro-pology,have been denied the opportunity to deal with.
Through discussions focused on new ethnographic contexts(manifestations of virtualism)‐featured with“auto‐enabling effica-cy,”“Internet and cyberspace as social phenomena,”and“crossed domains”(Strathern2001)‐this paper will examine the new approaches and theoretical possibilities of ethnography writing,when the corporeal researcher telepresents in disembodied spaces,by deliber-ating new cyberanthropology scenarios foreshadowed by“traditional”anthropologis ts,such as Geertz,Appadurai,Clifford,etc.,and rerepresented in current cyber novels such as Cyber Gypsies(Sinha1999)and many other recent cyberanthropological writings .E‐graphy or netnography,as a new possibility of ethnographic writing,firs t of all,consists of subjective,phenomenological and virtual seeing,hearing,and speaking,through s upra‐individual,su-per‐individual and interindividual communication which are symp-tomatic of the socio‐political dimensions of the individual person.Second,the new cyberanthropological writing is highly fragmented and visualized,often interwoven with other social acts and perform-ances such as video games,online observation and virtual regurgita-tion.As a result,the cyber ethnographic writing context tends to in-variably transcend geographical boundaries of communities,com-pounds,loci and foci.Third,cyberspace has elicited a kaleidoscopic and trans‐topo living experience,which challenges the traditional fieldwork approaches.
The genres of ethnographic writing should be-come more blurred,amalgamated and even“unreadable”for those ethnographers who feel reluctant to adapt to new contexts of anthro-pologic s tudies.Walstrom uses the term“participant experiencer”instead of“participant observer”to characterize the nature of the researcher"s role in the setting.The participant experiencer“entails the role of active contributor to the group being studied.This role specifically refers to a researcher who has personal experience with the central problem being discussed by group participants”(Wal-s trom2004 a:175).The new experimental ethnography should not be satiated by churning out“paradigmatic‐syntagmatic bricolage”(Fernandez1986:45),one s hould re‐contemplate some basic incho-ate pronouns of social life:“I”,“YOU”,“HE”,“S HE”,and“IT”.
Keywords:cyberanthropology,netnography,intersubjective,ethno-graphic writing,cyberspace,cyberscapes