On Doing Fieldwork in Palestine Advice, Fieldnotes, and Other Though
This book, based on the author's ethnographic fieldwork in the Palestinian West Bank from 1995 to 1996, aims to provide an honest, authentic, and accurate accounting of the nitty-gritty, day-to-day challenges, rewards, failures, and successes of doing fie
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Celia E. Rothenberg
On Doing Fieldwork in Palestine
Celia E. Rothenberg
On Doing Fieldwork in Palestine Advice, Fieldnotes, and Other Thoughts
Celia E. Rothenberg Department of Religious Studies McMaster University Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
ISBN 978-3-319-34200-9 ISBN 978-3-319-34201-6 DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-34201-6
(eBook)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016955841 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and Author(s) 2016 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Cover pattern © Harvey Loake Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland
For my family, who supported me completely.
PREFACE
In the summer of 1995, when I was preparing to go to the Israeli-occupied Palestinian West Bank for my doctoral fieldwork, I asked my supervisor for advice. I had never done fieldwork before. The West Bank was and still is a politically volatile area. My required “research methods” course had been singularly unhelpful—impractical, vague, and boring. I had no idea what I was actually going to do with myself day in and day out. I had no idea where or even if I would be able to live in Artas, the village that I had identified on a map to be the site of my research. I was worried my Arabic wasn’t good enough. I was worried about having the last name Rothenberg while living in a Palestinian village. The only fieldnotes I had ever seen belonged to Professor Richard Lee, who had studied the African Kalahari Kung in the 1960s. He showed our seminar class his yellowing index cards filled with minutiae; intimidated by their authentic look and feel, I couldn’t imagine what my own notes should look like or what I would include in them. My supervisor suggested that I pack as many good murder mysteries as I could fit into my bag. I thought she had clearly lost touch and (unfortunately) disregarded her advice. Not quite a decade after my fieldwork, I published the findin
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