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Canine connections : fieldwork with a dog as research assistant

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OA_Canine_Connections_Fieldwork_with_a_Dog_as_Research_Assistant.pdf (8.908Mb)
Date
01/12/2015
Author
Lane, Karen Lesley
Keywords
Actor - network theory
Ambiguity
Belfast
Cosmopolitanism
Ethnographic method
Interspecies communication
GN Anthropology
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Abstract
My research seeks out muted narratives that struggle to be heard in the contested city of Belfast. My dog is one of my ethnographic methods: dog-walking is rarely a direct journey from A to B and she can ‘authenticate’ my lingering presence in unfamiliar places; she is a gateway to dog-focused communal activities; and her categorisation of people is based on smell, not politics, religion or country of origin. When encountering random strangers with an attractive and friendly dog, her role is obvious: introduction enacted, anthropologist takes over. But does she simply mediate the encounter or does she shape what happens? The relationship between dog and person is reciprocal and the extent to which each actor responds to the other prolongs and moulds the encounter. Can she elicit stories that may not otherwise be told, do more than ‘only connect’? This paper draws on actor-network theory and cosmopolitanism.
Citation
Lane , K L 2015 , ' Canine connections : fieldwork with a dog as research assistant ' , Anthropology in Action , vol. 22 , no. 3 , pp. 27-38 . https://doi.org/10.3167/aia.2015.220304
Publication
Anthropology in Action
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3167/aia.2015.220304
ISSN
0967-201X
Type
Journal article
Rights
© 2017 Berghahn Books. This work has been made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the author created accepted version manuscript following peer review and as such may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://doi.org/10.3167/aia.2015.220304
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  • University of St Andrews Research
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/12234

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