Twelve months in a tiny island village facing the wild North Sea. . . . Anderson takes readers there--to the
experience of first fieldwork. Written with wit and insight, fifteen chapters (each exploring a key anthropological
concept) chronicle daily life in a Danish maritime community. From the arrival of the Anderson family to their
eventful departure, students follow the professional and personal challenges of a culture change study. Forces
of urbanization are turning the life (but not the soul) of thatched-roof Taarnby from the sea to the nearby city
of Copenhagen. From cooking and culture shock to data gathering and childbirth, First Fieldwork animates the lighter
side of fieldwork, its follies and foibles, triumphs and disasters. Anyone who has done fieldwork will identify
with the humor and the pathos; anyone planning it will profit from the demystification that Anderson brings to
this anthropological rite of passage. It is wonderfully human, thoroughly professional.
Table of Contents
Prologue
1. Fieldwork: A Rite of Passage
2. Getting Started: First Impressions
3. Participant Observation: Cooking School
4. Demands of Daily Living: The Bathhouse
5. Social Networking: The Queen�s Lace Caper
6. Acquiring Status: A New Villager
7. Identifying Cultural Themes: A Framework for Data Analysis
