Centre for Policy on Ageing



Ethnographic encounters with elderly people and an interpreter — a fieldwork experience from Djenné, Mali
Author(s)	G Mommersteeg
Journal title	Southern African Journal of Gerontology, vol 8, no 2, October 1999
Pages	pp 33-37
Keywords	Ethnic groups ; Community interpreters ; Communication ; Anthropological studies ; Methodology ; Mali.
Annotation	Methodological issues of doing ethnographic fieldwork are considered. Examples of fieldwork conducted in a small town in Mali are given, to draw attention to the importance of having a close research partner from the local culture. Illustrations taken both from conversations with older people and discussions about them show how in the collaboration between the anthropologist and the research assistant, local images and notions of old age are revealed. The author argues that being dependent on an interpreter - which is commonly looked on as a handicap - in research on old age, it proves to be an advantage. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-000114248 A
Classmark	TK: QRE: U: 3FA: 3D: 7MB
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.