Ethnographers: Always a Stranger

Alina Secrest

This photo shows Napolean Chagnon, a famous anthropologist, during his time researching the Yanomami people of Venezuela. In this photo, Chagnon walks with two Yanomami men, and it is clear from the difference in dress that he is very different from them. Although they all appear comfortable and casually conversing, one can tell that he is not the same. Ethnographers like Chagnon by definition are prime examples of Simmel’s description of strangers. They enter a new community with the sole intention of learning their culture and assimilating so they can gain a strong understanding of the culture. Yet despite the fact that when living in these communities they go to great lengths to become one of them, they can never fully lose their status as strangers and become a full member of the group. Ethnographers become part of the community, but their role is defined as being an outsider, and as close to people as they may become they are always held at a distance. 

Chagnon lived among the Yanomami for years, at times never intending to return home to the west. He eventually dressed as they did, hunted, lived with them, and even married a Yanomami woman. However, he could never fully become one of them, because at the core, he was an outsider there to research them. Chagnon’s status as a stranger did grant him a certain rapport with the Yanomami because they didn’t expect him to stay, as Simmel writes, which made them feel more comfortable sharing information for his research. While he forged bonds with the people around him, there was always a level of social distance (Simmel) between them. People judged their relationship to him with consideration to his status as a stranger, which kept many at arms length, and he could never be fully accepted. To this extent, Chagnon was a stranger, because while he did everything with the Yanomami, he could never became a true Yanomami person.

Edles, Laura Desfor, and Scott Appelrouth. Sociological Theory in the Classical Era: Text and Readings. SAGE Publications, Inc., 2021. 

Skeptic. “Spin-Doctoring the Yąnomamö - Science as a Candle in the Darkness of the Anthropology Wars.” Skeptic, 16 May 2022, https://www.skeptic.com/reading_room/spin-doctoring-yanomamo-science-as-a-candle-in-darkness-of-anthropology-wars/.