this month + an ethnography
April 4Classes end in four weeks — I have mixed feelings about this as I’ve about 30 pages worth of writing due in a two-week time span. I’ll leave it to you to imagine with what hope I expectantly await long nights of sitting with my laptop (the p-book is back!) writing about Deep Ecology, anthropology, analyzing persuasive texts, Zionism, and such. Look for musings here from time to time.
I’m conducting an ethnography in which I explore how Christians understand themselves and communicate this understanding to others. Specifically, I’m focusing upon the testimony as a discursive speech act through which Christians craft a narrative that defines the relationship between themselves, their past, God, and the church.
The form of the testimony fascinates me — though we often say things like “Just tell your story” or “It doesn’t have to be any certain way,” the testimony tends to take on a very specific structure and vocabulary. In fact, try this: Search Google for the phrase “I grew up in a Christian home.” Immediately, 15,900 results pop up; each of these is some form of testimony.
I’ll expand on this later and perhaps pose a few questions on which I’d love some feedback.
Until then, have an incredible week!
saving daylight,
c. scott andreas


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