Response to "Positioning"

Positioning is an interpretation approach allowing the fieldworker to address all subjective responses affecting his or her study of culture. This method engenders a relative objectivity, which is termed intersubjectivity: the interpretation of a phenomenon from as many perspectives as possible. It deals with the “objectivity” controversy in anthropological research; it is important because it generates a different and better description of culture compared to the obsolete methodologies. Previous studies avoided the use of “mundane” word, which is part of one’s culture; and the application of “objective” description ridiculed the reality and only to reveal one’s effort to detached from one’s involvement in culture. On the other hand, if one can admit his or her familiarity with a certain culture and to describe it fully in his or her ethnography, the reader would know the fieldworker’s position, which would enable a second analysis on the author upon reading the work. In return, this may give out a more objective image. Positioning allows the fieldworker to place himself or herself in three categories: fix position, views related to one’s personal factors, i.e. age, gender, class, nationality etc.; subjective position, views based on one’s personal history and experience; and textual position, views emanated form one’s specific usage of language.

In Angelstown, Ralph Cintron positions himself through two aspects: subjective position and textual position. He comments on the language therapist’s diagnosis on Valerio’s learning disability. He brings up the question of “not knowing” and “not knowing well” a second language, “might ‘word retrieval’ and ‘latency time’ have been official but obfuscating description of being half-out and half-in a language?” (103). Such questions attacks the credibility of the test but also, it reveals Cintron’s background of having an experience of either learning or teaching a second language. On the other hand, the vocabulary he uses in the article exemplifies his sympathy towards the Latino youth and his questioning of the current system. For instance, when he describes the immigrants tried to construct their culture: “nostalgic,” “separate […] his family […] from the source of power,” “circumscribed by expert knowledge” and others, he shows his own attachment to the “subject” and that is indeed quite powerful and emotional.

Question: which of the three positions do you think you would use the most in your project? Which one do you think you would take for granted most easily?