New Journalism and Ethnography: Considerations on the type of observation practiced by the North American current of literary journalism

Abstract

This article addresses the complexity surrounding the concept of ethnography, which is presented in a reductionist manner in most studies that explore connections between journalistic and anthropological work. Ethnography is cited in studies as a synonym for fieldwork or participant observation – other generalizing terms when referring to the concept. One of the recurring problems is associating the production of new journalism journalists with ethnography. In its classic phase, from the 1960s onwards, the works published by this movement did not use ethnographic methods, but rather another type of resource that dialogues directly with 19th century realist literature. The main tool used by new journalism is verisimilitude, a central category of literature, which consists of reconstructing facts, but without the obligation to be truthful. Unlike a writer who does not need to explain his creative methods, a journalist must expose the circumstances of the narrated or “recreated” facts, guided by the principle of veracity.