Page 124 - Prathima Volume 12

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In addition to feminist scholarship in anthropological research, I will briefly discuss
the role of digital ethnography in recent anthropological studies to understand how
culture and society have been described through the digitalized world. Such
anthropological engagement with digital media is to study how digital media represent
anthropological research and interpretational creativity, which will enable us to
rethink about culture through multimedia ethnography. In particular, the new
technology or global communication technology is considered as a new research tool,
which some ethnographers use in their data collection (Jones et.al. 2015; Underberg &
Zorn, 2013; Pink, et.al. 2004). Many graduate students would ask; 'What is digital
ethnography? Why is it so important in contemporary anthropological research?' For
these questions, Underberg and Zorn (2013) argue that “digital ethnography is a
method for representing features of digital media with the elements of a story.” (2013,
p.10) Remarkably, the purpose of this method in anthropology is to discover
ethnographic storytelling through the employment of new media in anthropological
research. Furthermore, this digital ethnographical approach helps to convey cultural
knowledge through digital media. It is most important to say that digital ethnography
discusses the intersections between culture and technology in the study of
anthropology. In this context, we need to look at how people use global
communication technologies to make meaning of their worldviews. Furthermore, the
fundamental understanding of visual methods in ethnography is to show how such
visual elements are incorporated to produce visual meanings in ethnographic research
(Pink 2004). Pink explains that visual methods include drawing, painting, video,
photography, and multimedia which are considered popular resources in ethnographic
research. Also, she has looked at how visual methods can be incorporated into the
ethnographic fieldwork to create digitalized views about cultures.

However, ethnographers themselves are already familiar with photography and video
methods that they have used them in particular ways. For example, Natalie M.
Underberg and Elayne Zorn (2013) founded the Digital Ethnography Lab at the
University of Central Florida in Orlando, and its major objective is to “examine the
process of digital adaptation of cultural materials and to investigate the social impact
of new technologies, with the goal of responsibly integrating technology into cultural
representation” (Underberg & Zorn, 2013, p. 4). Importantly, we need to look at how
people use global communication technology to create their own “self-
representations” (Underberg & Zorn, 2013). In this aspect, we should look at how
ordinary people learn to use technology and create digital products for self-expression
(Underberg & Zorn, 2013). People can make their own documentaries or films. For
example, I would say, in Jaffna, Tamils document weddings, puberty, and death rituals
through digital technology, and even upload a small part of those digital productions
into social media (YouTube or Facebook). Also, some villages and temples have
individually created websites and digital archives.

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