Writing the differences: Poststructural ist pluralism,retextualization, and the construction of reflexive ethnographic narratives in consumption and market research |
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| Authors: | Craig J Thompson Barbara B Stern Eric J Arnould |
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| Institution: | 1. Associate Professor of Marketing, The Business School , University of Wisconsin @ Madison , Grainger Hall, 975 University Avenue, Madison, WI, 53706;2. Professor of Marketing, Faculty of Management, Rutgers , The State University of New Jersey , Ackerson Hall, Newark, NJ, 07102;3. Associate Professor of Marketing, College of Business Administration , University of South Florida , 4202 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa, F1, 33620–5500 |
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| Abstract: | Representing social realities in a narrative form is central to the interpretive processes by which market‐oriented ethnographies are constructed. In recent years, the process of textualization has shifted from a taken‐for‐granted aspect of the ethnographic enterprise to a central focus of ethnographers’ reflexive considerations. This shift reflects the realization that textualization poses dilemmas of representation that can not be resolved through additional fieldwork or other methodological procedures. This paper addresses these workbench problems by devising an alternative narrative formretextualization‐based on a poststructuralist version of critical pluralistic analysis. We first discuss how non‐realist genres of ethnographic writing have emerged in response to a heightened sensitivity toward ideological positions embedded in research narratives. We then discuss how the use of retextualization can facilitate the development of reflexivity in consumption research by destabilizing the representational authority of the ethnographic text through expressions of divergence, dissensus, and contested interpretations. |
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