Reflections on Fieldwork in Morocco

Inthislandmarkstudy,nowcelebratingthirtyyearsinprint,PaulRabinowtakesashisfocusthefieldworkthatanthropologistsdo.Howvalidistheprocess?Towhatextentdotheculturaldatabecomeartifactsoftheinteractionbetweenanthropologistandinformants?HavingfirstpublishedamorestandardethnographicstudyaboutMorocco,Rabinowheredescribesaseriesofencounterswithhisinformantsinthatstudy,fromaFrenchinnkeeperclingingtothevestigesofacolonialpast,totheruraldescendantsofaseventeenth-centurysaint.Inanewpreface,Rabinowconsidersthethirty-yearlifeofthisremarkablebookandhisowndistinguishedcareer.