Notes and poetry from the field: a fieldwork diary

Keeping a diary from the field is a well known and much celebrated ethnographic tradition. In this article we collect our own and other researchers' experiences from the research fields: what and how to note, what are the techniques of taking notes, if and how to transcribe recorded conversations from the field. We argue that ethnography is rather a poetic, non-linear, but cyclical process of deepening understanding, and an ethnographer is like a poet with her/his ability to encapsulate the world in a few sentences: an artist trying to capture emotions, observations, sounds, in a brief and unique way. We finally encourage ethnographers to explore poetry and its power to evoke unobvious associations, to make us wander between what we see and what can be noticed below the surface. We conclude with an example of romantic, patriotic poetry, which in one of our studies turns out to be surprisingly helpful in decoding cultural themes and references deeply hidden under observable reality.