Digital ethnography of living food: a methodological approach to online and offline fieldwork

Authors

Abstract

This article aims to present the methodological approach in a digital and visual ethnography built to comprehend digital sociability and subjectivity in Terrapia’s community — in which main similarity among people is their interest in Living Food. The theoretical principles are based on digital anthropology, which conveys the importance of combining the digital environment with traditional face-to-face fieldwork. We approach our research tools system with digital and visual instruments to explain the methodological path, and we express the investigation in its aspects online and offline. We discuss the digital sociability of people seeking to highlight the particularities found in the community. Finally, we report the research experience's considerations emphasizing the understanding of local culture's particularities and the construction of senses by its participants by observing digital media as a research tool.

Keywords

Digital anthropology, Ethnography, Food studies, Social Media, Communities

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Author Biographies

Helena Varella, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

Mestre em Psicossociologia de comunidades e ecologia social pela UFRJ.

Monica Machado, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

Professora da Escola de Comunicação da UFRJ e do Programa de Pós-graduação em Psicossociologia do Instituto de Psicologia da UFRJ. Líder do grupo de pesquisa CIEC (Coordenação Interdisciplinar de Estudos Contemporâneos) PPGCOM-UFRJ, Doutora em Comunicação e Cultura PPGCOM ECO-UFRJ, cursou pós-doutorado em Antropologia na University College London-UK.

Published

2021-02-22

How to Cite

Varella, H., & Machado, M. (2021). Digital ethnography of living food: a methodological approach to online and offline fieldwork. Athenea Digital. Revista De Pensamiento E investigación Social, 21(1), e-2502. https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/athenea.2502

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