Impressions from the Field

Sketches of a Historical Study and Anthropological Fieldwork in and around Wadi Ara at the Beginning of the 21st Century

Abstract

This paper sketches the reflections of a historian with keen interest in ethnography upon his fieldwork in Arab settlements in the Wadi 'Ara region. He reflects upon his feelings during visits to the private homes of his informants: friendship, intimacy and distance. Apparently, the encounter with "the other" may teach the research an interesting lesson about himself, providing a new, more self-consious perspective, which may become part of his scholarly work and enrich it with new and fruitful insights.