No Longer a Man: Using Ethnographic Fiction to Represent Life History Research

Ross Gray (Toronto Sunnybrook Regional Cancer Center, Canada, ross.gray at sw.ca)

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DOI: 10.1191/0967550704ab005oa

Abstract

In this paper I provide a rationale for the use of ethnographic fiction for representing research findings. Then I tell a story, based on real people and real events, about an interaction between an anonymous biologist with advanced prostate cancer and me, the social scientist that interviewed him. Techniques employed in the writing include the following: using scenes to show rather than tell; building interest through character development; using plot to create dramatic tension; and including authorial presence to heighten analytic possibilities. While the overarching theme of the paper is gender and its disruptions, a variety of topics are covered, including the following: biological versus social/psychological interpretations of behaviour; the impact of male hormones; sexual function and dysfunction; transgenderism; eunuchs today and in the past; and prostate cancer treatment. Possible criteria for judging the merits of this story, and other ethnographic fictions, are provided.

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