Introduction

Exiting the Loop

Abstract

Can ethnography become a site for mourning where we, as writers or readers, are allowed to dwell with loss, attempt to share with people in pain of grief, and seek the presence of those absent? What are the ways of writing ethnography if its purpose is not merely to represent and understand the cultural Other but to revisit the moments of perplexion, regret, or longing for others encountered during fieldwork? What are the possibilities of such affective knowing and "vulnerable writing," and what are its limitations? This special issue on "Ethnography of Mourning and the Pain of Ethnographer" attempts to expand the contours of ethnographic writing by addressing these questions. Each essay performatively poses a question of whether there is any sense in bringing back the "pain" of the ethnographer themselves in touch with those of the interlocutors, and how, if ever, that could be achieved. This introductory article sets the context for subsequent essays and envisions their potential to challenge conventional academic practices.