Negotiating Authority: Experiences with an Interview Series in Montevideo, Uruguay

Abstract

This article reflects on the transformation of interview experiences into an ethnographic text. Starting point is a series of interviews with a resolute elderly woman who authoritatively gave me her view on the history of Ciudad Vieja, the historic centre of Montevideo, Uruguay. In what way can the story be told? How can the elderly lady's voice and perspective be preserved and linked to my ethnographic narrative? In this paper I trace my way of maintaining the impetus of the interviewee's narrative by using her account not only as a source for findings but by embedding her statements in a vignette.