Una clínica etnográfica frente al síndrome de la familiarización

Héctor Morales

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An ethnographic clinic confronting the familiarization syndrome

Authors

Héctor Morales Universidad de Chile https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9331-2403

Vol. 85 (2026)

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Abstract

This article offers a critical insight on the ethnographic experience from the perspective of the ethnographic clinic, understood as the set of sensory, emotional, and epistemic affectations that the researcher undergoes during fieldwork. From this approach, the metaphor of a “syndrome of familiarization” is introduced: a condition in which the ethnographer loses the ability to sustain the inherent uncertainty of the ethnographic encounter and fixes reality through interpretations lacking epistemological, methodological, and theoretical grounding. I argue that ethnography requires cultivating strangeness and resisting interpretive closure to keep open the transformative potential of field experience. The antidote lies in establishing a sharp separation between two complementary yet distinct dimensions: the field and the desk. Only by clearly distinguishing their logics and demands is it possible to prevent the raw experience of the field from becoming confused with its analytical interpretation or its subsequent textual formalization.

Keywords:

etnografía , trabajo en terreno , escritura , familiaridad

How to Cite

Morales, H. (2026). An ethnographic clinic confronting the familiarization syndrome. Cinta De Moebio. Revista De Epistemología De Ciencias Sociales, 85. Retrieved from https://cintademoebio.uchile.cl/index.php/CDM/article/view/83993