Accidental ethnografiction: reflections on the value of creative writing in anthropology

Abstract

In this article I reflect on my experience of researching and writing The Invisible Crowd: a novelthat was recognised as a work of ethnografiction by anthropologists on the basis of its depth of engagement with the British asylum system and dominant cultural narratives of immigration. I go on to make a case for interdisciplinarity, for the use of creative writing techniques in anthropology, and for genre fluidity within academic writing and beyond.