Lost in the field: Lessons from metal music studies fieldwork in the Global South

Abstract

Ethnographic fieldwork is a core method of anthropological, sociological and cultural research, characterized by a lengthy stay in an area or among a social group that is being studied. In the best-case scenario, a researcher becomes an insider through fieldwork. This method, however, has experienced heavy criticism for its exploitative origins and traditions that, among others, maintain a strong focus on Global North gazes and give little back to studied communities, especially those located in the Global South. Metal music studies have seen fieldwork-based research in both the Global North and South; and although a productive method in this field of research, it has not yet been considered in emerging critical reflections on methodology in its body of publications. This article aims to make such a contribution by reflecting on lessons from metal research in the Global South. Building on experiences in Latin American and African countries, we seek to explore how fieldwork-based research on metal, in general, can be informed by situated experiences in these regions by means of four distinct elements: (1) the importance of multiple subjectivities and epistemologies, (2) the principles of positionality and communality, (3) the confrontation and dismantling of privilege and (4) the diversification of fieldwork methods in terms of data collection and sharing.