reading over the shoulder

is the idea that cultures and cultural functions are all 'text' and that fieldwork is the 'reading' done by anthropologist of those texts.

Geertz writes that '[t]he culture of a people is an ensemble of texts, themselves ensembles, which the anthropologist strains to read over the shoulders of those whom they properly belong.' Essentially, he creates a metaphor for how various cultures and cultural functions are all 'text' and that fieldwork is the 'reading' done by anthropologist of those texts.49]' (net)

reading over the shoulder, n.All

reading over the shoulder