Abstract
The quote from Thoreau "If a man does not keep step with his fellows, it may be because he hears a different drummer" might well refer to the textual expression of anthropological knowledge. I have experimented with poetry and a novel to explore concepts of vision, the anthropological gaze, and narratives of multicultural meaning. The essay combines various textual styles to analyze the different ways symbol, concepts of vision, and conflicting perceptual fields may be expressed within the discourse of anthropology.