...the "critical tale," a term used by John Van Maanen to characterize ethnographic description that is "strategically situated to shed light on larger social, political, symbolic or economic issues" (Van Maanen 1988: 127). Van Maanen does not discuss his notion of the critical tale in great detail,...

..."critical tale" was coined by John Van Maanen (1988) to define a type of ethnographic analysis that is "strategically situated to shed light on larger social, political, symbolic or economic issues" (127). 20. Carla Freeman's study (2000) of Barbadian female data entry workers reveals that not only...