Dealing with Deceit: Fieldwork Encounters and Lies in Burundi

I spent a total of 14 months, divided in four different periods, in burundi for fieldwork research (from 2007 to 2011). I remember my frustrations about lies especially from my second fieldwork period in the summer of 2009. Six weeks in, i wrote down on my computer diary: ‘on my day off still being confronted with lies, big or small, argh, i’ve had it! … maybe it is time for a break from the field!!’ my emotions concerning different forms of deceits are the impetus for this chapter. It investigates the dilemmas and frustrations in dealing with lies and deceit, both regarding their interpretation and their effects on the personal research relations with the narrators. It suggests ways in which researchers can respond to the challenges of deceit, especially in conflict-prone situations like burundi.keywordstext messagesensitive issueidentity papersituational analysisidentity cardthese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.