not literally recorded
Does "not literally recorded" mean "not as serious and detailed as real records but something like casual personal notes"?

Context:
This is what I think of as the ethnographic material; events observed and recorded – not literally recorded – but noted in my sketchbook for about two or three years before I even start a project. So during the war, it was mostly what I heard on television.

Question

not literally recorded
Does "not literally recorded" mean "not as serious and detailed as real records but something like casual personal notes"?

Context:
This is what I think of as the ethnographic material; events observed and recorded – not literally recorded – but noted in my sketchbook for about two or three years before I even start a project. So during the war, it was mostly what I heard on television.

Answer

Hi Pineapple,
John is correct.  It means "actually".  She drew a sketch but did not take a photo or video.

Have a good day,
Stephen

Answer

Maybe you are correct, but the author may simply mean “not actually recorded in the sense of using audiotape or videotape.”