Autoethnography's Family Values: Easy Access to Compulsory Experiences

Abstract

This essay outlines one trajectory through autoethnography's embattled terrain at a specific historical/personal moment. The essay begins with an appreciation of autoethnography, at least as compared to its positivist alternatives, but also articulates a suspicion of autoethnography's pursuit of legitimacy. Here, the author articulates the double bind between the epistemic and aesthetic demands of autoethnography and autoethnographic performance. The essay closes by articulating strategies to resist the “family values” of everyday discourse that privilege values of transparency over indeterminacy.

Keywords:

• Autoethnography
• Autoperformance
• Subjugated Knowledge
• Indeterminacy
• Queer Performance

Notes

1. See Sontag and Graham for examples of this diversity. Ronald J. Pelias’ recent book, A Methodology of the Heart: Evoking Academic and Daily Life, takes steps to address this imbalance. In the chapter “The Poet's Self: Making Someone,” Pelias traces his own writing of several poems, using brief quotations from interviews and writings by poets such as Louise Glück and Richard Hugo to frame his experience.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Craig Gingrich-Philbrook

Craig Gingrich-Philbrook is an Associate Professor in the Department of Speech Communication at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale