Curated by Abodid Sahoo
Research papersI keep coming back to.
Written by their respective authors, not by me. Collected here for their connections to autoethnography, photography, grief, memory and human emotions.
The reading shelf
Autoethnography
A Master of Arts dissertation titled "Autoethnographic Reflections on Dance-Based Contemporary Art Practice-as-Research." The keywords highlight its focus on dance, movement, embodiment, tango, and autoethnography.
Reviews the literature on autoethnography, describing it as a research method that uses evocative narratives. It explores the advantages, limitations, and criticisms this research method has endured since its emergence.
Argues that autoethnography is a qualitative, transformative research method due to its ability to change time, require vulnerability, foster empathy, and provide therapeutic benefits. Discusses these aspects using passages from an unpublished manuscript.
A book review of *Evocative Autoethnography: Writing Lives and Telling Stories* by Art Bochner and Carolyn Ellis. It praises the text for introducing the methodology as a "way of life" and as a terrific guide.
A comprehensive text that introduces evocative autoethnography as a methodology and a way of life in the human sciences. It describes the history, development, and purposes of evocative storytelling and is structured as a fictional workshop.
Develops the concept of "Heartful Autoethnography," seeking to include researchers' vulnerable selves, emotions, and bodies to produce evocative, detailed stories. The goal is to fuse social science with literature, encouraging compassion and empathy.
Illustrates how autoethnography can research complex emotional experiences but is subject to cultural feeling/display rules that interfere with emotional engagement. Critically revisits myths about autoethnography (narcissistic, therapeutic, authentic) and suggests it is complicated and non-linear.
A reflective piece of writing, likely autoethnographic, that details a person's experience of sadness, loss, and "queer love" while struggling with a disrupted sleeping schedule during the pandemic. The author reflects on the disconnect between their vibrant self and their depressive state.
A thesis titled "SILENT GRIEF: NARRATIVES OF BEREAVED ADULT SIBLINGS," submitted for a Doctor of Philosophy degree. The work focuses on the experiences of adult siblings coping with bereavement.
Addresses the need to make human sciences more human by writing in more poignant, touching, and heartfelt ways. It argues that autoethnography, which is concerned with evocation over information, helps researchers address what it feels like to be alive in a chaotic world.