In this reading, autoethnography is defined as a “form or method of research that involves self-observation and reflexive investigation in the context of ethnographic field work and writing”.[1] My research falls into the category of “autobiographical writing that has ethnographic interest”.[2] I hope that people will be able to relate to my experiences, but I know that one’s personal experiences are not always generalizable to other people. For my midterm, I hope that by examining ideas on Barbie as “American-ness”, I will be able to unpack my relation, alienation, and understanding of my identity: whether I was “American” enough in relation to my classmates. My inquiry lies between “self as representative subject (as a member of a community or group)”and “self as autonomous subject”.[3] I identify as Muslim Syrian American, but I don't know how much I can apply my research to the Muslim Syrian American experience. I went to elementary and middle schools that had very little diversity, and so I was always the only Muslim/Arab person in my class, which consisted of mostly Caucasian Americans. I think I would have felt very differently had there been people more like me, or even just more diversity around me at school. My inquiry also seems to fit into the “subjectivist experiential autoethnographic” category of autoethnography, because it is where “the narrator’s subjective experience is the central focus of the ethnography”.[4] I want to talk about my memories and experiences through my point of view now, looking back at the nostalgia of playing with toys as a child. Barbie celebrated christmas, went shopping, and attended school dances. I did not celebrate christmas, I went shopping but I didn't buy certain types of clothes that Barbie would, and I did not attend school dances. My research, I hope, will reveal “situated cultural influences and broader social relevance”, rather than be generalizable.[5]
[1]Garance Marechal, “Autoethnography” inEncyclopedia of Case Study Research,ed. Albert J. Mills, Gabrielle Durepos and Elden Wiebe. (Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc., 2010), 2.
[2]Garance Marechal, “Autoethnography” inEncyclopedia of Case Study Research,ed. Albert J. Mills, Gabrielle Durepos and Elden Wiebe. (Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc., 2010), 2.
[3]Garance Marechal, “Autoethnography” inEncyclopedia of Case Study Research,ed. Albert J. Mills, Gabrielle Durepos and Elden Wiebe. (Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc., 2010), 2.
[4]Garance Marechal, “Autoethnography” inEncyclopedia of Case Study Research,ed. Albert J. Mills, Gabrielle Durepos and Elden Wiebe. (Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc., 2010), 3.
[5]Garance Marechal, “Autoethnography” inEncyclopedia of Case Study Research,ed. Albert J. Mills, Gabrielle Durepos and Elden Wiebe. (Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc., 2010), 3.
Works Cited:
Marechal, Garance. “Autoethnography.” InEncyclopedia of Case Study Research,edited by Albert J. Mills, Gabrielle Durepos and Elden Wiebe, 44-46. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc., 2010.