The Autoethnographic Call: Current Considerations and Possible Futures Kendall Smith-Sullivan University of South Florida
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Scholar Commons | University of South Florida Research University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 6-17-2008 The Autoethnographic Call: Current Considerations and Possible Futures Kendall Smith-Sullivan University of South Florida Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the American Studies Commons Scholar Commons Citation Smith-Sullivan, Kendall, "The Autoethnographic Call: Current Considerations and Possible Futures" (2008). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/503 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Autoethnographic Call: Current Considerations and Possible Futures by Kendall Smith-Sullivan A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Communication College of Arts and Science University of South Florida Major Professor: Carolyn Ellis, Ph.D. Arthur Bochner, Ph.D. Eric Eisenberg, Ph.D. Donileen Loseke, Ph.D. Date of Approval: June 17, 2008 Keywords: autoethnography, therapeutic writing, health communication, narrative therapy, reflexivity, narrative © Copyright 2008, Kendall Smith-Sullivan To Jim For being on the same page with me, always Acknowledgments I gratefully acknowledge my major professor, Carolyn Ellis, whose insight, feedback, and inspiration have made this possible and my committee for their ongoing mentoring and encouragement: Art Bochner, Eric Eisenberg, and Doni Loseke. I also want to acknowledge the ongoing moral support from my friends: Jane, Cris, Mary Katherine, and Jennifer L., with a special thank you to Beth who knows how difficult dissertation writing is and who was always there when I needed a friend, APA specialist, and doctoral coach. For my family, Lisa, Carson and Kenton, thank you for living with me as this dream became a reality. To my husband, Jim, I never knew that life could be so full of love, respect, and laughter---thank you for going above and beyond these past six years. I also acknowledge my late parents for their varied gifts, and Bijou and J.W. for being my constant companions. I also recognize and humbly honor the Divine guidance that has given me the strength to complete this project. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT i CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW 1 Introduction 1 Literature Review 3 Autoethnographic Beginnings 3 Etiology of Autoethnography 5 Overview of Autobiographical Literature 9 Literary Beginnings (in North America) 10 The Rise of the Personal Essay: The Beat Goes On 11 The New Journalism 12 Overview of Literature Related to Illness Narratives 14 Narrative Medicine 15 Narrative Therapy 17 Therapeutic Writing 19 Narratives and Health Communication 21 The Personal Connection 25 Illness, Trauma and End-of-Life Autoethnographies 26 Interviewees Connect with Autoethnography 27 CHAPTER TWO: METHODS 29 The Original Plan 30 The Modified Plan 34 Interviewee Selection Process 35 Interview Process 38 Participant Observation 42 Consent and Confidentiality 43 Data Analysis 44 Emotional Recall 46 Plan C (Almost a C-) 48 CHAPTER THREE: THE AUTOETHNOGRAPHIC CALL 50 Laura‘s Story 50 Patricia‘s Story 53 Elissa‘s Story 55 Lesa‘s Story 57 Tami‘s Story 58 i Carol‘s Story 59 Larry‘s Story 61 Chris‘s Story 63 Carla‘s Story 66 Let‘s Get Personal 69 My Story 81 My Story Continues 84 CHAPTER FOUR: DEFINING AND EVALUATING AUTOETHNOGRAPHY 88 Defining Autoethnography 88 Role of Self, Culture and Theory 88 Self and Others 89 Other Issues of Theory 90 Evaluating Autoethnography 93 First Generation Guidance 93 Laura‘s Theory 96 Second Generation Profiles 97 Historical Influences 98 The Techno-Third Generation 99 S^ with Cell Phones 99 Impact of Reality Television 100 Teaching Autoethnography 102 Undergraduate Instruction 102 Elissa‘s Take 102 Lesa‘s View 102 Chris‘s Response 103 Pitfalls and Possibilities 103 Poetry: A Special Case 107 Poetic Considerations 108 Poetic Problems 109 Good for Many Purposes 110 CHAPTER FIVE: THERAPEUTIC AUTOETHNOGRAPHY 112 Sense-Making 113 The Ethno Exemplar 116 Beyond Language 117 No Words Required 120 The Wise Gazelle Tale 123 Professorial Perils 127 Counselors for Grief or Counselors of Law? 131 Question the Counselors 133 Get Thee to a Professional 135 Counseling Bodies 137 In-House Counsel 139 Next Time 141 Silver Linings 144 ii CHAPTER SIX: MY AUTOETHNOGRAPHIC JOURNEY 145 The Perfect Life 146 Calm Waters 148 Capsized 149 Landlocked 150 Dry Life Preservers 154 Reading and Righting 155 A Scholarly Aside 156 Sea-ing Differently 157 Journal Entry, No month, 1972 160 Trying to Write the Wrongs 160 Journal Entry, No month, 1973 161 Journal Entry, October 21, 1973 161 Journal Entry, October 27, 1973 162 Journal Entry, October 28, 1973 163 Journal Entry, December 25, 1974 163 Hometown Exit 163 Wherever You Go, There You Are 165 Kitchen Meltdown 167 Almost Killing Myself, Softly 171 Journal Entry, June 17, 1987 172 Journal Entry, June 21, 1987 174 Grand Emotions 175 Journal Entry, July 15, 1987 175 Journal Entry, No date, 1987 178 Journal Entry, September 15, 1987 180 Journal Entry, December 29, 1988 181 Journal Entry, March 3, 1989 181 The Ending and the Beginning 183 Journal Entry, April 3, 1989 183 CHAPTER SEVEN: ASSESSING THE PRESENT AND LOOKING TOWARD THE FUTURE 185 Opportunities in Health Communication 186 First Generation Autoethnographers 191 Potential Constraints of the Emerging Autoethnographers 194 The World Now 196 Recapping the Challenge 197 Patterns 198 Professional Options 199 The Dream 199 The Atlantic Divide 200 Publishing‘s Turn 206 Public Sociology 209 Creative Graphy 212 iii Potential Employment Options 216 Creative Writing Component 217 Conclusion 222 Inspired by True Events 222 REFERENCES 229 APPENDICES 248 Appendix A.: Qualitative Inquiry Panelists‘ Questions 249 Appendix B.: Interview Questions 251 Appendix C.: Literature Review Charts by Discipline 253 ABOUT THE AUTHOR End Page iv THE AUTOETHNOGRAPHIC CALL: CURRENT CONSIDERATIONS AND POSSIBLE FUTURES Kendall Smith-Sullivan ABSTRACT This research examines the increase of personal narratives in the past several decades, particularly the autoethnographic approach. The project begins with a historical contextualization of personal writing and autoethnography in relation to the crisis of representation and other diverse socio-political shifts. One outcome of these cultural transitions was a proliferation of illness narratives, narrative therapy, therapeutic writing, and narrative health communication. Also included in this research are data from interviews with emerging autoethnographers and participant observation that occurred at the Third International Qualitative Inquiry Congress. The conference served as prism through which to view qualitative scholarship as a whole, as well as current issues in autoethnography and its possible futures. Issues that are explored include what motivates scholars to write autoethnographically, how they define and evaluate autoethnography, their views on its use as therapeutic practice, and their vision for the future of the autoethnographic approach. Qualitative research methods are flourishing globally, and autoethnography is uniquely positioned to expand in the years ahead, particularly in the area of health communication, cross-disciplinary academic studies, and mainstream publishing venues. v CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction In Human Communication as Narration, Fisher (1987) coined the term homo narrans (p. 63) to capture human‘s primordial propensity for storytelling. Similarly, other research corroborates that people intrinsically understand the world in a general narrative and temporal framework (Bruner 1986; Carr 1986; Frank 1995; Freeman 1998; MacIntyre 1981; Monk et al. 1997). Because humans are born into a storied world, they naturally learn to make sense of it through their own as well as others‘ narratives. This premise is the foundation of this dissertation. However, this research project is not just an academic endeavor---it represents a personal mission. I was ten years old when I began actively looking for answers in books because I was in emotional turmoil. Stories became my sympathetic and entertaining friends when I needed hope, comfort, and meaning. At the same time, I began the practice of journaling and wrote, even at that young age, from a place of questioning and angst. As I grew older, I continued to write as a form of problem-solving and self- reflection. Now, thirty-something years later, I still journal for my own enjoyment and well-being. Only later in my life did I discover ―autoethnography‖ and learn more about how writing practices might be transformative and therapeutic for both writers and 1 readers. As a result, for the focus of my doctoral work, I chose to study autoethnography as a movement as well as a therapeutic practice. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the autoethnographic approach in several distinct ways. First, I explore the proliferation of personal writing in North America in the last several decades, then discuss briefly autoethnography‘s history and the simultaneous advent of the therapeutic writing movement. The latter section includes