Anthropologists are more familiar in studying the 'other cultures'.What would happen if they look at their own milieu? Is it possible at all? In other words, is auto ethnography a feasible project? If so, why there are not much attempts at that?In the attached paper I have tried to do it. But is it a viable project? Can we incorporate these kind of attempts in our university and college curricula?
Article Growing up at Vidyasagar University
Given that dozens of anthropologists have developed autoethnography as a research method since the 1980s I sure hope it is feasible and possible. There are even textbooks describing the method, so incorporating it in curricula shouldn't be too hard either. Your article looks quite interesting. One thing to consider is what would be the difference between an autobiography and an autoethnography both in terms of subject matter, method and representational strategies. How did you deal with that question?
Here are a couple of good book references:
Chang, Heewon. (2008). Autoethnography as method. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.
Reed-Danahay, D. (1997). Auto/Ethnography: Rewriting the self and the social. Oxford: Berg.
Many thanks Hansen for reading my paper and your suggestions and also the books.I will try to collect them. In fact, I also thought of the distinctions between autoethnography and autobiography.While writing the paper, I never thought of writing my autobiography, it was just a snapshot of my teaching career and very much focused too. I tried to take the snaps in the broader political context of then then West Bengal state and I did not attempt to create fictional situations and characters, which are often done in autobiographies.I think now, after your intervention that in autobiographies the author has the freedom to introduce fictional plots, as had been done by Roma Rolland in his Jean Christof but Gandhi's autobiography did not use that strategy.There may be opposite kind of examples.I am now also thinking of combining the method of first person narrative into autoethnography.By the way have seen my another paper on FPN uoploaded in Research Gate on corruption in my university? I attach it for your reading.
Thank you very much for your comments.
Best,
Abhijit Guha.
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