I have been humming and hawing which kind of voice and framing to use for my book project. Just using autobiographical elements without a critical, reflective framing and inclusion of other voices seemed inappropriate.
A couple of years ago I had the pleasure to attend a webinar by Liana Beattie in which she introduced her methodology of symbiotic autoethnography, and I have decided to use this conceptualisation for the book.
Symbiotic autoethnography is is characterized by seven elements: autoethnographic temporality, researchers’ omnipresence, evocative storytelling, interpretative analysis, political (transformative) focus, reflexivity, polyvocality (Beattie, 2022). Pertinent for my ethics application was the polyvocality: as it involves multiple voices: from within the person of the auto-ethnographer, to external resources such as interviews, literature, online resources.
Additionally, this methodology requires a “discerning” of data rather than a collection of data (Beattie, 2022) which matches the aim for my book by requiring to use: “creative techniques of recognizing relevant and potentially valuable fragments of experiences within the complex fabric of the researcher’s life journey that could contribute to a better understanding of the cultural phenomenon under study.” (Beattie, 2022, p.556, RNIB accessible version)
This caused me all kinds of havoc, and a considered amount of overthinking, during my ethics application process. Because the methodology is challenging to capture through “linear methodological structures and conventions” (Beattie, 2022, p.555, RNIB accessible version). But exactly the framing I need to capture the nuances and complexities of my project.
So here is to a multi-layered–dare I say rhizomic–adventure!
If you are curious about more. This is a webinar by the author.
And of course the book reference:
Beattie, L. (2022). Symbiotic Autoethnography Moving Beyond the Boundaries of Qualitative Methodologies. Bloomsbury Publishing. https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/symbiotic-autoethnography-9781350201385/
And a huge shout out and thank you to https://www.rnibbookshare.org/
Nathalie Tasler, PhD, SFHEA, MPhil, PGDip CCM, PGCert LTHE 