ABSTRACT
Carolyn Ellis is the leading writer in the move toward personal, autobiographical writing as a strategy for academic research. In addition to her landmark books Final Negotiations and The Ethnographic I, she has authored numerous stories that demonstrate the emotional power and academic value of autoethnography. This volume collects a dozen of Ellis’s stories—about the loss of her husband, brother and mother; of growing up in small town Virginia; about the work of the ethnographer; about emotionally charged life issues such as abortion, caregiving, and love. Atop these captivating stories, she adds the component of meta-autoethography—a layering of new interpretations, reflections, and vignettes to her older work. An important new work for qualitative researchers and a student-friendly text for courses.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part One|62 pages
Growing Up in a Rural Community, Getting and Education, and Finding My Place in Community Ethnography
chapter One|14 pages
Goin' to the Store, Sittin' on the Street, and Runnin' the Roads
part Two|40 pages
Becoming an Autoethnographer
part Three|106 pages
Surviving and Communicating Family Loss
part Four|73 pages
Doing Autoethnography as a Social Project
part Five|54 pages
Reconsidering Writing Practices, Relational Ethics, and Rural Communities