Autoethnography addresses the need and desire to make the human sciences more human by writing in... more Autoethnography addresses the need and desire to make the human sciences more human by writing in ways that are more poignant, touching, vulnerable, and heartfelt. Since social work is a field not only of facts but also of meanings and values, researchers should not be obliged to cling to a narrow range of methodologies and writing genres that may be scientifically acceptable but poorly suited to the broad objectives of the field. Concerned more with evocation than information, autoethnography enables researchers and practitioners to address what it feels like, and what it can mean, to be alive and living in a chaotic and uncertain world, and to show others how they might endure it and move forward. As we developed evocative autoethnography, we not only questioned the boundaries between social sciences and humanities, we tried to stretch and cross them in ways that would create new practitioners and new genres for representing lived experience appealing to the hearts and senses of r...
International Review of Qualitative Research, 2017
This mini-manifesto synthesizes premises and foundational principles of an autoethnographic consc... more This mini-manifesto synthesizes premises and foundational principles of an autoethnographic consciousness. Depicting autoethnography as a genre of doubt, I focus on autoethnography's ethical design, its gifts and afflictions, and the ways in which autoethnography troubles and transgresses the boundaries separating scientific and literary modes of truth telling. By encouraging modes of intimate, personal, caring, and self-reflexive expression, autoethnography raises important questions about the meanings and uses of memory, storytelling, truth, and reality. Autoethnography is not a discourse of order, stability, control, and destiny but one of ambiguity, contradiction, contingency, and chance that allows scholars to maintain an emotional and personal connection to their research.
La autoetnografia es un enfoque de investigacion y escritura que busca describir y analizar siste... more La autoetnografia es un enfoque de investigacion y escritura que busca describir y analizar sistematicamente la experiencia personal con el fin de comprender la experiencia cultural. Esta aproximacion desafia las formas canonicas de hacer investigacion y de representar a los otros, a la vez que considera a la investigacion como un acto politico, socialmente justo y socialmente consciente. Para hacer y escribir autoetnografia, el investigador aplica los principios de la autobiografia y de la etnografia. Asi, como metodo, la autoetnografia es, a la vez, proceso y producto.
Abstract: Autoethnography is an approach to research and writing that seeks to describe and syste... more Abstract: Autoethnography is an approach to research and writing that seeks to describe and systematically analyze personal experience in order to understand cultural experience. This approach challenges canonical ways of doing research and representing others and treats research as a political, socially-just and socially-conscious act. A researcher uses tenets of autobiography and ethnography to do and write autoethnography. Thus, as a method, autoethnography is both process and product.
In the process of writing my academic memoirs spanning a period of more than thirty-five years, I... more In the process of writing my academic memoirs spanning a period of more than thirty-five years, I discovered how crucial the work of Gregory Bateson had been to my life as a teacher, a scholar, and a relational partner. In this paper I celebrate Bateson's charming and incisive ideas about how communication works, his deep reservations about the worship of quantification, and his astute analysis of what is at stake when we make epistemological errors in everyday life. Reviewing a turning point in my academic life—a conference held in 1979, I reaffirm the importance of warm ideas and provide a story that illustrates the potentially monstrous consequences of epistemological error.
On January 25th, 2019, The University of South Florida sponsored an event to honor the legacy of ... more On January 25th, 2019, The University of South Florida sponsored an event to honor the legacy of Carolyn Ellis and Arthur Bochner as they retire after more than 85 years (combined) teaching. In this paper, research collaborators, students, and friends present their testimonials commemorating their shared lives with Professors Ellis and Bochner. A collection of short stories reveals “official” and “non-official” (in some cases very personal) experiences as they were lived through, inviting readers to see how academic intergenerational relationships might develop as contextually situated and morally important.
In this article, we trace the rise of autoethnography from its modest beginning as a form of indi... more In this article, we trace the rise of autoethnography from its modest beginning as a form of indigenous ethnography through its inception as a mode of resistance to conventional ethnographic writing practices and silent authorship to its introduction as a narrative identity and covering term. Autoethnography has become a genus for many diverse species of first-person, vulnerable writing that calls attention to subjectivity, emotionality, and contingency and brings readers into “feeling” contact with the suffering of others. We emphasize the importance of the community spirit fostered by the first decade of the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, which embraced, promoted, and gave special attention to autoethnographic writing and performance, thereby strengthening the standing of autoethnography in the human sciences. The Congress provides a model of solidarity and a sense of shared values and purposes emblematic of meaningful communities.
This panel, which took place at International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry in May 2016, examin... more This panel, which took place at International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry in May 2016, examines the experiences of five scholars who have retired from university life and the responses to the panel by two scholars anticipating that transition. Panelists discuss how and when they decided to retire; the role of the university, department, and profession in their post-university lives; and the kinds of activities and connections that sustain their identities and give their lives meaning. Their experiences suggest admiration for and a subtle critique of university life. Their words of wisdom offer support to those anticipating retirement in planning their transition from university life and considering what that life could and might be like.
Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung Forum Qualitative Social Research, Jun 30, 2000
as nineteen different disciplines), attended the symposium. Obviously, SSSI 1 has become both mul... more as nineteen different disciplines), attended the symposium. Obviously, SSSI 1 has become both multidisciplinary and international in scope. It also reflects what Mary and Ken GERGEN called "the qualitative revolution" in the social sciences.
Autoethnography addresses the need and desire to make the human sciences more human by writing in... more Autoethnography addresses the need and desire to make the human sciences more human by writing in ways that are more poignant, touching, vulnerable, and heartfelt. Since social work is a field not only of facts but also of meanings and values, researchers should not be obliged to cling to a narrow range of methodologies and writing genres that may be scientifically acceptable but poorly suited to the broad objectives of the field. Concerned more with evocation than information, autoethnography enables researchers and practitioners to address what it feels like, and what it can mean, to be alive and living in a chaotic and uncertain world, and to show others how they might endure it and move forward. As we developed evocative autoethnography, we not only questioned the boundaries between social sciences and humanities, we tried to stretch and cross them in ways that would create new practitioners and new genres for representing lived experience appealing to the hearts and senses of r...
International Review of Qualitative Research, 2017
This mini-manifesto synthesizes premises and foundational principles of an autoethnographic consc... more This mini-manifesto synthesizes premises and foundational principles of an autoethnographic consciousness. Depicting autoethnography as a genre of doubt, I focus on autoethnography's ethical design, its gifts and afflictions, and the ways in which autoethnography troubles and transgresses the boundaries separating scientific and literary modes of truth telling. By encouraging modes of intimate, personal, caring, and self-reflexive expression, autoethnography raises important questions about the meanings and uses of memory, storytelling, truth, and reality. Autoethnography is not a discourse of order, stability, control, and destiny but one of ambiguity, contradiction, contingency, and chance that allows scholars to maintain an emotional and personal connection to their research.
La autoetnografia es un enfoque de investigacion y escritura que busca describir y analizar siste... more La autoetnografia es un enfoque de investigacion y escritura que busca describir y analizar sistematicamente la experiencia personal con el fin de comprender la experiencia cultural. Esta aproximacion desafia las formas canonicas de hacer investigacion y de representar a los otros, a la vez que considera a la investigacion como un acto politico, socialmente justo y socialmente consciente. Para hacer y escribir autoetnografia, el investigador aplica los principios de la autobiografia y de la etnografia. Asi, como metodo, la autoetnografia es, a la vez, proceso y producto.
Abstract: Autoethnography is an approach to research and writing that seeks to describe and syste... more Abstract: Autoethnography is an approach to research and writing that seeks to describe and systematically analyze personal experience in order to understand cultural experience. This approach challenges canonical ways of doing research and representing others and treats research as a political, socially-just and socially-conscious act. A researcher uses tenets of autobiography and ethnography to do and write autoethnography. Thus, as a method, autoethnography is both process and product.
In the process of writing my academic memoirs spanning a period of more than thirty-five years, I... more In the process of writing my academic memoirs spanning a period of more than thirty-five years, I discovered how crucial the work of Gregory Bateson had been to my life as a teacher, a scholar, and a relational partner. In this paper I celebrate Bateson's charming and incisive ideas about how communication works, his deep reservations about the worship of quantification, and his astute analysis of what is at stake when we make epistemological errors in everyday life. Reviewing a turning point in my academic life—a conference held in 1979, I reaffirm the importance of warm ideas and provide a story that illustrates the potentially monstrous consequences of epistemological error.
On January 25th, 2019, The University of South Florida sponsored an event to honor the legacy of ... more On January 25th, 2019, The University of South Florida sponsored an event to honor the legacy of Carolyn Ellis and Arthur Bochner as they retire after more than 85 years (combined) teaching. In this paper, research collaborators, students, and friends present their testimonials commemorating their shared lives with Professors Ellis and Bochner. A collection of short stories reveals “official” and “non-official” (in some cases very personal) experiences as they were lived through, inviting readers to see how academic intergenerational relationships might develop as contextually situated and morally important.
In this article, we trace the rise of autoethnography from its modest beginning as a form of indi... more In this article, we trace the rise of autoethnography from its modest beginning as a form of indigenous ethnography through its inception as a mode of resistance to conventional ethnographic writing practices and silent authorship to its introduction as a narrative identity and covering term. Autoethnography has become a genus for many diverse species of first-person, vulnerable writing that calls attention to subjectivity, emotionality, and contingency and brings readers into “feeling” contact with the suffering of others. We emphasize the importance of the community spirit fostered by the first decade of the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, which embraced, promoted, and gave special attention to autoethnographic writing and performance, thereby strengthening the standing of autoethnography in the human sciences. The Congress provides a model of solidarity and a sense of shared values and purposes emblematic of meaningful communities.
This panel, which took place at International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry in May 2016, examin... more This panel, which took place at International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry in May 2016, examines the experiences of five scholars who have retired from university life and the responses to the panel by two scholars anticipating that transition. Panelists discuss how and when they decided to retire; the role of the university, department, and profession in their post-university lives; and the kinds of activities and connections that sustain their identities and give their lives meaning. Their experiences suggest admiration for and a subtle critique of university life. Their words of wisdom offer support to those anticipating retirement in planning their transition from university life and considering what that life could and might be like.
Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung Forum Qualitative Social Research, Jun 30, 2000
as nineteen different disciplines), attended the symposium. Obviously, SSSI 1 has become both mul... more as nineteen different disciplines), attended the symposium. Obviously, SSSI 1 has become both multidisciplinary and international in scope. It also reflects what Mary and Ken GERGEN called "the qualitative revolution" in the social sciences.
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Papers by Arthur Bochner