Autoethnographic research analyses cultural realisations through processing a particular cultural identity (Adams, Ellis & Bochner, 2011).
In my DA for 241, I am producing an essay series reflecting on spoken word performances from the most popular forum for my niche – YouTube. I will be investigating through autoethnography, autobiographical and qualitative research, the effects that this art medium has on it’s communities, fans and myself. The 5-6 essays (500-800 words each) on the poetry I watch, will be published on my blog (in weeks 5,7,9,10 and 12) with strong social media promotion across different platforms. Currently, I plan to research by using participant observation, transcription, interpretation, and constructional analysis. In developing persona, we understand the performativity of it as something that is constructed and negotiated, as oppose to something that is inherited or innate.
Goffman notes, the self in a social situation and persona is shaped by prior knowledge, and is continually reassembled and performed (Goffman, 1959). Therefore, through distinct efforts, strategies and methods, I will put relevant elements of my poetry background forward.
Furthermore, a dedicated continuity in individual essay aesthetic allows the audience to anticipate my behaviour, better understanding and interpreting my persona.
I am asking the questions:
- What emotions and realisations do these performances cause for me?
- What can these poems teach us about society?
- Why is the poem an important story?
- How can this poem help someone?
Relevant ethical issues to consider are all factors in my qualitative research that could impede on the participants’ wellbeing, including my own. I need to ensure that the content of the poems and resulting analysis is safe for all to consume. This means pursuing a controlled series of poetry performances, excluding potentially harmful material, e.g content of suicide, sexual assault, and other adverse mental health triggers. I must also be aware of personal experience and how that shapes research.
I can’t wait to start sharing the important spoken word stories I believe in.
References:
Anderson, L., 2006. Analytic Autoethnography. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 35(4), pp.373-395.
Burrell, Jenna (2009) ‘The Field Site as a Network: A Strategy for Locating Ethnographic Research’, Field Methods, 21:2, 181–199. [Accessed 17 August 2021].
Ellis, C., Bochner, A. and Adams, T., 2011. View of Autoethnography: An Overview | Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research. [online] Qualitative-research.net. Available at: <https://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/1589/3095>.-research.net.
Goffman, E., 1959. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. 2nd ed. [ebook] Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh. Available at: <https://monoskop.org/images/1/19/Goffman_Erving_The_Presentation_of_Self_in_Everyday_Life.pdf>.
Johnson, J., 2013. Button Poetry: Javon Johnson – cuz he’s black. Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Wf8y_5Yn4>.
Khan, S., 2020. Erving Goffman, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1959). Public Culture, 32(2), pp.397-404.
Miller, D., 2020. How to conduct an ethnography during social isolation. Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSiTrYB-0so> [Accessed 19 August 2021].
Moore, C., 2021. Conceptualising Persona, Lecture Recording. Media Ethnographies, BCM 241, University of Wollongong, (July 7, 2021).
Williams, R., 2020. “God” – Rachael Williams. Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJwUB4ie9wM&t=1s> [Accessed 19 August 2021].
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