Liberation, Mice Elves and Navel Gazing: Examining the Ins and Outs of Autoethnography

“I want to thank you, falettinme, be mice elf, agin” (sic 1 )an old P-funk song 2 croons in my head as I start to write about autoethnography. Autoethnography – writing about “personal experience for the purpose of extending sociological understanding” (Wall 2006, p. 38) – is a scholarly version of ‘being mice elf (myself) again.’ It is also trusting that myselfhas something of value to say, and allowing the space for mice elves (the truths and distortions of my story) to resonate with others. I have found that autoethnography can open up for analysis a unique vantage point, one that is deeply valuable as a research and teaching tool. Yet I also believe that it is important to approach the reading and writing of autoethnography with a critical eye that acknowledges broader cultural contexts. I write this in the United States, in the second decade of the twenty-first century, at a time when TV reality shows, twitter feeds, blogs and selfies, have invaded public discourse and saturated the cultural landscape.