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traceyo's review
4.0
It’s an interesting read, prompted by a reference to Annie Ernaux’s work as ethnographic. I wanted to understand it.
In this book, autoethnography is defined as “an autobiographical genre of writing and research that displays multiple layers of consciousness, connecting the personal to the cultural.” (p. 65) Honestly, I can’t see how that’s different from any good work of literature.
It seems as though, in trying to define (and defend) this particular form, they only demonstrate how difficult it is to distinguish one genre from any other. I kept seeing definitions that could just as easily apply to a number of creative nonfiction forms, as well as fiction and autofiction.
In this book, autoethnography is defined as “an autobiographical genre of writing and research that displays multiple layers of consciousness, connecting the personal to the cultural.” (p. 65) Honestly, I can’t see how that’s different from any good work of literature.
It seems as though, in trying to define (and defend) this particular form, they only demonstrate how difficult it is to distinguish one genre from any other. I kept seeing definitions that could just as easily apply to a number of creative nonfiction forms, as well as fiction and autofiction.
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