Understanding Autoethnography

Abstract

An autoethnography is a biographical narrative that the author believes to be true in all respects. It is based on the constructivist idea of experience-driven meanings. Like many constructivist undertakings, its interpretation is subjective where some elements may be hidden out of personal preference. This paper cogitates around the nuances of autoethngraphy as a form of self-inquiry. At its core, reflexivity and vulnerability in using the self as data magnify autoethnographic sketch as a deep and meaningful understanding of the author's experience. Because of the vulnerability an authorial voice can develop, autoethnography allows the flow of memory recollection to have an uninterrupted degree of fluidness. However, this depends on the author's willingness to purge deeper into memory recollection. In some cases, the process can be difficult to manage, hence, a vulnerable person can guard his thoughts and emotions to his own delight.Finally, philosophical assumptions of autoethngography constitute personal reality as an ontologoical dimension, constructivist and emergent knowledge as epistemology, and personal value as an axiological assumption in dwelling upon self-narratives.