Research?

It feels like today is a good day to write.  

I read a very interesting article for my methods class yesterday.  It introduces the model of autoethnography.  In many ways, the term is not really definable.  At its core lies the idea that the researcher themselves is able to offer learning and insight through exploring their own experiences.  Through analyzing their emotions, memories, feeling, and thoughts on an experience, they can offer understanding to one experience as part of a greater whole.  Autoethnographies can take the form of poetry, monologues, plays, or personal narrative to name a few forms.  I was extremely excited and engaged by this article.  To think that telling ones story is viewed by a small number of academics to be a truly valid and important way of doing research totally shakes my world.  I was also drawn to the therapeutic aspect of autoethnography.  The scholar presenting her argument made no attempt to rationalize or justify the secondary benefit to sorting out ones emotions through autoethnography.  She instead celebrated it.  I think this idea especially spoke to me because of how passionately I feel about my research topic.  Many of the more traditional social science research methods seem to curb that passion, or moderate it in order to produce the 'distanced and objective researcher'.  

While reading this article, I immediately began to think about my experiences living in Malawi.  I have been struggling for the past year trying to figure out how to best capture all of my thoughts and memories about this altering period in my life.  I have wanted to write, but have not been sure how.  The idea of writing articles for a newspaper or magazine does not appeal to me.  I do not write poetry or music.  I have wanted to write, but I want my writing to have a purpose.  Autoethnography appeals to me.  I think that the material gathered from living and working in Malawi would be very well suited to this method of research.  Not only is the experience deeply emotional, personally challenging, and I believe, an engaging story.  But I also feel that my experiences are deeply rooted in a sociocultural political context.  Many of the overriding lessons and conclusions that I have drawn from my experiences are related to development and colonial theory, the discourse of intercultural communication, and the place of a white woman working in development.  I would love for any writing I produce to help me further uncover these themes in my experiences.  

Perhaps there will be a point to this past year after all.  A synthesis of sorts.