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Academic Autoethnographies pp 163–174Cite as

Subject to Interpretation

Autoethnography and the Ethics of Writing about the Embodied Self

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Abstract

Autoethnography taught me a great deal about my embodied experience of chronic kidney disease, research as an embodied act, and my stance as a researcher. As a methodology, it has long proven useful for a variety of research fields, not the least education (Hayler, 2011; Sparkes, 1996; Starr, 2010). In South Africa, autoethnography has been used to interpret experiences in the changing landscape of higher education (Grossi, 2006; Harrison, 2009) because it offers researchers a number of possibilities concerning identity and transformation work, including problematising traditional categorisations and old hierarchies.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Language Centre, Stellenbosch University, South Africa

    Rose Richards

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  1. Rose Richards
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

    Daisy Pillay

  2. University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

    Inbanathan Naicker

  3. University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

    Kathleen Pithouse-Morgan

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© 2016 Sense Publishers

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Richards, R. (2016). Subject to Interpretation. In: Pillay, D., Naicker, I., Pithouse-Morgan, K. (eds) Academic Autoethnographies. SensePublishers, Rotterdam. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6300-399-5_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6300-399-5_11

  • Publisher Name: SensePublishers, Rotterdam

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-6300-399-5

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

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