Autoethnography, Storytelling, and Life as Lived: A Conversation Between Marcin Kafar and Carolyn Ellis

Abstract

This conversation takes place in Warsaw. Carolyn Ellis has come to Poland to accompany Jerry Rawicki, a Warsaw Ghetto survivor, on his first trip back to Poland since the Holocaust. There she arranged to meet Marcin Kafar, a scholar in Poland who has spent time with her at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida. During this visit, Marcin assists Carolyn with video recording Jerry’s experiences as they visit Holocaust sites, and Jerry remembers and reflects on his experience. Afterwards, Marcin converses with Carolyn about autoethnography, storytelling, and the importance of life in the context of searching for ethos by academics.

Will interfaces take over the physical workplace in higher education? A pessimistic view of the future

“…The process makes it possible to simultaneously follow one’s individual experience, thoughts, ideas, mental images and emotions as they occur. Taking the whole person as a unit of analysis, the autobiography method suggests that the personal and professional (Kafar and Ellis, 2014) shall not be split, thus implies that the experience of an individual informs the public about generalisable patterns. Ellis (in Kafar and Ellis, 2014) suggests that the personal may or may not be private, depending on the situation and context.…”

“…Taking the whole person as a unit of analysis, the autobiography method suggests that the personal and professional (Kafar and Ellis, 2014) shall not be split, thus implies that the experience of an individual informs the public about generalisable patterns. Ellis (in Kafar and Ellis, 2014) suggests that the personal may or may not be private, depending on the situation and context. The problem about the separation of the private and public has become even more eloquent under the digital shift in education triggered by the unexpected shutdown.…”

Learning How to Drive: Rites of Passage in Being and Becoming (A Collaborative Autoethnography Not Just About Driving)

“…But the process of remembering can be insightful to what drives us as we are reminded to engage autoethnography, storytelling and life, as lived. 21 My brother (from another mother, Kenny) 22 delivers a reflection that is literally and figuratively at the heart of this project. In his humble apology, he makes a supreme contribution that evidences the power of autoethnographic reflection, and how writing can touch in this intimate scholarly collaboration.…”

The Palgrave Handbook of Auto/Biography

“…This is reinforced by Thomson (2016, non-paginated) who reminds us, 'Data is created when you actually sit down, back in the office, away from the everyday busyness of field work, to work out what you have that will actually help you answer your research question(s) (…) In a very real sense, the researcher creates the data'. It is important to consider the ethics of this, to respect the privacy, confidentiality and safety (emotional as well as physical) of participants and researcher (Kafar and Ellis, 2014).When we are using methods such as auto/biography and auto/biographical ethnography, boundaries can become more blurred, indeed may even transcend the constraints of more traditional methodologies. This needs to be accounted for within the overall design of the study, by being explicit about axiology, as well as epistemological and ontological perspectives.…”

“…Formally this time is recognised as the four years of registered doctoral study; however, my reflexivity has made the most of the 45 years preceding this, taking a blended approach to life/work, as advocated by Ellis (2004Ellis ( /2014.…”