Taboo 18:1 - Full Issue

Abstract

Introduction to the Special Issue Breaking the Silence: Telling Our Stories as an Act of Resistance Guided by autoethnography, which is rooted in ethnographic research, this special issue of Taboo is a space for women of color who are immersed in the academy to share critical stories. Autoethnography is "an approach to research and writing that seeks to describe and systematically analyze (graphy) personal experiences (auto) in order to understand cultural experiences (ethno)" (Ellis, 2004; Jones, 2005). In fact, "stemming from the field of anthropology, autoethnography shares the storytelling feature with other genres of self-narrative but transcends mere narration of self to engage in cultural analysis and interpretation" (Chang, 2008, p. 43). In this approach the "self " is the I, the informant is your surroundings, and the crux of the work is your response to how you fit into all of it. Very similar to an autoethnography, a critical autobiography is a thoughtful analysis of one's life experiences to construct meaning of self in relation to others in society. Autobiographical writing can focus on an entire life or specific actions or events to deconstruct a particular outcome. This self-reflexive process examines issues that inform us about who we are individually and collectively. However, introspection is not only critical to the person who is self-reflecting but also to the readers who may otherwise create their own narrative about the persons they are reading about. Thus, the act of using one's voice to tell her truth is a radical, symbiotic part