Who am I? Compositions of the self: An autoethnographic, rhizotextual analysis of two poetic texts

Abstract

This article employs an autoethnographic, rhizotextual approach to analyse the compositional processes involved in the construction of two poems by the same author. What the analysis reveals is not only the internal thinking of the author in the process of composition but how the socio-cultural standpoint of the author is implicated in the texts. It is posited that, in addition to the author's own lived experience informing composition, rhizotextual analysis enables us to extend beyond the self to interrogate the 'secondary worlds' of others and to form an empathic relationship to the 'Other'. The findings of this article have implications for teachers' knowledge of the socio-cultural contexts of written composition. An authoethnographic, rhizotextual approach allows personal insights into the self, both as a writer and a person. This approach has implications for classroom practice, particularly for writing around issues of identity located in social class, gender, 'race', disability and sexual orientation, as well as the growing body of work on the teacher as a writer.

Writing and writer identity: the poor relation and the search for voice in ‘personal literacy’

“…Ivanic (, 223) provides a multifaceted perspective, combining text, cognition, a writing event, the socio‐cultural and political context, available socio‐cultural resources and views of the world and social structures. In addressing views of the world, socio‐cultural and political contexts, Gardner () applies rhizotextual auto‐ethnographic analysis of his own writer identity, as a poet, to explain how socio‐cultural positioning provides semiotic layers with which the writer improvises during the creative process. In this perspective, the writer, and indeed every individual living in complex society, occupies multiple subject positions by virtue of social classifications of gender, age, social class, ethnicity, sexual orientation and so on.…”

“…Membership of these various social groups provides access to multiple views of the world, from the different standpoint of each group, influenced by socio‐cultural, historic and political experiences specific to the group. Hence, the writer does not possess a singular identity but plural identities, situated in plural narratives that coalesce to create social identity, defined as consciousness of one's social position in relation to others (Gardner, , 12). It is a consciousness that is continually changing as social narratives complement or compete with one another (Gardner, ).…”

“…It is a consciousness that is continually changing as social narratives complement or compete with one another (Gardner, ). Elsewhere, I identify three influential narratives that inform identity: primary narratives, inherited narratives and secondary narratives (Gardner, ). Primary narratives refer to personal experiences that form one's past and present self; inherited narratives are those passed down by parents, past generations and community, which give oneself a sense of being part of a collective identity; and secondary narratives are the stories of others with whom we form ‘empathic connections’ by virtue of having quasi‐parallel narratives that converge at critical points (Gardner, ).…”