Autobiographical and researched experiences with academic writing : an analytical autoethnodrama

Abstract

This thesis identifies analytical autoethnography as a methodology that synthesises autobiography and social critique in order to resist, and also change, dominant authoritative discourse. The author has carried out twelve open-ended interviews with academics from a variety of subject areas at one university in order to elicit autobiographical experiences with academic writing and the so-called 'publish or perish culture'. Evidence from the author's autobiographical experiences and the interview data have been used to inform a short autoethnodrama set in a university on the south coast. This triangulation of research- autobiography-script seeks to maintain the balance between rigorous academic analysis and experiential autobiographical reflection via a creative and emotionally charged text. The autoethnodrama considers the 'impact' of the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) and current such exercises, and the possible and real effects of the pressure to 'publish or perish' on institutional culture and individual lives. Autoethnodrama is justified as a methodological approach because it seeks to resist positivist-informed 'master' narratives, instead offering a highly charged, creatively written text that explicitly links autobiographical experiences and the social/cultural group under study without claiming objectivity or denying a personal bias. The research proposes that autoethnography can encourage an enlightened reading of a text and empower readers with an enhanced process of meaning-making. A maj or finding of the research is that this is important and that autoethnography also offers the potential for making academic writing more democratic and inclusive. The research identifies staff development strategies that offer the potential for a less stressful academic writing process and democratic university environment including mentoring and other explicit institutional support. In addition the research identifies the process of producing this thesis as a means of further democratising the conventional academic writing process and progressing the case for a more inclusive and expansive approach to academic writing. The thesis proposes a more holistic and person-centred approach to academic writing and also to academic life.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo