Autoethnography and the Other

Book excerpt: Challenging the critique of autoethnography as overly focused on the self, Tami Spry calls for a performative autoethnography that both unsettles the "I" and represents the Other with equal commitment. Expanding on her popular book Body, Paper, Stage, Spry uses a variety of examples, literary forms, and theoretical traditions to reframe this research method as transgressive, liberatory, and decolonizing for both self and Other. Her book draws on her own autoethnographic work with jazz musicians, shamans, and other groups; outlines a utopian performative methodology to spur hope and transformation; provides concrete guidance on how to implement this innovative methodological approach.