An Autoethnography: Constructing (& Interpreting) Cross - Cultural Awareness through the Mind of a Peace Corps Volunteer

Authors

Kenneth Carano, Western Oregon UniversityFollow

Abstract

In the form of an autoethnography, a returned Peace Corps volunteer examines how, when, and if, he was able to establish a significant level of cross - cultural awareness while living in Surname, South America for two years. Employing a process called emotional recall, the author analyzed two years worth of personal journals kept during his time in Suriname. The author writes about the explored interactions of his physical/temporal reality and “enacted” reality to provide examples of going through the first three levels and his fleeting attainment of the fourth level of cross - cultural awareness. Ultimately, one of the primary interpretations the author concludes from this examination is that power structures and personal perceptions have a great influence on cultural experiences and how those experiences are perceived to apply meaning.

Keywords

Cross - Cultural Awareness, Emotional Recall, Autoethnography

Publication Date

5-6-2013

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2013.1524

Recommended APA Citation

Carano, K. (2013). An Autoethnography: Constructing (& Interpreting) Cross - Cultural Awareness through the Mind of a Peace Corps Volunteer. The Qualitative Report, 18(18), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2013.1524