I Don’t Know how to Talk about These Wor(l)ds, but I Do Walk, I Shoot, and I Write: Autoethnographic Written and Visual Cures for a Fragmented Identity

Authors

Ursula-Helen Kassaveti, Aristotle University of ThessalonikiFollow

Abstract

In this article, I examine how my unprogrammatized and spontaneous informal fieldwork in Athens, undertaken in a rather unconsciously autoethnographic vein, has helped me while on the process of investigating my personal identity. My temporary change of academic direction and my delving into the ocean of fieldwork have shaped and answered my endless quest for important answers about a researcher’s own self. Through the use of written text, photography and other visual indexes, “thin” and “thick” description, I argue that autoethnography as a method could be a healing process, providing therapy for a researcher’s “fragmented” heart and identity.

Keywords

Autoethnography, Identity, Therapy, Tumblr, Photography, Visual

Author Bio(s)

Ursula-Helen Kassaveti was born in Athens. An alumnus of Athens School of Philosophy, she holds a MA in Cultural Studies (Department of Communication and Media Studies, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens) and a MA in History, Folklore & Culture (Department of Primary Education, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens). Her Ph.D. Thesis revolved around the 1980s video culture in Greece and was submitted to the Department of Communication and Media Studies (National & Kapodistrian University of Athens). Her research interests include Visual Culture, Popular Film & Video, Visual Ethnography, and Visual Folklore. She is an adjunct tutor at the Department of Journalism & Media Studies of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and a tutor at the Hellenic Open University (School of Social Sciences). Moreover, she is a novelist, having published a short novel and a collection of short stories in Greek. Correspondence can be addressed directly to: ursulacassavetes@gmail.com.

Acknowledgements

To Rea Kakampoura, Associate Professor of Folkloristics (UOA), who believed in my folkloric intuition. A big and endless “thank you”. To the most vulnerable part of Kifissos, still the most loving one – on the other side of the engulfed river. For keeps, I say. I would also like to sincerely thank the reviewers of The Qualitative Report for their useful remarks and comments, as well as Giannis Roussos for his map.

Publication Date

12-29-2019

Creative Commons License

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

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2019.3992

Recommended APA Citation

Kassaveti, U. (2019). I Don’t Know how to Talk about These Wor(l)ds, but I Do Walk, I Shoot, and I Write: Autoethnographic Written and Visual Cures for a Fragmented Identity. The Qualitative Report, 24(12), 3269-3288. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2019.3992