As Anderson (2006) points out, it is easy for the reflexive autoethnographer to become self-absorbed in the pursuit of cultural understanding through the lens of personal experience. The prime purpose of all forms of ethnography is to cultivate understanding of complex social worlds, and as an autoethnographer playing participant-observer in an area of study, such as myself, it can be easy to lose sight of the fact that they are but a part of these cultures (Atkinson et al 1999). Through a number of examples, Anderson (2006) makes it clear that analytic autoethnography is grounded in self-experience but must also reach beyond it in order to truly expand social knowledge and so as not to obscure diverse constituents of a community.
With this in mind, I’ve created a questionnaire that I will distribute amongst my peers in the drifting community in order to highlight possible gaps in my research or differing experiences with the Initial D franchise than my own. I’ve intentionally excluded the above academic justification of my practices for the purpose of accessibility, but am aware of the fact that my introduction to the questionnaire may still deter some participants, particularly those from the Japanese drifting community who do not speak English as a first language. The success of this exercise is yet to be seen, but I believe the attempt to expand my research has still been valuable, and I encourage any of you who’ve had encounters with the Initial D franchise to participate.
References:
Anderson, L 2006, ‘Analytic Autoethnography’, Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, vol.30, no.5, pp.373-395, accessed 17/9/2014, <http://jce.sagepub.com/content/35/4/373>
Atkinson, P, Coffey, A & Delamont, S 1999, ‘Ethongraphy, Post, Past and Present’, Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, vol.28, no.5, pp.460-471, accessed 25/9/2014, <http://jce.sagepub.com/content/28/5/460>
Atkinson 2006, ‘Rescuing Autoethnography’, Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, vol.35, no.4, pp.400-404, accessed 25/9/2014, <http://jce.sagepub.com/content/35/4/400.full.pdf>
As my research predominantly pursues personally reflexive authoethnography, I have been focusing solely on my own experiences with, and reactions to, the Initial D franchise. I have come to the realisation that the participant-observer perspective enabled by my personal participation in the drifting community whilst interesting, is not particularly unique, and could definitely be diversified by the input of other like-minded individuals. I may be able to articulate what I believe to be a representative analysis through my own experience, but the validity of such experience could be valuably verified and corroborated by YOUR contribution, valued reader.
To this end, I have composed a questionnaire that attempts to make accessible areas of my research through which you may offer your own autoethnographic analysis, hyperlinked where possible to pertinent posts that offer my analysis of the matter. This sounds much more formal than I intend it to be, as…
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