Author: Bianca Beattie Wilmott

Norwegian would I like Murakami?: An Autoethnography

Reflection

Autoethnography is a research and writing method endeavouring to interpret and systematically analyse individual experience as a means to understand cultural encounters (Ellis 2004;Holman Jones 2005). To comprehend my experience of Murakami’sNorwegian Wood, a Japanese book translated into English, I underwent autoethnographic investigation of reading a physical copy.

After being ridiculed for not knowing who he was the first time someone mentioned him to me, the name “Murakami” carried a weight which took a long time to shake. However, hearing from friends that they enjoyed his novels gave me an incentive to investigate the buzz. After trying the audiobook of A Wild Sheep Chase, though leaving it unfinished, Murakami did not live up to the hype. So when embarking on this investigation of reading Norwegian Wood, I felt scepticism towards potential enjoyment.

For methodology, I created a Google doc where I…

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Live-tweeting autoethnography | Part 4: High Score Childhood

BIANCA BEATTIE BLOGS

Intro | 1: Love For Male? | 2: Hell hath no Furie| 3: Caked in ca$h | 4: High Score Childhood

The following paragraphs may contains spoilers for the television seriesHigh Score Girl(2010-2019).

A Japanese manga romantic comedy,High Score Girl(2010-2019) is a television series beginning in the 90s, revolving around a male gamer and how his relationship with a fellow female gamer develops over time. With an M-rated classification, the show is directed at an adult audience and does not fail in providing a wealth of content evoking childhood memories of gaming. While viewing this series, I felt a sense of sentimentality for the Japanese video games and anime that I consumed in my youth, with my tweets exploring how intertwined they both are in Western culture and consumption.

Throwback to my childhood playing fighting games and button bashing #HiScoreGirl #BCM320
— Biancé (@BiancaBeattie) August…

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Live-tweeting autoethnography | Part 3: Caked in ca$h

BIANCA BEATTIE BLOGS

Intro | 1: Love For Male? | 2: Hell hath no Furie | 3: Caked in ca$h |4: High Score Childhood

The following paragraphs may contains spoilers for the film Cake (2018).

Caked in cash

Cake(2018) is a Pakistani comedy-drama film centred around a family and the dynamics of one adult child caring for ill elderly parents, while her other two siblings live their lives in foreign counties. While watching this film, my tweets revealed a fascination with the commodity and fetishisation of the designer handbag, stemming from a love for popular culture and a personal relationship with the handbag in its simplest form.

Holy shit, I think that's a birkin. Girl makes BIG money. #Cake #BCM320
— Biancé (@BiancaBeattie) August 18, 2020

Assuming thatCake(2018) was about a middle-class family due to the socioeconomic status of the previous films character’s screened earlier in this autoethnography, the…

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Live-tweeting autoethnography | Part 2: Hell hath no Furie

BIANCA BEATTIE BLOGS

Introduction blog | Part 1: Love For Male?

The following paragraphs may contains spoilers for the filmFurie(2019).

Hell hath no Furie

Furie(2019) is a Vietnamese martial arts movie about a kidnapped girl’s mother stopping at nothing to find and save her.Having been to Vietnam, the film served as a reminder of both my time there and what I learned. Additionally, my live-tweeting indicates a very obvious liking to the film’s strong feminist messages.

Hell hath no fury like a mother chasing after her kidnapped child #Furie #BCM320
— Biancé (@BiancaBeattie) August 12, 2020

Vietnam was the last place I traveled to internationally and I had the privilege of going with my Vietnamese friend who spoke the language #Furie #BCM320
— Biancé (@BiancaBeattie) August 11, 2020

When travelling through Vietnam in a group of seven friends, we were continually learning about Vietnamese culture and history, not just from…

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Live-tweeting autoethnography | Part 1 | Love For Male?

BIANCA BEATTIE BLOGS

Introduction blog

The following paragraphs may contains spoilers of the film Love For Sale (2018).

Love For Male?

Love For Sale(2018) is an Indonesian romance film about a man trying so desperately not to lose a bet that he hires a girlfriend through a “dating service” (is it dating if you are paying?) to accompany him to a wedding only to realise her services last 45 days. In recognition of the ways individual experience impacts research (Ellis et al. 2011), my live-tweets reflect a personal struggle with the films gender power dynamics due to a confliction with my feminist framework.

The below tweet highlights that being unable to understand the spoken language of the film was the first significant recognition that the film is from a community differing from mine.