Epilogue: Autoethnography as a warm idea

ABSTRACT

Autoethnography began as a humble, adventurous attempt to break away from numbing and alienating writing practices by blurring boundaries between humanities and social sciences. Our goal was to create and legitimate a space for evocative depictions of lived experience bereft of excessive technical language. We conceived autoethnography as a narrative moral practice focused on decisive existential experiences of real people engaging in the art of living, seizing on love and joy, and struggling to cope with what life throws at them. In pursuit of a more human science, we encouraged and sanctioned forms of representing lived experiences that enable readers and audiences to bring their own mindful attention to other people’s experiences of love, grief, joy, injustice, forgiveness, and deep pain. In retrospect, we consider our autoethnographic project as a warm idea that gave meaning to our lives and the lives of people touched by our work. We are hopeful that narrative practices of autoethnography can continue to help people across the globe appreciate and cope with deep-rooted problems of poverty, inequality, climate change, homophobia, and racism demanding our attention today in the wake of COVID-19 and the murder of George Floyd. © 2021 selection and editorial matter, Tony E. Adams, Robin M. Boylorn, and Lisa M. Tillmann;individual chapters, the contributors.