Examining (my)self: An autoethnographic exploration of cultural identity negotiation

Abstract

This thesis is an autoethnographic exploration of my dialectic cultural identity negotiation. Utilizing autoethnographic inquiry through the use of autoethnographic episodic narratives and Martin and Nakayama’s (2004) notion of cultural dialectics, I explore the contradictions that occur between the identities of critical scholar, Christian, and heterosexual white male. This study serves to build upon autoethnographic and cultural identity scholarship, specifically scholarship that interrogates the social, cultural, and political systems of power such that of white heteronormative privilege. I carry out this examination by evocatively sharing my experiences with the hope that readers will be able to know themselves in a deeper manner, as interrogating yourself in this manner is the first step toward true social change (McIntosh, 1988).