Critical Autoethnography: Intersecting Cultural Identities in Everyday Life (Writing Lives: Ethnographic Narratives)

Critical Autoethnography: Intersecting Cultural Identities in Everyday Life, Second Edition, examines the development of the field of critical autoethnography through the lens of social identity. Contributors situate interpersonal and intercultural experiences of gender, race, ethnicity, ability, citizenship, sexuality, and spirituality within larger systems of power, oppression, and privilege.

Approachable and accessible narratives highlight intersectional experiences of marginalization and interrogate social injustices. The book is divided into three sections: Complexities of Identity Performance, Relationships in Diverse Contexts, and Pathways to Culturally Authentic Selves. Each thematic section includes provocative stories that critically engage personal and cultural narratives through a lens of difference. The chapters in the book highlight both unique and ubiquitous, extraordinary and common experiences in the interior lives of people who are Othered because of at least two overlapping identities. The contributors offer first person accounts to suggest critical responses and alternatives to injustice.

The book also includes sectional summaries and discussion questions to facilitate dialogue and self-reflection. It is an excellent resource for undergraduate students, graduate students, educators, and scholars who are interested in autoethnography, interpersonal and intercultural communication, qualitative studies, personal narrative, cultural studies, and performance studies.

Robin M. Boylorn is Associate Professor of Interpersonal and Intercultural Communication at the University of Alabama. Her research centers identity and autoethnography, focusing primarily on the lived experience(s) of Black women in the U.S. South. She is the author of Sweetwater: Black Women and Narratives of Resilience and co-writer of The Crunk Feminist Collection. Her second monograph, Blackgirl Blue(s), is forthcoming with Routledge.

Mark P. Orbe is Professor of Communication and Diversity at Western Michigan University where he also serves as a Faculty Fellow in the Office of Institutional Equity. His scholarly interests focus on the inextricable relationship between culture, power, and communication.