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Constructing Reflexive Fieldwork Relationships

Narrating My Collaborative Storytelling Methodology

Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, dmahoney{at}ryerson.ca

The interpretive ethnographic literature makes a strong case for new and experimental approaches to narrative, by documenting the interpretive practices through which social realities are created and observed. These stylistic textual forms create a context for a deep, emotional understanding of lived experience. During my PhD dissertation on intimacy construction and storytelling in everyday gay life, I used a collaborative storytelling methodology to write six narratives about the ordinary occurrences, practices, and emotive experiences gay men face in their interpersonal relationships. This article provides a critical reflection about my collaborative storytelling practices. My research identity and the construction of my reflexive fieldwork relationships had a profound effect on the way the stories were told, the layering of intimate disclosures, and the interactions between me and my gay male collaborators. Of particular interest are the insider/outsider researcher identities that emerged as a result of conducting this research in a British context.

Key Words: reflexivity • interpretive ethnography • gay male storytelling • fieldwork narratives • building fieldwork relationships

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