Autoetnografia e interazionismo simbolico: un modo di essere e di vedere il mondo

Abstract

The subject of this paper is the link between the conceptual tools of symbolic interac- tionism and ethnography, with particular reference to autoethnography. Ethnography and symbolic interactionism are closely intertwined, both from a his- torical point of view and in terms of their theoretical points of reference. This deep bond formed in the context of the Chicago School at the beginning of the last centu- ry, in the early days of urban sociology and applied sociology. After briefly introducing some historical references to the link between symbol- ic interactionism and ethnography, and offering a basic definition of autoethnogra- phy, we analyze the link between interactionism and ethnography using the meta- autoethnographic method. The main general propositions that emerge from our work are: a) Social life, identities, social relationships are fluid, not static, and autoethno- graphic research is a consciously situated form of ethnography; b) Autoethnographic research is open but grounded in the transformations of «obdurate reality» (Blumer), with which the researcher negotiates the process of ethnographic interpretation and understanding; c) «Epiphanies» (Denzin) and «sensitizing concepts» (Blumer) are cru- cial tools for autoethographic interpretation; d) Autoethnography is a way of seeing the world. The autoethnographic process is a time-consuming, open, flexible, and often very demanding way of understanding reality. The autoethnographer is himself both observed and observer. His way of viewing the world around him also becomes the prism through which he filters all the information that allows him to understand the situation he is studying, in a continuous, ongoing process of interpretation.