Stepping outside my perspective: An autoethnographic review of Indigenous literature in Walyalup/Fremantle, Western Australia

Abstract

Autoethnographic processes are valuable for creative practitioners and researchers as they allow for an intensive analysis not only of the practice-led approach being undertaken, but of the practitioner’s own personal and cultural impact on the artefact developed. I, as a white woman of migrant heritage, have undertaken a reflexive autoethnographic process during a review of Indigenous literature of the Walyalup/Fremantle area of Western Australia. This process required a deep, personal autoethnographic review of my own sociocultural context and biases, which resulted in key “epiphanies” (Ellis et al., 2011, p. 276) that have informed the ongoing approach to my geocritical research and creative writing practices. The process of autoethnographic notetaking aided in the identification of epiphanies around the importance of language, the emotional response as a researcher, and the limitations of locational boundaries and available sources around the privileging of hegemonic perspectives. This article explores how an autoethnographic reflexive process strengthens place-based research, specifically in interactions with Indigenous texts as a non-Indigenous researcher.