Coming to Terms With the Invective Latency of Ethnographic Relations: A Plea for (Auto)Ethnographic Positioning Analysis

Abstract

In this article, I outline the framework of (auto)ethnographic positioning analysis. Using the example of an unpleasant field experience, I first develop the “metainvective positioning circle,” a heuristic model that I use to address the crisis of ethnography, its consequences for methodological development, and its implications for contemporary ethnographic practice. In the further sections, I outline how (auto)ethnographic positioning analysis combines various previously established methodological procedures, how it differs from them, and how it goes beyond them. Furthermore, I highlight key features of (auto)ethnographic positioning analysis and the most promising moments in the research process for its application.