GENDERED RELIGION
Autoethnography as a Methodological Tool in Religion Studies
Keywords:
GENDERED RELIGIONAbstract
This paper engages with and utilises autoethnography as methodological tool if. research, The paper is in part a personal narrative and an autoethnographic account of some of my experiences (as female researcher) in choosing to undertake postgraduate study into particular aspects of gendered religion. It is also an engagement with the merits of using autoethnography as a qualitative research methodology in the Humanities and Social Sciences in the sharing of the research and research experience. Autoethnography refers to instances when the autobiographical material of the author is woven into the sharing of the research, and where the author does not feign an absence from the research process and documentation. Autoethnography uses the autobiographical materials of the researcher as the principal data and emphasizes cultural analysis and interpretation of the researcher's thoughts and experiences in relationship to others in the research field.
References
Adams, Tony E. and Jones Stacy Holman, "Telling Stories: Reflexivity, Queer Theory, and Autoethnography,' Cultural Studies, Critical Methodologies, vol. 11.2, 20 II, IOR-I 16.
Subraruauium. R. Parartha Puja, in S. S. Janali, ed .. Siva Temple and Temple Ritual, Madras: Kuppusami Sastri Res. Institute. 1988. 77.
Humphrey, Caroline and Laidlaw, James, The Archetypal Actions of Ritual: A Theorv of Ritual Illustrated by the Jain Rite of Worship, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994,88.
Eck, Diana L., Darsan: Seeing the Divine Image in India, New York: Anima Books, 1981.
Levy Robert, "The Power of Space in a Traditional Hindu City," International Journal a/Hindu Studies, vol. 1.3, 1997,55-71.
Sewell Robert, Madurai 011 the Verge of Change: Western Sources for the Early Nineteenth Century, Madras: Munshilal Manoharlal, 1977, 17.
Fuller C. 1., The Divine Couple's Relationship ill a South Indian Temple. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1980, 171.
Bell Catherine, Ritual Theory. Ritual Practice, Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1992, 220
Naidu, Maheshvari, "Inscribing the Female Body: Fuzzy Gender and Goddess in a South Indian Saiva Myth, Journal of Religion Southern Africa, 2008, vol. 21. 1,19-36.
Sharma P., Woman in Hindu Literature, New Delhi: Gyan Publishing House, 1995, 56 and 0' Flaherty Wendy Doniger, Tales of Sex and Violence, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1981, 77 .
Surdam Wayne, "The Vedicization of Saiva Ritual," in S. S. Janali, ed., Siva Temple and Temple Ritual, Madras: Kuppusami Sastri Res. Institute, 1988, 54.
Humphrey, The Archetypal Actions of Ritual, 1994,97.
Breger Claudia, "Feminine, Masculinities: Scientific and Literary Representations of 'Female Inversion' at the Turn of the Twentieth Century," Journal of the History of Sexuality, 14,2005, 76-106, 76.
Tauchert Ashley, "Fuzzy Gender: Between Female-Embodiment and Intersex," Journal of Gender Studies, 11.1, 2002, 29-38, 32.
Michelle Zimbalist Rosaldo and Louise Lamphere, ed., Woman, Culture, and Societv, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1974.
Fuller C. J., Servants ()f the Goddess: The Priest of a South Indian Temple, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984 and Hannan William, The Sacred Marriage of Hindu Goddess, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1989.
Ellis C. and Bochner A., "Autoethnography, personal narrative, reflexivity: Researcher as subject," in Denzin N. & Lincoln Y. eds., The Handbook of Qualitative Research, Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 2000, 739, 733-768.
Coffey, "The Place of the Personal in Qualitative Research," Qualitative Researcher, 4, 2007, 1.
Naidu Maheshvari, "Business Suits and Priests: Power and Priesthood," Nidan: International Journal for Hinduism, vol. 14, 2004, 2-18.
Naidu Maheshvari, "Ritual Space and Ritual Dominance: The Goddess Meenakshi," Nidan: International Journal for Hinduism, vol. 12. I, 2002, 12-28.
Naidu Maheshvari, "Inscribing the Female Body: Fuzzy Gender and Goddess in a South Indian Saiva Myth," Journal of Religion Southern Africa, vol. 21. 1,2008, 19-36.
