# Week 3 ## Comics Culture ### Ethnography & Autoethnography --- ## Where We Are - Week 1: Comics & readers - Week 2: Fan studies as a field - Week 3: How scholars *study* fandom > Methods shape what counts as knowledge. --- ## Today - Ethnographic interviewing - Autoethnography - Fan Activity = structured autoethnography - Finish *A Fan’s Hope* - Film as method --- # Ethnographic Interview --- ## What Makes an Interview “Ethnographic”? - Open-ended, narrative-driven - Relational (rapport matters) - Context-sensitive - Reflexive - Ethical --- ## Key Tensions - Insider vs outsider - Fan-researcher overlap - Data vs relationship - Observation vs participation --- # Autoethnography --- ## Researcher as Subject - Experience becomes data - Reflexivity is required - Narrative + analysis - Ethics of writing about others --- ## Evocative vs Analytic Evocative: - Emotional, experiential Analytic: - Conceptually grounded - Theorized - Structured Strong work balances both. --- # Fan Activity = Structured Autoethnography --- ## 1. You Are Participant + Researcher Observe yourself participating. --- ## 2. Description Is Not Enough Move from: > “Here’s what happened” to > “Here’s what this reveals about fandom.” --- ## 3. Positionality Matters - Insider? Outsider? - Nostalgic? Skeptical? - Experienced? New? Your position shapes what you see. --- ## 4. Specificity = Credibility Include: - Dialogue - Concrete moments - Atmosphere - Emotional shifts - Material details --- ## 5. Reflection → Analysis Ask: - What norms were visible? - What hierarchies emerged? - What forms of belonging/exclusion appeared? - How did commerce or identity operate? --- # Interview Mini-Exercise Draft 3–4 open-ended questions. Avoid: - Yes/no questions - Leading language - Value judgments Aim for narrative. --- # BREAK --- # Watch as Methodologists While finishing *A Fan’s Hope*, track: - Who is centered? - Who is missing? - What arcs are imposed? - Commerce vs community? - Gender dynamics? - Ethnography or storytelling? --- # Small Group Lenses Group 1 — Representation Group 2 — Method Group 3 — Industry & Commerce Group 4 — Gender & Norms Be specific. Cite scenes. --- # Final Questions - Is documentary filmmaking a kind of ethnography? - How does editing shape “data”? - What ethical questions arise? - How would you design this study differently? --- ## Closing Thought Access to fans ≠ Understanding fans Method mediates everything.