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Article
Discursive reflexivity in the ethnography of communication: Cultural Discourse Analysis
Cultural Studies <-> Critical Methodologies (2011)
  • Donal Carbaugh, University of Massachusetts Amherst
  • Elizabeth Molina-Markham, University of Massachusetts - Amherst
  • Elena V. Nuciforo, University of Massachusetts - Amherst
  • Brion van Over, University of Massachusetts - Amherst
Abstract

This article is a creative reconstruction of reflexivity as it operates for some practitioners of the ethnography of communication. Our central concern is conceptualized as “discursive reflexivity”; with that concept, we foreground communication both as primary data and as our primary theoretical concern. As a result, we treat reflexivity as a process of metacommunication, that is, as a reflexive process of using discourse at one level to discuss discourse on another. Following current and past research, we explore how dimensions of discursive reflexivity differently configure into five types of ethnographic practice, these being theoretical, descriptive, interpretive, comparative, and critical inquiry. Each is discussed as analytically distinct from the others, yet all coalesce experientially or, in other words, all coexist in one’s experience as an ethnographer. Relationships are discussed between discursive reflexivity and self-reflexivity, including various modes of ethnographic reporting and future directions for inquiry.

Keywords
  • Ethnography of Communication,
  • Reflexivity,
  • Modes of Analysis
Disciplines
Publication Date
2011
Citation Information
Donal Carbaugh, Elizabeth Molina-Markham, Elena V. Nuciforo and Brion van Over. "Discursive reflexivity in the ethnography of communication: Cultural Discourse Analysis" Cultural Studies <-> Critical Methodologies Vol. 11 Iss. 2 (2011)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/donal_carbaugh/27/