The Use of Kierkegaard as a Stimulus for Autoethnographical Journal Writing

Woodley, Helen (2022) The Use of Kierkegaard as a Stimulus for Autoethnographical Journal Writing. Journal of Autoethnography, 3 (4). pp. 459-474. ISSN 2637-5192

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Abstract

Kierkegaard wrote extensively often focusing on his own struggles aligning his Christian faith with the organised structures of the church he was familiar with. His belief was that each individual was responsible for understanding and giving meaning to their own life as opposed to subscribing to a collective position held by the wider society or a faith group. He showed awareness of the impact of wider held views on those of the individual who found themselves outside of societal norms. Kierkegaard explored his own thoughts and responses to the world around him through the act of journaling. This focus on a unique individual understanding of the world explored through personal writing appears to complement the broader methodological approach of autoethnography. Looking at a brief overview of four fundamental themes of Kierkegaard’s personal writing drawn from Kierkegaard’s journals, parallels are drawn with autoethnographical written pieces. Suggestions are made for how Kierkegaard’s approach to his own personal writing could be of use to autoethnographers, specifically those who use journaling as a process for writing.

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