When we die, die laughing

Yes Mary Gergen! Still in the same book (see previous post and reference below) I read about Mary Gergen's "ethnographic representation" as she experiments with performative psychology. The lines which resonate go like this:

"We may be trapped in social orderings, tattooed within our proper place, but in outlandish moments we are freed to create the possibility of cultural change....

"Our spectacles are opportunities to glamour into being other forms of life. As we soar over the edge of respectability ... let us make a joyful noise and be glad of our excesses. Let us find a way to celebrate. Let us dare to strut our stuff and when we die, die laughing."

Having spent most of my life soaring over the edge of respectability I've lately been feeling so very trapped in social orderings. So thanks Mary, I am hearing that challenge of strutting our stuff and being free to create the possibility of cultural change.

Bochner, A. & Ellis, C. (2002) Ethnographically speaking: autoethnography, literature and aesthetics, Altamira Press.

Categories: doctorate, ethnographicrepresentation, culturalchange