NON-PEER-REVIEWED
https://doi.org/10.51897/interalia/GLPN8934
Balancing Act
Paulina Schäfer
Abstract
This short play is an autoethnography written as part of the coursework for the class Between Literature and (Auto)ethnography, which I took as an Erasmus exchange student at the University of Wrocław. Through this play, I aim to explore the evolving relationship between queerness and identity, particularly as it shifts from adolescence to adulthood. Autoethnography can connect personal experience to a larger cultural and political framework. What distinguishes autoethnographic research from other types of research is that the researcher is also one of the research subjects and inserts themselves into the research process. Following Carolyn Ellis’s method of interactive interviewing, I spoke with four queer friends of mine about their understanding of queerness and identity, with a focus on their coming-of-age experiences. The most unifying theme across these conversations was that queerness is in constant transformation, and the relationship between one’s queerness and one’s identity is perpetually challenged. This play speaks only for five people—no more, no less. It offers a small window into a multitude of queer lives, but it does not claim to represent any broader community, as it is a highly personal account. Thus, it is not generalizable, and many significant issues within the queer community remain unaddressed. Each character is a fusion of multiple people, and while the conflict in the play is fictional, the opinions expressed are real. They emerged from and were discussed during the interviews.
Keywords: community, identity, coming of age, autoethnography
