Femme on Femme: Reflections on Collaborative Methods and Queer Femme-inist Ethnography. 1–22.
Abstract
This article reflects on the queer dimensions of conducting ethnographic research with/in “ones own community” and on the possibility of queering ethnographic writing. Focusing femme-on-femme research and modes of representation, I argue that collaboration with research subjects queers research conventions and contributes to a reconsideration of what counts as theory, particularly with regards to femininity and its place within queer feminism. Here I first discuss two queer feminist ethnographic models for conducting research within sub-cultural communities to which one belongs. I then address ideas about home/community and how ideas of distance continue to structure ethnographic knowledge production. The central discussion centres on a retrospective reflection on the joys and dilemmas of collaborative work drawing on research for the book Femmes of Power: Exploding Queer Femininities (Volcano & Dahl 2008). In particular, I scrutinize the dichotomy between the theorizing academic and her “informants” arguing that femme-inist ethnography highlights citation, collaboration and co-production of ideas.
