Brown Body of Knowledge: A Tale of Erasure. (October 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Cruz, Joëlle M.
• Is Part Of: Cultural studies, critical methodologies. Volume 18:Number 5(2018)
• Page Start: 363
• Page End: 365
• Publication Date: 2018-10
• Subjects: autoethnography -- ethnographies -- methodologies -- investigative poetry -- methods of inquiry -- silencing -- arts-based inquiry; Culture -- Research -- Periodicals; Popular culture -- Research -- Periodicals; 306.05
• DOI: 10.1177/1532708617735131
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1532-7086

Abstract

In this autoethnographic piece, I offer five short poems reading as a "tale of erasure" in the academy. The poems document how my particular identities—Brown, immigrant, female, professor—came to bear during the negotiation of immigration status. This tale illuminates the particular intersection of these layered identities with institutional silencing processes. Beyond my immediate story, poetic prose helps to document experiences of silencing and annihilation, which are particularly difficult to put into words. In addition, the narratives offer insight into the specific complexities faced by foreign faculty in the U.S. academy.