Andrea and me: A digital autoethnographic journey into the past

• Main Author: Salsedo, Carlos
• Language: ENG
• Published: ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst 2010
• Subjects: Biographies|Cultural anthropology|Web Studies|Mass communications
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI3397744

Constructing family history integrates the discourses between an individual, family members and the historical record. When facts are missing, there are other paths to create the family story. The reconstruction of family history through autoethnography is an alternative way to facilitate forms of identity and create a deeper connection to the events of another time. In this thesis, I hope to show the genealogy of meanings and values producing forms of socio-political identity of the Salsedo family members in the present moment. How can one resolve the challenges of a belief system when the controversial socio-political family narrative is contradicted and incomplete? This study investigated how autoethnography applied through digital multimedia can be utilized to reconstruct a family history. The case study of Andrea Salsedo was conducted, whose untimely death on May 2, 1920 at the age of 38 was related to and preceded the arrest of Sacco and Vanzetti. For this study, qualitative research methods were used. This included: archival research, interviews and autoethnography as informed by Ellis and Bochner (2000) and Reed-Danahay (1997). A digital interactive DVD was produced as a component of this research project. Keywords: Autoethnography, Family History, Autobiography, Cultural Identity, Anarchy, Andrea Salsedo, Sacco and Vanzetti, Digital Multimedia, Hypermedia, Interactive DVD Rom