In Pratt’s essay she defines a new term, “autoethnography,” as “a text in which people undertake to describe themselves in ways that engage with representations others have made of them. . . . autoethnographic texts are representations that the so-defined others construct in response to or in dialogue with those texts” (183).

After defining Guaman Poma’s text as an autoethnographic one, Pratt writes that it “mirrors back to the Spanish (in their language, which is alien to him) an image of themselves that they often suppress and will therefore surely recognize” (185).

In groups, I'd like you to respond to the concept of “autoethnography.” Your response might take the form of a question, a comment, a combination of these, connections to other readings, etc. You might think about whether any of the groups you've studied would create an autoethnography in response to the ethnography you've produced—what might they say back to your representation of them? Also, you might consider what Pratt's article makes you think about ethnography, does it change your ideas, or challenge them, or do you find Pratt's concerns unrelated to those of traditional ethnography?

After you've developed your response, your group will share it with the class, and we'll move to a whole class discussion of the article.