Meaning of autotheory | Babel Free

Definitions

A challenge to the dominant perspective and theoretical framework through the use of subjective and autobiographical material.

countable, uncountable

Examples

“Encounters with autotheory are not about a "warm fuzzy" effect for the reader: though possible, it is equally likely that one might be made distinctly uncomfortable while engaging honestly with the challenging analyses that autotheories present⟳.”

“Preciado's creative narrative introduces us to a different kind of book: part memoir (what Preciado classifies as 'autotheory'), part queer theory.”

“In autotheory as contemporary feminist practice, artists, writers, philosophers, activists, curators, and critics use⟳ the autobiographical, first person, and related practices of self-imaging (Jones, Self/Image 134) to process⟳, perform⟳, enact, iterate, subvert, instantiate, and wrestle⟳ with the hegemonic discourses of "theory" and philosophy.”

CEFR level