Abstract

This zine explores the possibilities, limits, and rupture of my own perspective as I prepare for dissertation fieldwork and consider my feelings about the process. After passing my comprehensive exam and beginning to write my dissertation proposal, I have been ruminating a lot about my upcoming fieldwork. Intellectually, emotionally, logistically, and ethically, embarking on months of fieldwork feels overwhelming. To begin to work through these feelings and try to make peace with my fear, I created this zine. The repetitive text echoes my anxious thought patterns, while the images play with ideas about positionality, reflexivity, gaze, culture, scale, and knowledge.