autotheory means A challenge to the dominant perspective and theoretical framework through the use of subjective and autobiographical material. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 89 out of 100.
Why “autotheory” is a great word
AUTOTHEORY — [Noun] A mode of writing or discourse that interrogates abstract theoretical frameworks by weaving the subjective material of a life—its memories, sensations, and bodily truths—into the very fabric of philosophical inquiry. From the Greek prefix auto- ("self") and the English word theory (from Greek theōria, "contemplation, speculation"). Unlike “autobiography,” which narrates a life, or “criticism,” which analyzes external texts, autotheory dissolves the border between the personal and the theoretical to produce a new form of evidence. It is the scar examined as a philosophical text, the grief dissected as a critical methodology, and the breathless panic attack parsed for its political ontology—a quiet rebellion against the fiction of an objective mind.
Etymology
From auto- + theory.
noun
- A challenge to the dominant perspective and theoretical framework through the use of subjective and autobiographical material.“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.”