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Abstract

The purpose of this autobiographical study is to examine and re-witness the qualitative relationship between father and son. In this study, I initiate a deeper understanding of the stories and events that have been invoked during the process of writing and imaging this self-narrative. This narrative text is a portrayal of events in my life that have been significant in forming my own images of self, masculinity, and the roles and relationships of both fathers and sons. The context of the narrative is situated within the transcript of a phenomenological autobiography that is interwoven with different temporal and archetypal perspectives, academic literature, poetry, autoethnography and various artistic images. The qualitative methodology that is used in this study is an adapted autobiographical method called self-narrative using a fragmented account. Through reading the narrative, the reader participates in remnants of lived experience that function to create a phenomenological impression within the shifting perspectives of father, son and the development of the masculine self-image. Witnessing the narrative and their accompanying images in both their fragments and their totality evokes an experience of embodiment for the reader. The reader can then say that they have shared in what another has experienced and through identification with their own lives, may then say that they recognize, know and understand the phenomenon and the experience. The voices which are invoked are exclusively my own and the images that have been created are impressions of my own lived experiences. Through witnessing and writing about them, my images of self, masculinity, father and son relationships have been brought to light and transformed. This work broadens the dialogue crucial to the understanding of men and their relationships in our world and initiates a deeper examination of the importance of masculine studies.