Paper short abstract:

We discuss creative writing to collectively approach a subjects that provoke simultaneous feelings of pain, attachment and detachment: the #metoo campaign as it took form in the Swedish context late 2017. We use personal writing to start investigating feminist responses to the #metoo campaign.

Paper long abstract:

This presentation discusses creative writing and feminist storytelling (Richardson 1994; Lykke 2014) as a way of collectively approaching subjects that provoke simultaneous feelings of pain, attachment and detachment. Focus is on the #metoo campaign as it took form in the Swedish context during the autumn of 2017. We: the authors of this presentation, shared a wish to engage in the responses to the #metoo campaign in Sweden, and the initial discussions concerned the possibility to write about feminist responses to this campaign. Saying this, suggestions on potential theoretical frameworks and collection of material did not evoke an obvious continuation; rather, we started to talk about our own feelings for the #metoo campaign. In order to explore what these feelings stand for, and whether they could make way into discussing the #metoo campaign more thoroughly, we decided to pursue creative writing exercises during the autumn of 2018. In this paper, we reflect on and discuss this process and the possible contributions that it can make to our academic writing.