Desert Space / Desert Place: The Promise of the Playa at the Burning Man Festival

• In Event: Questioning Self in Between Spaces: Narrative Constructions of Motherhood, Fatherhood, Spirituality, and Counterculture

Abstract

This autoethnography investigates the symbolic importance of “the desert” for locating and communicating meaningful culture experiences. Through a layered narrative account, the author explores her relationship with “the desert” by focusing on multi-contextual experiences at the annual Burning Man Festival, an event where “the desert” is present both as space and place. The author suggests that “going into the desert” is a deep-seated cultural practice well suited for cultural reflection and tapping into social imagination.

Author

• Karen Stewart, Arizona State University