From River to Review: An Autoethnographic Inquiry into the Negotiated Self in Academic Publishing

This autoethnographic sketch examines how academic rejection is socially constructed as a powerful social object, impacting the academic self and influencing meaning‐making processes within the “publish or perish” university social world. Drawing on symbolic interactionism, particularly concepts of the situated self, role‐taking, and negotiated order, I trace a personal journey from childhood immersion in nature, a realm of differently‐mediated meaning, to navigating the symbolic currents of scholarly publishing. Through reflective narrative, I analyze how the meaning of rejection is taken on, redefined, and how humor and engagement with nature serve as interactional strategies for maintaining well‐being and sustaining a resilient professional identity. This piece contributes to interactionist understandings of academic life as a complex social world where meanings are continuously negotiated and the self is perpetually in formation.