Title: Embodying ‘accidental ethnography’: staying overnight with former Bhutanese refugees in Aotearoa New Zealand
Abstract: This research brings together two key areas, ‘embodied geographies’ and ‘accidental ethnography’. ‘Embodied geographies’ involve making bodies central to geographical studies. ‘Accidental ethnography’ involves researchers having to (re)negotiate the initial terms of engagement in their fieldwork. By bringing together these two areas, we aim to enrich both. In order to do this, we focus on a research project that examines Bhutanese women and girl former refugees’ experiences of settlement in Aotearoa New Zealand. When one of us – Sunita – visited participants in their homes for an interview, three families insisted that she stay overnight. Unexpectedly staying one or more nights meant that the researcher ended up getting closer – bodily and emotionally – to the participants than originally planned. This triggered some ethical issues, new research fieldnotes and research questions, added new layers of meaning to the project and created moments for the unspeakable to be spoken.
Publication Year: 2018
Publication Date: 2018-06-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 9
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