Fieldwork's praxis, production of data and interpretation: A case study of anger and nostalgia

Migration is a worldwide phenomenon in which emotions have been regularly overlooked. Moreover little is known about the specific methodology that has to be applied to better understand them during this process. The aim of this paper is to show how the “epistemology of fieldwork” is necessary to study emotions during the migration process. In order to show this, I undertake a chronological analysis of my research regarding the construction of the feeling of belonging of Argentinean migrants (1999-2003) in Miami (United-States) and Barcelona (Spain) through the study of anger and nostalgia. First, I will show that to have an understanding of anger it was necessary to go back and forth between discursive data (migrant’s narrative) and participant observation. Indeed, presentation of Argentinean self during the interviews was not the same that during participant observation. To take into account only interviews would have led me to a misinterpretation of the rejection of Argentina by Argentinean migrants. Secondly, I will present how comparative fieldworks shed light on my interpretation and allowed me to add new insights to my understanding of the feeling of belonging. Indeed, while nostalgia did not appeared in my fieldwork in Miami, this emotion was part of the feeling of belonging in Barcelona. Neither the “system of regulation of the sensations”, specific to each context of destination, nor the difference between Argentinean middle class category in Miami and Barcelona could explain this difference. Indeed, the time elapsed between migrant’s departure from Argentina and the two fieldworks in Miami and Barcelona were not the same. In conclusion, this paper emphasizes that to observe, register, analyze and interpret emotions, only the interdependence between the data collected through migrant narrative and participant observation across space and time allow us to reach a heuristic perspective.