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Strong Emotions in Biographical Research – Interviewing, Analyzing, Writing
Strong Emotions in Biographical Research – Interviewing, Analyzing, Writing
Abstract Submissions Closed
Saturday, 27 February 2021: 10:45-12:15
Location:
RC38 Biography and Society (host committee)
Language: English
Session Type: Oral
Invited Session
Biographical research almost always touches on strong emotions – whether by the person telling his or her story or by the researcher who listens and tries to make sense of the story after the fact. However much we might long for the comfort of objectivity and neutrality, we usually cannot help but be pulled into the emotional morass that is part and parcel of the biographical encounter. Moreover, we not only have to deal with strong emotions in our own research, but we have to teach our students how to manage strong emotions as well. We may teach them how to pay attention to the emotional dynamics of the interview and how to reflect on emotions in the analysis. Sometimes we come up with creative ways to help informants talk about emotionally traumatic experiences – borrowing techniques from psychology and psychotherapy, art and performance studies. We may find ourselves turning to literature for writing about biographical experiences or to images for showing them in ways that do justice to their emotional intensity.
In this session, we invite participants to share their experiences, dilemmas, conundrums, and maybe even solutions about how to address strong emotions of informants and researchers in biographical research – from the interview situation, to the analysis, to the writing process.
Session Organizers: