Between Two Worlds: Vicarious Trauma in Ethnographic Fieldwork on Exhumations and Francoist Repression

This paper examines the immersive nature of ethnographic fieldwork, particularly when researching the exhumation of mass graves and interviewing survivors of Francoist repression in Spain. Ethnography requires researchers to engage deeply with participants' lived experiences, which, in the context of mass violence, exposes them to traumatic environments. The psychological impact of these experiences often goes unnoticed during the fieldwork itself but surfaces during the transcription and write-up phase, when the researcher has returned to the relative calm of everyday life. This paper highlights the importance of reflection in ethnographic research, but argues that meaningful reflection can only occur with sufficient temporal and emotional distance from the fieldwork, which poses challenges when researchers are still closely engaged with their material. This delayed processing of trauma, compounded by the isolated nature of ethnographic research – particularly for novice or doctoral researchers working abroad – leaves researchers vulnerable to vicarious trauma. The paper seeks to interrogate the emotional toll on researchers conducting participant observation in the context of exhumations. By exploring how they navigate the tension between violent pasts and peaceful present-day environments through their close contact with survivors of political violence. It calls for better institutional support and strategies to mitigate the psychological risks associated with such work.