Towards a migratory interview aesthetic

The interviewer’s bodily discomfort as aesthetic key moment

Katja Frimberger/University of Glasgow Read by Ahlam Amber/Islamic University of Gaza

Paper structured in 3 points:

1) Define theoretical key termsDefine theoretical key terms ‘migratory aesthetic’ (Mieke Bal, 2007) and ‘Hearing-as-touch’ (Sara Ahmed, 2000) and give a practical example2) Use key termsUse key terms to frame my experience of linguistic incompetence during interviews3) Summarise insightsSummarise insights for multilingual research practice

First key term: Migratory aesthetic.

“Migratory aesthetic is a non-concept, a ground for experimentation that opens up possible relations with the ‘migratory’, rather than pinpointing such relations” (Bal 2007 a, 23).

Second key term: Hearing-as-touch

“To think of hearing as touch is to consider that being open to hearing might not be a matter of listening to the other's voice: what moves (between) subjects, and hence what fails to move, might precisely be that which cannot be presented in the register of speech.” (Ahmed 2000, 156)

Lost in Space (2005)Directed by Mieke Bal & Shahram Entekhabi

• 17 min./colour film/Genre: Documentary• Includes statements on the ‘triple notion of

home, security and borders’ (Bal 2007b, 111) by people who have been themselves geographically and linguistically displaced.

What do you miss most about being away from home?

http://everydayfeminism.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/speech-bubbles.jpg

Speaking your language (11 min.)

• Explores people’s personal connection to their languages

• Songs, spoken welcomes, reflections on home, sensory aspects

• Interviewees: 20 multilingual university staff and students

The interview’s language dynamic

Linguistic incompetence & loss

• Language loss results in ‘Hearing-as-touch encounter’ (e.g. bodily discomfort)

• Requires decisions: 1) Accept linguistic loss 2) Adapt listening habit

• Multilingual interview is not (necessarily) about straight linguistic transfer

• Ethical/reflective potential of language lossEthical/reflective potential of language loss

Insights for my multilingual research practice

• Prioritise Prioritise people’s multilingual self-expression over my need for linguistic control

• Face upFace up to the ethical and reflective potentialities of my linguistic incompetence

• Pay attentionPay attention to ‘comforts and discomforts’ as key moments for shaping a migratory interview aesthetic