Abstract
In this article I explore the benefits of interplaying narrative and ethnography for conducting a context-grounded, sociolinguistic analysis of the representational and interactional functions of migrant storytelling events concerning dis/relocation. I focus on a series of narratives of socioeconomic and geographic im/mobility told by three Ghanaians who, unsheltered, lived on a bench of a Catalan urban town. These were gathered via “go-along” narrative interviews and multi-site ethnography during six months of fieldwork. I show that the imbrications of a social-practice and social-action approach to narrative with network ethnography allow to: (1) investigate how representation and interaction in place-centered stories and storytelling acts reveal the narrators’ positionings with respect to host-society dis/emplacement, in their alternative spaces of socialization; (2) capture what gets silenced in dis/orientation narratives, like discrepancies between stories told and lived concerning identity management across migrant groups; and (3) expose the researchers’ impact on shaping the form and content of these stories by ingraining self-reflexivity activities into all analytical accounts. This offers an informant-integrative, critical view of how migrants enact transnational survival in contexts of precariousness and exclusion, which contributes to understanding how they place themselves with regard to their non-citizenship statuses, from a socially-sensitive, non-essentializing perspective.
Acknowledgements
This study was funded by two research grants awarded by the Catalan Department of Economy and Knowledge and by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. The former was granted to the group Applied Linguistics Circle (CLA) at the University of Lleida (2014 SGR 1061), and the latter to the group Intercultural Communication and Negotiation Strategies at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (FFI2011-26964).
Appendix: Transcription system
Following the critical approach presented in Section 1, I understand the transcription choices presented below as an integral part of the researcher’s goals and positioning in this particular research project (see Bucholtz 2000).
Transcription conventions
- @Bck:
[Background]: Information of the participants, context and topic
- @com:
[Comment]: Contextual information about the previous utterance
- @add:
[Addressee]: Addressee of the previous turn
- %tra:
[Translation]: Free translation of the turn for languages other than English
- +^
quick uptake or latching
- +”/.
quotation in the next line
- +”
quotation follows
- #
pause
- [>]
overlap follows
- [<]
overlap precedes
- [/]
repetition
- [//]
reformulation
- <>
scope
- :
lengthened vowel
- ::
longer lengthening of vowel
- xxx
unintelligible material
- ((Follows narrative)): turns omitted due to space constraints
Intonation contours
- .
end-of-turn falling contour
- ?
end-of-turn rising contour
- !
end-of-turn exclamation contour
- -,.
end-of-turn fall–rise contour
- -.
intra-turn falling contour
- -,
intra-turn fall–rise contour
- ,,
tag question
References
Agha, Asif. 2007. Language and social relations (Studies in the Social and cultural Foundations of Language 24). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Ajuntament d’Igualada. 2012. Padrón municipal continuo. Resumen numérico por nacionalidades [Municipal register of inhabitants. Record by nationality], 23 November. Town Hall Registry, Igualada.Search in Google Scholar
Ajuntament d’Igualada. 2013. Igualada notícies. Dinamització econòmica [Igualada news. Economic promotion], http://igualada.cat/ (accessed 24 July 2013).Search in Google Scholar
Bamberg, Michael, Anna De Fina & Deborah Schiffrin (eds.). 2007. Introduction to the volume. In Selves and identities in narrative and discourse (Studies in Narrative 9), 1–8. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.10.1075/sin.9.02bamSearch in Google Scholar
Bamberg, Michael & Alexandra Georgakopoulou. 2008. Small stories as new perspective in narrative and identity analysis. Text & Talk 28(3). 377–396.10.1515/TEXT.2008.018Search in Google Scholar
Bastardas, Albert. 1996. Ecologia de les llengües: Medi, contactes i dinàmica sociolingüística [Ecology of Languages: Context, Contacts and Sociolinguistic Dynamics]. Barcelona: Proa.Search in Google Scholar
Bauman, Richard & Charles L. Briggs. 1990. Poetics and performance as critical perspectives on language and social life. Annual Review of Anthropology 19. 59–88.10.1146/annurev.an.19.100190.000423Search in Google Scholar
Baynham, Mike. 2003. Narrative in space and time: Beyond “backdrop” accounts of narrative orientation. Narrative Inquiry 13(2). 347–366.10.1075/ni.13.2.07baySearch in Google Scholar
Baynham, Mike. 2005. Network and agency in the migration stories of Moroccan women. in Michael Baynham & Anna De Fina (eds.), Dislocations/Relocations. Narratives of displacement (Encounters 6), 15–35. Manchester and Northampton: St. Jerome Publishing.Search in Google Scholar
Bucholtz, Mary. 2000. The politics of transcription. Journal of Pragmatics 32. 1439–1465.10.1016/S0378-2166(99)00094-6Search in Google Scholar
Carpiano, Richard M. 2009. Come take a walk with me: The “go-along” interview as a novel method for studying the implications of place for health and well-being. Health & Place 15(1). 263–272.10.1016/j.healthplace.2008.05.003Search in Google Scholar
Cohen, Leor. 2012. An identity structure in narrative: Discourse functions of identity-in-place. Narrative Inquiry 22(2). 247–266.10.1075/ni.22.2.03cohSearch in Google Scholar
Convey, Ian & Vincent O’Brien. 2012. Gypsy-traveler narratives: Making sense of place. A co-ethnography. Narrative Inquiry 22(2). 332–347.10.1075/ni.22.2.07conSearch in Google Scholar
Creese, Angela. 2012. Building researcher-researched relationships. Introduction. in Sheena Gardner & Marilyn Martin-Jones (eds.), Multilingualism, discourse and ethnography (Critical Studies in Multilingualism 3), 285–287. New York: Routledge.Search in Google Scholar
De Fina, Anna. 2003a. Shared conventions for narrating the border crossing experience. Narrative Inquiry 13(2). 367–391.10.1075/ni.13.2.08defSearch in Google Scholar
De Fina, Anna. 2003b. Identity in narrative. A study of immigrant discourse (Studies in Narrative 3). Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.10.1075/sin.3Search in Google Scholar
De Fina, Anna. 2008. Who tells which story and why?. Text & Talk 28(3). 421–442.10.1515/TEXT.2008.020Search in Google Scholar
De Fina, Anna. 2011. Researcher and informant roles in narrative interactions. Language in Society 40(1). 27–38.10.1017/S0047404510000862Search in Google Scholar
De Fina, Anna & Alexandra Georgakopoulou. 2008a. Introduction: Narrative analysis in the shift from texts to practices. Text & Talk 28(3). 275–281.10.1515/TEXT.2008.013Search in Google Scholar
De Fina, Anna & Alexandra Georgakopoulou. 2008b. Analysing narratives as practices. Qualitative Research 8(3). 379–387.10.1177/1468794106093634Search in Google Scholar
De Fina, Anna & Alexandra Georgakopoulou. 2012. Analyzing narrative: Discourse and sociolinguistic perspectives. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9781139051255Search in Google Scholar
De Fina, Anna & Kendall A. King. 2011. Language problem or language conflict? Narrative of immigrant women’s experiences in the US. Discourse Studies 13(2). 163–188.10.1177/1461445610392135Search in Google Scholar
De Fina, Anna & Sabina Perrino. 2011. Introduction: Interviews vs. ‘natural’ contexts: A false dilemma. Language in Society 40(1). 1–11.10.1017/S0047404510000849Search in Google Scholar
De Fina, Anna & Sabina Perrino. 2013. Transnational identities. Applied Linguistics 34(5). 509–515.10.1093/applin/amt024Search in Google Scholar
Duchêne, Alexandre, Melissa G. Moyer & Celia Roberts (eds.). 2013. Language, migration and social inequalities: A critical sociolinguistic perspective on institutions and work (Language, Mobility and Institutions 2). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.10.21832/9781783091010Search in Google Scholar
Galí Izard, Josep M. & Carla Vallès. 2010. Informe econòmic anual de l’Anoia 2010 [Yearly Economic Report of Anoia 2010]. Igualada: Gràfiques Cubí.Search in Google Scholar
Georgakopoulou, Alexandra. 2006. Thinking big with small stories in narrative and identity analysis. Narrative Inquiry 16(1). 122–130.10.1075/ni.16.1.16geoSearch in Google Scholar
Georgakopoulou, Alexandra. 2007. Small stories, interaction, and identities (Studies in Narrative 8). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.10.1075/sin.8Search in Google Scholar
Gregg, Gary S. 2011. Identity in life narratives. Narrative Inquiry 21(2). 319–328.10.1075/ni.21.2.10greSearch in Google Scholar
Gubrium, Jaber F. 2010. Another turn to narrative practice. Narrative Inquiry 20(2). 387–291.10.1075/ni.20.2.10gubSearch in Google Scholar
Hannam, Kevin, Mimi Sheller & John Urry. 2006. Editorial: Mobilities, immobilities and moorings. Mobilities 1(1). 1–22.10.1080/17450100500489189Search in Google Scholar
Helsig, Sarah. 2010. Big stories co-constructed. Incorporating micro-analytical interpretative procedures into biographic research. Narrative Inquiry 20(2). 274–295.10.1075/ni.20.2.03helSearch in Google Scholar
Howard, Philip N. 2002. Network ethnography and the hypermedia organization: New media, new organizations, new methods. New Media & Society 4(4). 550–574.10.1177/146144402321466813Search in Google Scholar
Idescat, 2012. Població segons nacionalitat. Igualada [Population according to nationality. Igualada]. Statistics Institute of Catalonia. http://www.idescat.cat/territ/BasicTerr?TC=5&V0=1&V3=864&V4=682&ALLINFO=TRUE&PARENT=1&CTX=B&V1=08102&VOK=Confirmar (accessed 26 July 2013).Search in Google Scholar
Idescat. 2014. Padró municipal d’habitants [Municipal census]. Statistics Institute of Catalonia. http://www.idescat.cat/territ/basicterr?TC=8&V3=669&V4=446&ALLINFO=TRUE&PARENT=1&V0=3&V1=0&CTX=B&VN=3&VOK=Confirmar (accessed 16 February 2013).Search in Google Scholar
Jaffe, Alexandra. 2012. Collaborative practice, linguistic anthropological enquiry and the mediation between researcher and practitioner discourses. in Shenna Gardner & Marilyn Martin-Jones (eds.), Multilingualism, Discourse and Ethnography (Critical Studies in Multilingualism 3), 334–352. New York: Routledge.Search in Google Scholar
Kusenbach, Margarethe. 2003. Street phenomenology: The go-along as ethnographic research tool. Ethnography 4(3). 455–485.10.1177/146613810343007Search in Google Scholar
Lanza, Elizabeth. 2012. Empowering a migrant identity: Agency in narratives of a work experience in Norway. Sociolinguistic Studies 6(2). 285–307.10.1558/sols.v6i2.285Search in Google Scholar
Larsen, Jonas & Michael Hviid Jacobsen. 2009. Metaphors of mobility – Inequality on the move. in Timo Ohnmacht, Hanja Maksim & Manfred Max Bergman (eds.), Mobilities and inequality, 75–96. Surrey: Ashgate.Search in Google Scholar
Linde, Charlotte. 1993. Life Stories: The creation of coherence. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Pennycook, Alastair. 2012. Language and mobility: Unexpected places. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.10.21832/9781847697653Search in Google Scholar
Pujolar, Joan. 2001. Gender, heteroglossia and power: A sociolinguistic study of youth culture. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.10.1515/9783110809121Search in Google Scholar
Relaño Pastor, Ana María & Anna De Fina. 2005. Contesting place. Narratives of language conflict. in Mike Baynham & Anna De Fina (eds.), Dislocations/Relocations. Narratives of displacement (Encounters 6), 36–60. Manchester/Northampton: St. Jerome Publishing.Search in Google Scholar
Relaño-Pastor, Ana María. 2010. Ethnic categorization and moral agency in ‘fitting in’ narratives among Madrid immigrant students. Narrative Inquiry 20(1). 82–105.10.1075/ni.20.1.05relSearch in Google Scholar
Sabaté i Dalmau, Maria. 2014. Migrant communication enterprises: Regimentation and resistance. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.10.21832/9781783092192Search in Google Scholar
Sabaté i Dalmau, Maria. 2015. Migrant identities in narrative practice: In-/out-group constructions of ‘comrades’ and ‘rivals’ in storytelling about transnational life. Narrative Inquiry 25(1). 91–112.10.1075/ni.25.1.06sabSearch in Google Scholar
Sabaté-Dalmau, Maria. 2016. Migrant narratives of dis/emplacement: The alternative spatialization and ethnicization of the local urban floor. Text & Talk 36(3). 269–293.10.1515/text-2016-0013Search in Google Scholar
Schiffrin, Deborah 1996. Narrative as self-portrait: Sociolinguistic constructions of identity. Language in Society 25(2). 167–203.10.1017/S0047404500020601Search in Google Scholar
Schiffrin, Deborah, Anna De Fina & Anastasia Nylund (eds.). 2010. Telling Stories: Language, narrative and social life (Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics Series 9). Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Scollon, Ron & Suzie Wong Scollon. 2003. Discourse in place. Language in the material world. London/New York: Routledge.10.4324/9780203422724Search in Google Scholar
Spector-Mersel, Gabriela. 2010. Narrative research. Time for a paradigm. Narrative Inquiry 20(1). 204–224.10.1075/ni.20.1.10speSearch in Google Scholar
Urry, John. 2007. Mobilities. Oxford: Blackwell.Search in Google Scholar
Williams, Daniel R. & Norman McIntyre. 2012. Place affinities, lifestyle mobilities, and quality-of-life. in Muzaffer Uysal, Richard Perdue & Joseph Sirgy (eds.), Handbook of tourism and quality-of-life research: Enhancing the lives of tourists and residents of host communities (International Handbooks of Quality-of-Life), 209–230. The Netherlands: Springer.10.1007/978-94-007-2288-0_12Search in Google Scholar
Wortham, Stanton. 2001. Narratives in action. New York: Teachers College Press.Search in Google Scholar
Wortham, Stanton, Elaine Allard, Kathleen Lee & Katherine Mortimer. 2011. Racialization in payday mugging narratives. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 21. E56–E75.10.1111/j.1548-1395.2011.001097.xSearch in Google Scholar
© 2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
