Storytelling and the Phenomenology of Displacement
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Abstract:
The study explores the experience of displacement through storytelling. As a constructed phenomenon, displacement can alter people's sense of self and their perceptions of the world. The key question of the study is: What does it feel like to be displaced? As a theoretical framework, this dissertation explores existential phenomenology and “being” in terms of these four themes: the phenomenology of displacement, storytelling, place/space, and evocative objects.
As this study aims to gain an understanding of the subjective experiences of displaced people, it analyzes the way they depict their experiences and describe their conditions in their stories. As part of an examination of how the physical attributes of a place can impact our states of being, evocative objects are examined from different angles: emotions, memories, as well as their visual effect. An interpretative phenomenological approach (IPA) that emphasizes the lived experiences of individuals displaced is at the core of the methodological framework. The life-story mapping method will be used for integrating visual content with the outcomes of storytelling. Participants’ data will be collected through in-depth interviews and interpreted based on the research’s key themes.
Speaker Bio:
Akram Kangouri is a Ph.D. candidate in Media Studies. She holds a master's degree in social studies from the University of Regina, Canada, and a master's degree in cultural studies from the Science and Culture University in Tehran, Iran. She is passionate about narrative, lived experience, phenomenology, and displacement. In her media studies research, Akram employs qualitative methods to explore displacement through the medium of storytelling. She examines how displaced people create meaning in their new environments by tracing their lived experiences and making links between their pasts and their present selves.
