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Methodological reflections on transference and countertransference in geographical research: relocation experiences from post‐disaster C hristchurch, Aotearoa N ew Z ealand
Author(s) -
Hutcheson Gail
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
area
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1475-4762
pISSN - 0004-0894
DOI - 10.1111/area.12058
Subject(s) - psychoanalytic theory , embodied cognition , countertransference , situated , affect (linguistics) , unconscious mind , psychology , sociology , reflexivity , qualitative research , realm , social psychology , psychoanalysis , epistemology , computer science , communication , philosophy , anthropology , artificial intelligence , political science , law
This article contributes to the emerging cannon of work on emotion and affect by extending conversations on reflexivity to include a relational ontology. I draw on geographical literature and the psychoanalytic concepts of transference and countertransference to examine how a combination of unconscious, subconscious and embodied experiences can further inform research interactions. Emotion and affect are examined in the research setting that moves beyond the clinical encounter to bring forms of unconscious communication into the realm of the everyday. The experiences that participants draw on are often beyond language and symbolisation, but are simultaneously situated in the body and its relations with other bodies. Examples are based on a qualitative research project exploring the relocation experiences of disaster survivors from C hristchurch's major earthquake on 22 F ebruary 2011. The article concludes that, by focusing on transference and countertransference, unconscious and embodied connections can be fore‐grounded. Research, then, becomes a cooperative space where the researcher and the participants form a knowledge framework that includes senses, emotion and affect.