Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the complexity of representing ethnographic storytelling ethically while complying with institutional requirements. Reflecting on familial interviews, I unpack the difficulties of translating stories through written and multi-modal approaches.

Paper long abstract:

This ethnographic research project took place during the Covid pandemic with a focus on the continued influences of wartime Salvadoran Catholic martyrs in the creation of contemporary memory making, social justice work and critiques of the state. This paper unpacks the various interviews with my transnational family and interlocutors who spoke in two languages to discuss wartime memories and current experiences. Crossing between two languages, either in notes or translating interviews became an early obstacle when framing my dissertation.

This paper questions how to properly translate and represent stories when language was not solely a matter of translation but bouncing between two different languages. The nuances of colloquial modes of speaking and realizing interlocutors were shifting between languages due to spatiotemporal experiences made it apparent that I could not simply transcribe interviews either in English or Spanish. This was not how interlocutors spoke; they were traversing time, space and memory through language. A key issue this paper explores is how to mediate translations within the framework of Western, English speaking institutions in order to complete a Ph.D. dissertation and future publications. This paper examines the use of multimodal approaches such as creating audio recordings of interviews alongside video captions and subtitles to ethically represent ethnographic storytelling. This project also included written English and Spanish translations to highlight the fluidity between language, storytelling and memory. Ultimately, this paper reflects on the difficulties of representing ethnographic stories and questioning the current frameworks of Western, academic approaches in relation to Ph.D dissertation writing.