Paper Short Abstract:

The paper discusses different modes of ethnographic insight into Ignatian mediation. Aspects such as evocative autoethnography, ethnographical research based on the different types of interviews, full participation, elements of netnography and social network analysis are considered.

Paper Abstract:

Ignatian meditation, a concept derived from Exercitia Spiritualia (1548) by Ignatius of Loyola, the co-founder of the Society of Jesus venerated as a saint of the Catholic Church, constitutes the basis of so-called Ignatian retreats. Retreats of this type last between three (short version) and thirty days (four weeks plus introduction). The idea is to contemplate on excerpts from the Bible following the method and formula of meditation, contemplation, and silence originally developed by St.Ignatius. Ignatian retreats are overseen by spiritual supervisors – Jesuit monks or duly authorized laypersons. They take place in many retreat centers around the globe. Some of such facilities also offer various forms of online retreats.

In recent years (for over a decade), numerous new ethnographic papers discussing this particular practice have been published, mostly following the autoethnographic research approach (e.g. Christianson 2012; Lai 2020; Koenig 2020, including evocative autoethnography, cf. Lynn2022).

In this context, I am particularly interested in the epistemological challenges to participation due to e.g. the status of the knowing subject (researcher) and their place within the studied or co-studied community, the theoretical and ideological background, research assumptions and motivations, choice of particular research methods and techniques, and specificity of research problems posed. In my considerations, I focus on the key concept of full participation (Halloy 2016). When discussing Ignatian meditations, I also analyze the role of classical ethnographic studies including participatory observation and various types of interviews, the critical potential of reflective ethnography and netnographic studies with elements of social network analysis.