Paper Short Abstract:

Through an ethnography of people practicing trance states with therapeutic objectives, this poster presents a methodological reflection on the embodied exploration of these practices, the space for researcher experimentation, and the role of intersubjectivity and empathy in analyzing practices.

Paper Abstract:

Through an ethnography of people practicing non-possession trance states with therapeutic objectives, this poster aims to examine how to ‘doing sensory ethnography’ (Pink) based on the experimentation of these practices. By examining trance experiences and how they are lived by both practitioners and the researcher herself, this work opens a reflection on the embodied exploration of such practices and their "unwriting" analysis.

The first point will address methodological challenges: what methods should be used to capture the emotions, sensations, and affects experienced by individuals during these trances? How can they be ethnographically documented and represented as faithfully as possible? What role should be given to the phenomenological approach in this embodied and intimate knowledge?

The place given to the researcher's lived experiences will be questioned from an ethical standpoint. To what extent should one allow oneself to "se laisser affecter" (be affected, Favret-Saada) by the field? What role should auto-ethnography play in such research?

Finally, what dialogue can emerge between the experience of those who practice and that of the researcher? How can intersubjectivity and empathy lead to a better understanding of each person's experience and contribute to knowledge construction? What transformations in perception and understanding can these experimentations bring about for those who practice and the researcher?

Pink, S. (2015). Doing sensory ethnography (2nd ed.). London: SAGE Publications

Favret-Saada, I. (1977). Les Mots, la mort, les sorts : La sorcellerie dans le Bocage. Paris : Gallimard