Mobile Belonging in Digital Exile: Methodological Reflection on Doing Ethnography on (Social) Media Practices
Life in exile presents hardship and brings with it multiple personal and socio-political challenges and grievances. Being forced into separation from family and home society often stimulates the desire to maintain belonging and contact with families and communities. “Co-presence” and “being there” r...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Cogitatio
2022-09-01
|
| Series: | Media and Communication |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/5379 |
| _version_ | 1798000279941021696 |
|---|---|
| author | Cathrine Bublatzky |
| author_facet | Cathrine Bublatzky |
| author_sort | Cathrine Bublatzky |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Life in exile presents hardship and brings with it multiple personal and socio-political challenges and grievances. Being forced into separation from family and home society often stimulates the desire to maintain belonging and contact with families and communities. “Co-presence” and “being there” require a lot of personal effort and commitment. Communication and mediation strategies have a special significance as everyday practices in social and digital media technologies. “Mobile belonging” and staying connected across various online and offline spaces and in various social and political environments and communities can be a constant requirement in digital exile. After an introduction to relevant literature about the complexity of media communication, belonging, and migration, the article examines mobile media technologies and the central role they play in everyday exile. Following a discussion about the notion of “digital exile” and “mobile belonging,” the second part of the article will focus on a specific case study of an Iranian artist and activist living in exile in Germany. It will show how (social) media promotes activism and performance in both online and offline public spaces as practices of “mobile belonging here and there” during the Covid-19 pandemic. Thirdly, the article will turn to a methodological reflection about doing ethnographic research on digital exile and practices of mobile belonging. With a systematic description of applied methods, early developments in multi-modal ethnography will be outlined that illustrate how collaboration and co-creation promise innovative directions for doing ethnography on digital exile in the different-yet-shared times of the pandemic crisis. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T11:17:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c9a7427b5f6f4cde8a270d94f07229d5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2183-2439 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T11:17:38Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | Cogitatio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Media and Communication |
| spelling | doaj.art-c9a7427b5f6f4cde8a270d94f07229d52022-12-22T04:27:10ZengCogitatioMedia and Communication2183-24392022-09-0110323624610.17645/mac.v10i3.53792636Mobile Belonging in Digital Exile: Methodological Reflection on Doing Ethnography on (Social) Media PracticesCathrine Bublatzky0Heidelberg Centre for Transcultural Studies, Heidelberg University, GermanyLife in exile presents hardship and brings with it multiple personal and socio-political challenges and grievances. Being forced into separation from family and home society often stimulates the desire to maintain belonging and contact with families and communities. “Co-presence” and “being there” require a lot of personal effort and commitment. Communication and mediation strategies have a special significance as everyday practices in social and digital media technologies. “Mobile belonging” and staying connected across various online and offline spaces and in various social and political environments and communities can be a constant requirement in digital exile. After an introduction to relevant literature about the complexity of media communication, belonging, and migration, the article examines mobile media technologies and the central role they play in everyday exile. Following a discussion about the notion of “digital exile” and “mobile belonging,” the second part of the article will focus on a specific case study of an Iranian artist and activist living in exile in Germany. It will show how (social) media promotes activism and performance in both online and offline public spaces as practices of “mobile belonging here and there” during the Covid-19 pandemic. Thirdly, the article will turn to a methodological reflection about doing ethnographic research on digital exile and practices of mobile belonging. With a systematic description of applied methods, early developments in multi-modal ethnography will be outlined that illustrate how collaboration and co-creation promise innovative directions for doing ethnography on digital exile in the different-yet-shared times of the pandemic crisis.https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/5379activismcollaborationcommunicationdigital exileethnographymediamobile belongingmultimodality |
| spellingShingle | Cathrine Bublatzky Mobile Belonging in Digital Exile: Methodological Reflection on Doing Ethnography on (Social) Media Practices Media and Communication activism collaboration communication digital exile ethnography media mobile belonging multimodality |
| title | Mobile Belonging in Digital Exile: Methodological Reflection on Doing Ethnography on (Social) Media Practices |
| title_full | Mobile Belonging in Digital Exile: Methodological Reflection on Doing Ethnography on (Social) Media Practices |
| title_fullStr | Mobile Belonging in Digital Exile: Methodological Reflection on Doing Ethnography on (Social) Media Practices |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mobile Belonging in Digital Exile: Methodological Reflection on Doing Ethnography on (Social) Media Practices |
| title_short | Mobile Belonging in Digital Exile: Methodological Reflection on Doing Ethnography on (Social) Media Practices |
| title_sort | mobile belonging in digital exile methodological reflection on doing ethnography on social media practices |
| topic | activism collaboration communication digital exile ethnography media mobile belonging multimodality |
| url | https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/5379 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT cathrinebublatzky mobilebelongingindigitalexilemethodologicalreflectionondoingethnographyonsocialmediapractices |