4. Methodology and Positionality
Texte intégral
Data Collection
1During the period between December 2022 and March 2023, I visited the Mer de Glace in Chamonix, France and the Great Aletsch Glacier in Valais, Switzerland. By immersing myself in these environments, I not only observed the landscape but also actively engaged in a myriad of activities. I took part in skiing, hiking, and participated in cultural events. In addition, my ‘dwelling’ and participation in this landscape allowed me to better engage with the ‘situated connectivities’ (Rose, 2009, 1) among those inhabiting it and observe the subtle nuances of human-glacier engagements through a sensorial and affective lens.
2I had the chance to speak to Luc Moreau, a prominent glaciologist, who has done significant work on glaciers in the Mont-Blanc region. Luc’s extensive expertise spans over thirty years, during which he has focused on examining glaciers’ sliding velocity and hydrology. His work extends beyond scientific monitoring, as he also actively engages in teaching, mountain guiding, and advocacy work. Luc’s fieldwork has taken him to diverse regions such as Iceland, Greenland, and the Himalayas, where he has witnessed first-hand the disheartening retreat of glaciers due to global temperature increase. The profound and unsettling changes he observes in these landscapes often leave him restless at night as he and his fellow glaciologists meticulously monitor and quantify this retreat. I also had the opportunity to engage in insightful conversations with Martin, a recent graduate in glaciology from the ETH University of Zurich.1 He has conducted extensive fieldwork in Switzerland, Sweden, and Norway. Beyond his scientific research, he also dedicates his time working as a ski instructor in the Aletsch Glacier region. I recorded phone call interviews with Martin and Luc and manually transcribed them for analysis. Furthermore, I focused on amplifying the voices of those intimately connected to the Chamonix region, including long-time residents and frequent visitors. For instance, Pierre’s deep ties to Chamonix, rooted in his grandparents’ residency, provided valuable insights into the local dynamics. I also engaged with various individuals working in different capacities within the region, such as bookstore employees in Chamonix and personnel at Montenvers, including train operators, restaurant waiters, and experienced mountain and ski guides. In addition to speaking with locals and professionals, I also had conversations with tourists, both first-time visitors to Chamonix and regular travellers. These conversations were informal and documented through sound recordings and detailed field notes. The transcription processes were done manually. Lastly, I also interviewed Charlotte Qin, an artist based in Geneva. Her artistic practice revolves around the mediation of water and performance in natural water bodies, inviting viewers to rethink our interdependencies with nature. Her work encompasses elements of her Chinese heritage and Western scientific training, seamlessly blending science, nature, and mysticism. While her artistic explorations primarily focus on water, including glaciers, Charlotte also delves into the realm of our ‘inner waters’, namely our emotions. Engaging in conversation with Charlotte proved insightful as it shed light on how the concept of melt has driven creative works like hers toward particular negotiations, languages, and ways of coping amidst environmental change. This resonates with Tsing's notion of coping with ‘entangled ways of life’, (2015, 4) where life on the fringes of glaciers, amidst their melting and disturbances, necessitates new imaginings of futures and alternative modes of existence. My conversations with Charlotte were conducted via an online call, and I transcribed our discussions manually for further analysis and reference in my research.
Positionality
3As I set out on a study of human-glacier relations in the alpine region, my positionality played a crucial role in shaping the research and the knowledge I produced. Having spent most summers and winters in the French Alps, my deep connection with mountainous areas has made me acutely aware of the ongoing changes taking place. These experiences have fostered a deep interest in exploring these landscapes and studying the impacts of climate change on glacial ecosystems.
4Undoubtedly, the ‘process of climate change is a global phenomenon extending over centuries’ (Siltoe, 2021). However, it also manifests as a local phenomenon with distinct impacts within circumstanced environments (Strauss, 2016). Different communities experience localised changes in temperatures, precipitation patterns, and extreme weather events, making the understanding of shifting climates context specific. In my approach to studying the Mer de Glace, I remained conscious of the dangers of imposing preconceived and universal narratives of climate change. I also strived to avoid romanticising local narratives related to glacier melt and climate change, instead centring the voices and experiences of those living near glaciers or with a strong connection to these landscapes. To achieve a more comprehensive understanding, I engaged with diverse perspectives, including glacier scientists, residents, holiday homeowners, and artists who intimately engage with glaciers in their explorations through interviews and participant observation. When engaging with glacier scientists, I had to carefully navigate the nuances of interdisciplinary dialogue, as my expertise is in the social sciences and not the natural sciences. For instance, Martin and Luc had to explain concepts without heavily relying on expert language and terminology, challenging me to grasp disciplinary perspectives outside my field. It reminded me of the limitations of my expertise, and I remained attentive and mindful of potential misunderstandings or lost nuances in translation throughout these conversations.
5In my research I employed a more-than-human approach that goes beyond solely focusing on human perspectives. Drawing inspiration from Tsing’s writings, I view human knowledge not as a limitation but as a starting point for engaging with the more-than-human world. This approach emphasises the active participation of both humans and non-humans in shaping their environments and highlights the interconnectedness of all beings. As Ingold has cogently noted: ‘We owe our very being to the world we seek to know. In a nutshell, participant observation is a way of knowing from the inside […]. Only because we are already of the world, only because we are fellow travellers along with beings and things that command our attention, can we observe them’ (2013, 5). This understanding informed my participant observation methodology, allowing me to immerse myself in the lived experiences of humans and nonhumans and to observe and explore the intricate relationships and assemblages that shape human-glacier interactions.
6To capture the complexities of these interactions, I adopted a reflexive stance and made space for the more-than-human world. Lien and Pàlsson assert that more-than-human anthropology necessitates ‘amplify[ing] signs of the more than human’ (2019, 12). Similarly, Haraway (2016) uses the notion of ‘response-ability’ to underscore an affirmative ethics of interconnectedness that involves sensitively engaging with non-human modes of experience—this includes extending sensory and affective encounters beyond human boundaries. Inkeri Aula’s (2021) study engages in such a multisensory ethnography during their transgenerational sensobiographic walks on the seaside city of Turku in southwest Finland. By focusing on multiple senses, they could ‘provide tools for noticing local ways of relating to more-than-human and for bringing these particular encounters into social scientific knowledge practices’ (Aula, 2021, 178; see also: Järviluoma, 2021). Therefore, I went beyond traditional interviews and incorporated a multimodal approach in my research methodology. As I dwelt in the landscape, I also engaged my senses of touch, smell, and hearing, immersing myself in the lively interactions, affective relations and communicative exchanges between human interlocutors and the companion glacier ice landscape. This allowed me to explore the intricate assemblages and relationships between humans and their environment.
7Further, I recognised the value of visual materials, such as photographs, in providing additional insights into ethnographic production. Lien and Pàlsson assert that pictures can ‘provide additional and highly useful insight into issues normally missed by the texts, including relations of ethnographic production that involve “other than human” companions’ (2019, 12). I therefore took photographs of the landscape during my fieldwork and referred to them in my analysis. These visual representations complemented and enriched the textual analysis, allowing for a more nuanced understanding of the socioenvironmental shifts within the Mer de Glace landscape. Together these methodological approaches allowed me to uncover the agency and significance of glaciers as active actors within the socioenvironmental networks. By giving precedence to the natural world and embracing its inherent dynamics, my research framework acknowledges non-human ice landscapes’ performative and affective nature, thereby providing a more comprehensive understanding of human-glacier interactions.
Notes de bas de page
1Eidengenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) is the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, a public research university in Zürich, Switzerland.
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