To enter the kitchen door to people’s lives: A Multi-Method Approach in the Research of Transnational
Practices among Lifestyle Migrants
Annie Linderson
Department of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology
Uppsala University
Sweden
Abstract
This article introduces and evaluates an ethnological qualitatively-based multi-method approach in researching lifestyle migrant’s transnational practices in destinations of lifestyle migration. Drawing on research of individual and collective practices of transnationality among lifestyle migrants in a well-established region of lifestyle migration, a multitude of methods will be discussed and reviewed; participant experience, serial interviews, observation, walk along interviews and media orientation.
Key words: Lifestyle migration, Qualitative Methodology, Transnationality
It is said that Ethnologists enter the kitchen door to people’s lives in order to acquire and gain knowledge of what it is like to stand in that other persons’ shoes. It is there in the domains of the everyday life such as in a kitchen where the concrete daily activities and conversations serve as the key to an understanding of micro implications and possibilities that stand in sharp relation to macro structures of global and international policies.
This article offers an ethnological multi-method approach to use in the aspiration of entering a transnational kitchen door to lifestyle migrant’s lives in regions of lifestyle migration. In essence the methodology in question falls under the umbrella of an ethnography used within Anthropology. However, while the Anthropologist traditionally has devoted extended periods of time in field in the study of the Other, the proposed ethnological multi-method approach offers possibilities of entering and reentering the field over shorter periods of time through a diverse set of gateways. The methodology that will be recommended in this article is traced back to the roots of Ethnology in being a discipline engaged with the cultural study of a daily life familiar to the researcher, often in the national context of the researcher. Due to a close relation to the object, a diverse set of methods has been a means to make the researcher unfamiliar to the common and well-known surrounding and cultural life. In other words, the Ethnologist has had to exoticize the object in order to distance her- or himself from the seemingly familiar, especially if studying cultural processes in the own society or among individuals of the same nationality as the researcher (cp. Máiréad, Kockel, & Johler, 2008). Since a multitude of methods results in different sets of data, the multi-method approach contributes to a reflexive, multi-layered and contextualized micro understanding of the phenomenon in question.
Within research of lifestyle migration the approach aims to highlight different and tangible components of the lifestyle migrant’s daily experience. To follow is a broad review drawn on ethnographical research of transnational practices among Swedish lifestyle migrants that have relocated to the southern Spanish coast, Costa del Sol, which aims to illustrate possible theoretical definitions of transnational practices and suggest methods to use in qualitatively-based studies of lifestyle migration in general terms. Indeed, the methods described below are easily transferable to locales in Asia, Africa or Latin America. By using the ethnological multi-method approach to enter the kitchen door to people’s lives, Ethnology can serve as a contribution in researching lifestyle migration.
To enter the transnational kitchen of lifestyle migrants
To enter the inner domains of a house symbolizes in this case to take up ethnographical research on transnational practices among lifestyle migrants that has settled down in a destination of tourism and leisure on a permanent basis. More specifically, the article proposes views of how to study individual and collective relations to both old and new country and an emerging transnationality that is practiced through the interconnection. While approaching the kitchen door of the lifestyle migrants, the transnationality is defined as practices to be on the one hand expressions in life stories of the transnational life, and on the other, agency-based practices, found in the making of an everyday life led in relation to two separate countries. The two categories of practices are considered to be complementary and enable two different theoretical approaches; narrative analysis and phenomenology. The intersection of constructivism and phenomenology of lived experience constitutes a fruitful combination in giving a broad understanding of the transnational phenomenon of permanently residing in a country, other than the country of origin (Frykman & Gilje, 2003, p. 9; Frykman, 2006, pp. 69ff). The Swedish Ethnologist Jonas Frykman affirms this approach by stating that two legs are more stable than one (Frykman, 2006, p. 70).
The focal concern is practices of telling and making a transnationality from below (Smith & Guarnizo, 1998a, 1998b. See also Povrazanovic Frykman, 2004), among lifestyle migrants with dual (or multiple) frame of reference. The transnationality can be expressed and made through organized and institutionalized practices, as well as through non-organized and spontaneous practices in the everyday life of the lifestyle migrant. The dualistic or multiple perspectives derive from the general and compassing tendency of migrations “not [being] singular journeys but tend to become an integral part of migrants’ lives” (Faist, 2000, p. 13). The concept transnationality is the result of having acquired multiple bonds connecting one’s life across the territorial boundaries of nation-states as a consequence of mobility and migration. The dual (or multiple) frame of reference creates flows of “things not [only] bodies” (Mahler, 1998, p. 77) across national borders. The result is a transnational experience embedded with news, memories, and stories between global, national, regional and local settings. Thus, bodies can be situated on location in country of residence while being emotionally affected by things or activities concerning the country of origin in the same degree as if the person would actually be in the old country. In essence the aim is to study a transnational experience that is expressed and made, as well as how flows of ideas, values, and cross-cultural expressions affect both the individual and the collective in the daily transnational life.
Collectively a shared consciousness is created among the lifestyle migrants of living a similar transnational experience and having a similar dual or multiple frame of reference resulting in cultural reproduction. A shared transnational consciousness implies a collectively acknowledged common identity of perceiving a mental state of being at home and away from home. Together the individuals create a transnational space made of shared memories, stories, history, and experience (cp. Faist, 2000; Faist, 2004; Jackson, Crang, & Dwyer, 2004). Furthermore, the transnational cultural reproduction, associated with two or more places, blend together into a bricolage of expressed traditions, norms and habitual action within the group. Transnational space, as a theoretical concept, is by some scholars filled with a similar content as the concept diaspora. Thus, the concepts, as analytical approaches, are at times used synonymously (Povrazanovic Frykman, 2004; Wahlbeck & Olsson, 2007). That is to say, place-bound transnational practices collectively expressed and made create and constitute diasporic communities (Povrazanovic Frykman, 2004, pp. 82ff). The concept diasporic community is here defined as the establishment and meaning attributed to a collective formation with connotation to a shared place of origin in a certain geographical territory other than the origin (for definitions of diaspora, see Safran, 1991; Cohen, 1997). This has relevance when analyzing and describing shared features and meaning of an imagined or actual diasporic community that are articulated and practiced among the lifestyle migrants. To give emphasis on the collectiveness of this dimension the concept diasporic community is chosen rather than transnational space (cp. Anderson, 1983; Cohen, 1995; Vasta, 2000). Noteworthy is the fact that the resemblance of such community involves and is constituted by all types of lifestyle migrants, whether they be permanent residents, seasonal migrants, second home owners or long-stay tourists (King, Warnes, & Williams, 2000, pp. 43-44). They all figure in the specific articulation of a diasporic community in destinations of lifestyle migration, when such is set in practice.
As mentioned earlier, the transnational phenomenon derives from at least two separate localities. Expressed and made transnationality and diasporic experience does not stop at the borders of a given territory but exceeds to involve multiple places, being global, national, regional and local. To be contextually sensitive to the multiple places and structures affecting the transnational everyday experience should, therefore, be a given ambition throughout the analysis. The ideal is to engage in a multi-sited ethnography, thus to follow the lifestyle migrant to the multiple sites where they are to be found (See Watson, 1977; Marcus, 1995; Hannerz, 2003; Hannerz, 2001). However, lack of time and the practicality of conducting fieldwork might hinder a multi-sited ethnography. It is therefore advisable to strive for a multi-sited awareness even though the transnational practices originate and happen on one specific site (cp. Kleist, 2004, Anthias, 1998, p. 564).
The practices are viewed as a process of making the world understandable to live in for the individual. Thus, it is an everyday process. At times, it is goal-oriented toward specific results. Often the process is something seemingly unconscious, effortless and spontaneous (cp. Reksten-Kapstad, 2001, p. 11; Faist, 2004, p. 170). The practices are considered to be a tool kit of expressions, symbols, and narratives, as well as habits, skills, and styles, used to order life and orientate oneself in relation to how the life is led abroad. When the individual uses a tool, he/she also demonstrates the command of a competence or a capacity that governs the way to act and behave that is suitable for the given situation, time or place. Thus, this knowledge is a resource for adapting to or managing a transnational life in relation to and within a group or groups (Swindler, 1986; Casey, 1996, p. 34; Frykman & Gilje, 2003, p. 48). This makes the practices specific to context, place and time.
A Multi-Method Approach to the telling and the making
A definition of the practices of transnationality is now given. However, the question remains of how to acquire the content that is hidden in the making and in the telling. The ethnological line, as indicated, argues for a multi-method approach filtered through the reflexivity of the researcher. This signifies that the researcher through a multitude of methods enter different gateways to capture the activities and perceptions of the transnational everyday life led by lifestyle migrants in places of lifestyle migration. These entrances will also put the researcher her- or himself in the light of the study which demands a thorough reflexive discussion on the behalf of the researcher in order to draw attention to the many implications of using a physical and emotional researcher self in the field (cp. Davies, 1999). By using different and separate methods, entering the kitchen door of the everyday life offers disparate layers of knowledge and understanding. This enables a research with a deep and broad perspective. Rather than digging deep in singular spots, finding more of the same, the multi-method approach opens the ethnological gaze to new and unexplored terrains which in the long run works complementary. By constantly removing the focus and positioning oneself sometimes as an outsider, and then changing to the insider position, the study can be both analytically enriched and strengthened.
The multiple methods pointed to in this article are as follows: participant experience, series of conversational interviews, observation, walk along interviews and orientation through media. Throughout a presentation of each method there is an aspiration of using and adjusting the methods to the lifestyle migration context of leisure and relaxation, as well to the specific places of tourist destinations. The context of each separate lifestyle migration destination generates specific cultural patterns that can be benefitted from when applying different methods.
Transnational subject
To put a multitude of methods into a practical research approach, the first gateway into the kitchen of the lifestyle migrant is to use the researcher self as a transnational subject. Inspired by the phenomenological approach (Frykman, 2006; Frykman & Gilje, 2003; Bengtsson, 2001) the use of the own actions, interactions, impressions and thoughts of the transnational lifestyle is a way to gather understanding while residing in a destination of lifestyle migrants during a period of fieldwork. The daily life in field is recorded in a reflective field diary. Being an insider in this sense is inspired by the well-established method participant observation but expanded into participant experience (Hansen, 2003, p. 160). Time and engagement has proven to be vital in participating and experiencing the transnational reality in situ. Camouflaged by the distinguished feature of a constant circulation of tourists and temporary or permanent lifestyle migrants in and out of areas common for lifestyle migration, participant experience as a method is most suitable to the culture of such regions.
The reception of a researcher in lifestyle migration areas differs but my own experience is that the sudden appearance of me as a researcher was not being perceived as anything extra ordinary. I was just like any other person whose motives for dwelling in the area was seldom questioned or asked for. Certainly for those initiated, my work as a researcher was looked upon with fascination and curiosity although I was often kept at arms length outside my role as a researcher. However, this too I found to be a notable ingredient of the daily life the lifestyle migrants have adopted in my research - the atmosphere is opened to people of all kinds with a diversity of backgrounds which as such are generally not of primary interest when getting acquainted with new people. It seems like the main ambition is to stay present in the here and now, regardless of previous achievements, networks, or status.
As a result of the welcoming environment, I easily became an actor within the lifestyle migrant community and found a place where I could make informal contacts and conversations on a daily basis, above all through institutions with connotations with the home country of the migrants, like a church and a school. I took part in community activities such as singing with the church choir and with a smaller group of vocalists, made visits to the school and gave a lecture there about Ethnology and my research project to High School students, participated in the media that was directed toward the lifestyle migrants, as well as engaged in the different types of social events in the destination. The type of knowledge gained through this method is a first hand experience of alterations in the group throughout the seasons, different types of networking within the group, daily activities and interactions with the host society etc.
In this procedure the researcher self is central in the collection of data which puts an emphasis on previous knowledge, experience, and the continuous reflexivity of these factors when using the self as a transnational subject. In my research, I gained help from my previous experience in the area while being a student of the local language, as well as conducting fieldwork related to my Master’s thesis. Equally, my knowledge of the language per se together with living several periods of my life in the country enabled a pre-understanding of living in the country as a foreign woman. Hence, taking a transnational stand during my time in fieldwork has not been difficult. It has rather followed the common order of the lifestyle migration since research has shown it is often preceded by holidays and other types of travel on location (King et al., 2000, p. 27; O’Reilly, 2000, p. 25).
Albeit having a general pre-knowledge of the phenomenon as well as the host country, the same pre-understanding has forced me to strive to frame myself from fixed notions that I have gained before hand. I have had to put myself curiously anew to dis-remember or decode myself from preconceived notions of the lifestyle migration everyday life (Frykman, 2006, p. 68). More so, my gender, age and private circumstances, such as not having children of my own, restrained me to naturally get access to all events and places of the lifestyle migrant experience. Seldom could I join the activities of the retired groups on an equal basis as the pensioners. Nor had I access to the activities for families and small children. Thus, I was left out of the daily interactions and conversations in cases like the mentioned. At the occasions where I naturally could take part in such activities, my outsider position was emphasized since ordinary talk differs depending on the participants’ similarities in age, gender, region of origin, length of stay, reason for stay, etc. Circumstances like these ought to be taken into account while interpreting the data of the method.
Finally, it has been important to not seek validation or proof of already defined perceptions of what living as a transnational might mean to the individuals residing as lifestyle migrants. The multi-method approach, in its own sense, also hinders preconceived notions since the main feature of this procedure is a constant shift of focus along the process. The Anthropologist Michael Jackson encourages the researcher to leave interpretation and theorizing behind while being in fieldwork (Jackson, 1996, pp. 7ff). Along the same lines, it is important to put an emphasis on the adjustments a researcher might have to do depending on the local culture and structure within the lifestyle migrant community.
Serial interviews
A second method focuses on the different kinds of perceptions and meanings of the transnational experience expressed in life stories. The narratives are told through in-depth interviews which gives the fieldwork a specific objective. A series of conversational interviews is proposed with a smaller number of migrants residing permanently on the location in question. To give the interviews an in-depth character it is helpful to meet the informants on several occasions. Each occasion might vary between one to several hours, depending on the chemistry and talkativeness of interviewer and interviewee. The aim is to let the interviewees thoroughly tell their emigration experience, their perception of being in a voluntarily lifestyle migrant position, and their strategies of living their everyday life in reference to a country of origin different from the country of residence. Thus, the interviews are considered to have more of a life story character than a traditional interview (Atkinson, 1998). In my own research each interview has had a different theme and been designed in an open and explorative manner with an aspiration to follow the interview where it brought us.
The interview experience turned out to be challenging since what I as a researcher considered to be transnational in the lives of the respondents often was incorporated in such a way that it was taken for granted. For example, asking specific questions in themselves hinted to what I as a researcher considered to be of importance for my research. Obviously, this led to answers following the same direction. The interview, thus, shed a light on tangible parts of transnational aspects of the lifeworlds which to the interviewees was no more than an integrated and naturalized state of being. In this way, the presence of a researcher interested in the notions of the exile position in relation to a presupposed stand in-between national cultures in its own sense actualized the sought of position. Therefore, the ambition was to let the interviewee speak more freely about their life. My task was, then, rather to follow the threads of narrative that I found important for the transnational lives the respondents led with additional questions on the topic. I tried to open the interview in a broad and general manner stating the overall topic we were going to talk about in order to get us started. However, whenever the conversation came to a halt I had to ask more specific questions to lead us back on the transnational track.
The first conversational interview was, therefore, held in a general manner about the emigration experience as such. The second occasion was on the other hand concentrated to the individuals’ connection and contact with host society versus home society. The third conversation dealt with how to create belongingness and sense of home. During the fourth occasion we spoke of civil issues such as citizenship, social responsibility and loyalty to the two countries in question. If there was reason to cut down the interview sessions the series of interviews was narrowed down to three times, thus melting discussions of theme three and four together. The interviews took place in different locations such as cafés, in their work place or in the home of the individuals. All locations were chosen by the informants themselves.
Meeting several times for conversational interviews has proven to be very pertinent in many ways. With time, both trust and confidence is built up between the interviewer and the interviewees. This enables a better understanding of each individual story and background than had there only been one interview. More so, a series of interviews gives the researcher the possibility to ask clarifying questions when there is something uncertain and fill in the blanks in the story being told. Overall, the method of conducting several interviews with the same persons has proven to be most suitable to the lifestyles led on tourist destinations. A common feature is the notion of having more flexible and spontaneous attitude towards time than what the informants thought of as a general tendency in the home country. Since some have relocated to these types of areas for the purpose of leading a slower pace of life, far from full agendas and scheduling, the choice of method matched the rhythm of the lives of the respondents. It has never been hard to interfere as many times as needed with the series of interviews. The same order of conduct will probably not work in a busy city life elsewhere in the western world. To illustrate this state of being one interviewee, Anna, is a good example. She has adopted many of the everyday habits of her host society and stressed how much she valued the different time management experienced in her new country. Therefore, she always asked not to be called too long in advance since she wanted to do things in line with the mood she found herself in there and then.
The disadvantages of this approach have turned out to be logistical. Contrary to the much appreciated impulsiveness of the coastal life, a lot of the time in field the researcher has to devote to planning and organizing prior to and after the meetings which is very tiresome. More so, the requirements for successfully conducting multiple interviews with the same person are talkativeness on the behalf of the respondent, a shared interest in the conversation, and a good chemistry between the researcher and the informant. Naturally, these requirements can not always be fulfilled which might complicate the procedure.
The search of informants can have the character of the illustrious ‘snowball effect,’ i.e. a very spontaneous, flexible routine of asking random people on location if they want to be a part of the study. Furthermore, e-mailing companies that address the lifestyle migrant population where possibly other migrants might work and ask if their staff wants to participate is another strategy. In addition, asking the interviewees already engaged in the study if they could recommend someone else willing to be interviewed can be helpful.
In my own research, I realized that it was easier for me to find female interviewees, who often without a doubt decided to participate. Being a young-looking female myself, I was perhaps perceived as a daughter or a granddaughter to some of the elderly female interviewees. For the younger women in the study, I found that they had a need to talk about their experience abroad and openly stated that as a reason for participating. The meetings with the women were often of ‘girl-talk over coffee’- nature. Thus, the occasions resulted in both very unconstrained and open-hearted conversations about the experiences of the life abroad.
On the other hand, I experienced a greater challenge in finding male interviewees. Some were very reluctant when I approached them, others even unfriendly. The reason might be found in the negative and suspicious media coverage over the years in their home country about the lifestyle migrant phenomenon which might have caused the men to be hesitant towards a scientific study. The difficulty in finding men willing to talk to me naturally caused a stress during the fieldwork. Many of the male participants were, therefore, found with the generous assistance from other interviewees. In sum, the researcher has to equally be open to the field and let it show the way, as well as have a set agenda which gives the work a sense of stability (cp. Kaijser & Öhlander, 1999).
Observing and describing
The third method to use is observation. With the gaze of an outsider the researcher can place her- or himself on separate occasions and on different locations, as well as in special events connoting the transnational experience for lifestyle migrants. From this outside position the task is to make descriptions, using the five senses, of both actions and places on two levels; the overall distanced perspective and the small detailed perspective with the aspiration of reaching the close up and personal. This method forces the researcher to frame her- or himself from the common and taken for granted and take a closer look at actions and the interactions between, on the one hand individuals and secondly; individuals and material places. Thus, this is most suitable when describing the making of transnationality, especially when it comes to specific events such as celebrations of different types.
Important descriptive material can also be found through this method (and its methodological cousin; taking visual field notes with a camera) of the specific location where the transnational practices take place since the practices, as mentioned earlier, are both context and place specific. Thus, in understanding the transnational phenomenon and culture on destinations of lifestyle migration, the place in itself has to be scrutinized which it can be while using a three-fold descriptive system (Bäckman, 2009, pp. 129-130): 1) material limitations and possibilities of a place, 2) emotional and subjective values attributed a place (cp. Tuan, 1974), and 3) collective and social representations and perceptions of a place (Massay, 1994). Hence, observation is used when studying the first aspect of place, the material limitations and possibilities. In this sense the method will generate specific descriptive data, which might be perceived as too limited or narrow. However, in conjunction with other types of methods it is an important complementary resource. The shift of searchlight from the insider to the outsider position adds descriptive richness to the analyzed practices.
Walking along
To be able to capture the second aspect of researching place through the above mentioned system, as well as deepen the knowledge of the transnational practice further, an additional fourth method is insightful; walk along-interviews. Also known as go-along method (Kusenbach, 2003), and walk-about interviews (cp. Coleman & Collins, 2006), this method is a mixture of participant experience, observing and interviewing. That is, the lifestyle migrant gives a guided tour of places and spots important to them and while doing so tells the researcher their reflections and understanding of their everyday life. With some this might mean a walk together through their common streets and squares; with others the method signifies going by car while following their normal everyday route of life. In a more natural and spontaneous way, the lifestyle migrant can tell stories about their experience as they come about associatively and embedded in the places while moving around (cp. Casey, 1996, p. 16). The philosopher Edward S. Casey states: “There is no knowing or sensing a place except by being in that place, and to be in a place is to be in a position to perceive it” (Casey, 1996, p. 18). Accordingly, through the guided tours the researcher can learn and understand the knowledge and meaning attributed to the place where the lifestyle migrant has chosen to reside. The ideas and thoughts of the lifestyle migrant can both be traced back in time when events that once has happened in the urban environment unfolds into memories, as well as remain experiences that the researcher share together with the interviewee there and then sensing and moving through the streets and plazas together. Thus, this method opens the eyes to the streets, the squares, the buildings and the action taken place in this urban setting in new ways with the interviewees’ competence of the places, their trained eyes and stories to tell (cp. Kusenbach, 2003, p. 466ff).
More favorably, this method is exercised spontaneously with the informant in order to avoid tailoring the walk to places the interviewee thinks is suitable for a researcher to see. If the walk along-interviews are scheduled before hand, this possibility ought to be considered. Another approach to avoid tailoring the walks is to ask specifically for a guided tour of the places of most importance to the person. By suggesting a planned walk the pitfall of walking along becomes part of the methodology and can be used in the reflexive interpretation of the data acquired.
Media orientation
A final method is to orientate oneself in the lifestyle migration phenomenon while continuously collecting, reading and analyzing media in home country and on the specific location. The issues of concern can be lives led abroad in general, and the lifestyle migrant community in the region of study in particular. Furthermore, this is a method to use in order to attain knowledge of collective and social representations and perceptions of a place, which is the third aspect when studying place as mentioned earlier.
In the wake of the increasing lifestyle migration phenomenon an amount of media production of different types that addresses the lifestyle migrant might have been established. The sources of media can involve newspapers, magazines, television channels, radio stations, homepages, and blogs that can be accessed through Internet. Their aim can be to cater to the lifestyle migration community in being a link between the lifestyle migrant population and host society on issues concerning the transnational life along the coast. More so, the media outlets might mediate practical information on issues of relocation and adaptation for newcomers or citizens in home society with an interest in becoming a lifestyle migrant. The material generated from media collection and analysis forms a base, an orientation and a possibility to keep the researcher up-dated on news and concerns within the group, especially in between periods of fieldwork. Furthermore, the media coverage of the lifestyle migration communities in the home country gives an understanding of how the phenomenon is valued, perceived and thought of in the country of origin. Understanding these points of reference has been vital since the everyday life led in areas of lifestyle migration often has proved to be viewed through lenses of general notions and structures in the old country
Practices among Lifestyle Migrants
Annie Linderson
Department of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology
Uppsala University
Sweden
Abstract
This article introduces and evaluates an ethnological qualitatively-based multi-method approach in researching lifestyle migrant’s transnational practices in destinations of lifestyle migration. Drawing on research of individual and collective practices of transnationality among lifestyle migrants in a well-established region of lifestyle migration, a multitude of methods will be discussed and reviewed; participant experience, serial interviews, observation, walk along interviews and media orientation.
Key words: Lifestyle migration, Qualitative Methodology, Transnationality
It is said that Ethnologists enter the kitchen door to people’s lives in order to acquire and gain knowledge of what it is like to stand in that other persons’ shoes. It is there in the domains of the everyday life such as in a kitchen where the concrete daily activities and conversations serve as the key to an understanding of micro implications and possibilities that stand in sharp relation to macro structures of global and international policies.
This article offers an ethnological multi-method approach to use in the aspiration of entering a transnational kitchen door to lifestyle migrant’s lives in regions of lifestyle migration. In essence the methodology in question falls under the umbrella of an ethnography used within Anthropology. However, while the Anthropologist traditionally has devoted extended periods of time in field in the study of the Other, the proposed ethnological multi-method approach offers possibilities of entering and reentering the field over shorter periods of time through a diverse set of gateways. The methodology that will be recommended in this article is traced back to the roots of Ethnology in being a discipline engaged with the cultural study of a daily life familiar to the researcher, often in the national context of the researcher. Due to a close relation to the object, a diverse set of methods has been a means to make the researcher unfamiliar to the common and well-known surrounding and cultural life. In other words, the Ethnologist has had to exoticize the object in order to distance her- or himself from the seemingly familiar, especially if studying cultural processes in the own society or among individuals of the same nationality as the researcher (cp. Máiréad, Kockel, & Johler, 2008). Since a multitude of methods results in different sets of data, the multi-method approach contributes to a reflexive, multi-layered and contextualized micro understanding of the phenomenon in question.
Within research of lifestyle migration the approach aims to highlight different and tangible components of the lifestyle migrant’s daily experience. To follow is a broad review drawn on ethnographical research of transnational practices among Swedish lifestyle migrants that have relocated to the southern Spanish coast, Costa del Sol, which aims to illustrate possible theoretical definitions of transnational practices and suggest methods to use in qualitatively-based studies of lifestyle migration in general terms. Indeed, the methods described below are easily transferable to locales in Asia, Africa or Latin America. By using the ethnological multi-method approach to enter the kitchen door to people’s lives, Ethnology can serve as a contribution in researching lifestyle migration.
To enter the transnational kitchen of lifestyle migrants
To enter the inner domains of a house symbolizes in this case to take up ethnographical research on transnational practices among lifestyle migrants that has settled down in a destination of tourism and leisure on a permanent basis. More specifically, the article proposes views of how to study individual and collective relations to both old and new country and an emerging transnationality that is practiced through the interconnection. While approaching the kitchen door of the lifestyle migrants, the transnationality is defined as practices to be on the one hand expressions in life stories of the transnational life, and on the other, agency-based practices, found in the making of an everyday life led in relation to two separate countries. The two categories of practices are considered to be complementary and enable two different theoretical approaches; narrative analysis and phenomenology. The intersection of constructivism and phenomenology of lived experience constitutes a fruitful combination in giving a broad understanding of the transnational phenomenon of permanently residing in a country, other than the country of origin (Frykman & Gilje, 2003, p. 9; Frykman, 2006, pp. 69ff). The Swedish Ethnologist Jonas Frykman affirms this approach by stating that two legs are more stable than one (Frykman, 2006, p. 70).
The focal concern is practices of telling and making a transnationality from below (Smith & Guarnizo, 1998a, 1998b. See also Povrazanovic Frykman, 2004), among lifestyle migrants with dual (or multiple) frame of reference. The transnationality can be expressed and made through organized and institutionalized practices, as well as through non-organized and spontaneous practices in the everyday life of the lifestyle migrant. The dualistic or multiple perspectives derive from the general and compassing tendency of migrations “not [being] singular journeys but tend to become an integral part of migrants’ lives” (Faist, 2000, p. 13). The concept transnationality is the result of having acquired multiple bonds connecting one’s life across the territorial boundaries of nation-states as a consequence of mobility and migration. The dual (or multiple) frame of reference creates flows of “things not [only] bodies” (Mahler, 1998, p. 77) across national borders. The result is a transnational experience embedded with news, memories, and stories between global, national, regional and local settings. Thus, bodies can be situated on location in country of residence while being emotionally affected by things or activities concerning the country of origin in the same degree as if the person would actually be in the old country. In essence the aim is to study a transnational experience that is expressed and made, as well as how flows of ideas, values, and cross-cultural expressions affect both the individual and the collective in the daily transnational life.
Collectively a shared consciousness is created among the lifestyle migrants of living a similar transnational experience and having a similar dual or multiple frame of reference resulting in cultural reproduction. A shared transnational consciousness implies a collectively acknowledged common identity of perceiving a mental state of being at home and away from home. Together the individuals create a transnational space made of shared memories, stories, history, and experience (cp. Faist, 2000; Faist, 2004; Jackson, Crang, & Dwyer, 2004). Furthermore, the transnational cultural reproduction, associated with two or more places, blend together into a bricolage of expressed traditions, norms and habitual action within the group. Transnational space, as a theoretical concept, is by some scholars filled with a similar content as the concept diaspora. Thus, the concepts, as analytical approaches, are at times used synonymously (Povrazanovic Frykman, 2004; Wahlbeck & Olsson, 2007). That is to say, place-bound transnational practices collectively expressed and made create and constitute diasporic communities (Povrazanovic Frykman, 2004, pp. 82ff). The concept diasporic community is here defined as the establishment and meaning attributed to a collective formation with connotation to a shared place of origin in a certain geographical territory other than the origin (for definitions of diaspora, see Safran, 1991; Cohen, 1997). This has relevance when analyzing and describing shared features and meaning of an imagined or actual diasporic community that are articulated and practiced among the lifestyle migrants. To give emphasis on the collectiveness of this dimension the concept diasporic community is chosen rather than transnational space (cp. Anderson, 1983; Cohen, 1995; Vasta, 2000). Noteworthy is the fact that the resemblance of such community involves and is constituted by all types of lifestyle migrants, whether they be permanent residents, seasonal migrants, second home owners or long-stay tourists (King, Warnes, & Williams, 2000, pp. 43-44). They all figure in the specific articulation of a diasporic community in destinations of lifestyle migration, when such is set in practice.
As mentioned earlier, the transnational phenomenon derives from at least two separate localities. Expressed and made transnationality and diasporic experience does not stop at the borders of a given territory but exceeds to involve multiple places, being global, national, regional and local. To be contextually sensitive to the multiple places and structures affecting the transnational everyday experience should, therefore, be a given ambition throughout the analysis. The ideal is to engage in a multi-sited ethnography, thus to follow the lifestyle migrant to the multiple sites where they are to be found (See Watson, 1977; Marcus, 1995; Hannerz, 2003; Hannerz, 2001). However, lack of time and the practicality of conducting fieldwork might hinder a multi-sited ethnography. It is therefore advisable to strive for a multi-sited awareness even though the transnational practices originate and happen on one specific site (cp. Kleist, 2004, Anthias, 1998, p. 564).
The practices are viewed as a process of making the world understandable to live in for the individual. Thus, it is an everyday process. At times, it is goal-oriented toward specific results. Often the process is something seemingly unconscious, effortless and spontaneous (cp. Reksten-Kapstad, 2001, p. 11; Faist, 2004, p. 170). The practices are considered to be a tool kit of expressions, symbols, and narratives, as well as habits, skills, and styles, used to order life and orientate oneself in relation to how the life is led abroad. When the individual uses a tool, he/she also demonstrates the command of a competence or a capacity that governs the way to act and behave that is suitable for the given situation, time or place. Thus, this knowledge is a resource for adapting to or managing a transnational life in relation to and within a group or groups (Swindler, 1986; Casey, 1996, p. 34; Frykman & Gilje, 2003, p. 48). This makes the practices specific to context, place and time.
A Multi-Method Approach to the telling and the making
A definition of the practices of transnationality is now given. However, the question remains of how to acquire the content that is hidden in the making and in the telling. The ethnological line, as indicated, argues for a multi-method approach filtered through the reflexivity of the researcher. This signifies that the researcher through a multitude of methods enter different gateways to capture the activities and perceptions of the transnational everyday life led by lifestyle migrants in places of lifestyle migration. These entrances will also put the researcher her- or himself in the light of the study which demands a thorough reflexive discussion on the behalf of the researcher in order to draw attention to the many implications of using a physical and emotional researcher self in the field (cp. Davies, 1999). By using different and separate methods, entering the kitchen door of the everyday life offers disparate layers of knowledge and understanding. This enables a research with a deep and broad perspective. Rather than digging deep in singular spots, finding more of the same, the multi-method approach opens the ethnological gaze to new and unexplored terrains which in the long run works complementary. By constantly removing the focus and positioning oneself sometimes as an outsider, and then changing to the insider position, the study can be both analytically enriched and strengthened.
The multiple methods pointed to in this article are as follows: participant experience, series of conversational interviews, observation, walk along interviews and orientation through media. Throughout a presentation of each method there is an aspiration of using and adjusting the methods to the lifestyle migration context of leisure and relaxation, as well to the specific places of tourist destinations. The context of each separate lifestyle migration destination generates specific cultural patterns that can be benefitted from when applying different methods.
Transnational subject
To put a multitude of methods into a practical research approach, the first gateway into the kitchen of the lifestyle migrant is to use the researcher self as a transnational subject. Inspired by the phenomenological approach (Frykman, 2006; Frykman & Gilje, 2003; Bengtsson, 2001) the use of the own actions, interactions, impressions and thoughts of the transnational lifestyle is a way to gather understanding while residing in a destination of lifestyle migrants during a period of fieldwork. The daily life in field is recorded in a reflective field diary. Being an insider in this sense is inspired by the well-established method participant observation but expanded into participant experience (Hansen, 2003, p. 160). Time and engagement has proven to be vital in participating and experiencing the transnational reality in situ. Camouflaged by the distinguished feature of a constant circulation of tourists and temporary or permanent lifestyle migrants in and out of areas common for lifestyle migration, participant experience as a method is most suitable to the culture of such regions.
The reception of a researcher in lifestyle migration areas differs but my own experience is that the sudden appearance of me as a researcher was not being perceived as anything extra ordinary. I was just like any other person whose motives for dwelling in the area was seldom questioned or asked for. Certainly for those initiated, my work as a researcher was looked upon with fascination and curiosity although I was often kept at arms length outside my role as a researcher. However, this too I found to be a notable ingredient of the daily life the lifestyle migrants have adopted in my research - the atmosphere is opened to people of all kinds with a diversity of backgrounds which as such are generally not of primary interest when getting acquainted with new people. It seems like the main ambition is to stay present in the here and now, regardless of previous achievements, networks, or status.
As a result of the welcoming environment, I easily became an actor within the lifestyle migrant community and found a place where I could make informal contacts and conversations on a daily basis, above all through institutions with connotations with the home country of the migrants, like a church and a school. I took part in community activities such as singing with the church choir and with a smaller group of vocalists, made visits to the school and gave a lecture there about Ethnology and my research project to High School students, participated in the media that was directed toward the lifestyle migrants, as well as engaged in the different types of social events in the destination. The type of knowledge gained through this method is a first hand experience of alterations in the group throughout the seasons, different types of networking within the group, daily activities and interactions with the host society etc.
In this procedure the researcher self is central in the collection of data which puts an emphasis on previous knowledge, experience, and the continuous reflexivity of these factors when using the self as a transnational subject. In my research, I gained help from my previous experience in the area while being a student of the local language, as well as conducting fieldwork related to my Master’s thesis. Equally, my knowledge of the language per se together with living several periods of my life in the country enabled a pre-understanding of living in the country as a foreign woman. Hence, taking a transnational stand during my time in fieldwork has not been difficult. It has rather followed the common order of the lifestyle migration since research has shown it is often preceded by holidays and other types of travel on location (King et al., 2000, p. 27; O’Reilly, 2000, p. 25).
Albeit having a general pre-knowledge of the phenomenon as well as the host country, the same pre-understanding has forced me to strive to frame myself from fixed notions that I have gained before hand. I have had to put myself curiously anew to dis-remember or decode myself from preconceived notions of the lifestyle migration everyday life (Frykman, 2006, p. 68). More so, my gender, age and private circumstances, such as not having children of my own, restrained me to naturally get access to all events and places of the lifestyle migrant experience. Seldom could I join the activities of the retired groups on an equal basis as the pensioners. Nor had I access to the activities for families and small children. Thus, I was left out of the daily interactions and conversations in cases like the mentioned. At the occasions where I naturally could take part in such activities, my outsider position was emphasized since ordinary talk differs depending on the participants’ similarities in age, gender, region of origin, length of stay, reason for stay, etc. Circumstances like these ought to be taken into account while interpreting the data of the method.
Finally, it has been important to not seek validation or proof of already defined perceptions of what living as a transnational might mean to the individuals residing as lifestyle migrants. The multi-method approach, in its own sense, also hinders preconceived notions since the main feature of this procedure is a constant shift of focus along the process. The Anthropologist Michael Jackson encourages the researcher to leave interpretation and theorizing behind while being in fieldwork (Jackson, 1996, pp. 7ff). Along the same lines, it is important to put an emphasis on the adjustments a researcher might have to do depending on the local culture and structure within the lifestyle migrant community.
Serial interviews
A second method focuses on the different kinds of perceptions and meanings of the transnational experience expressed in life stories. The narratives are told through in-depth interviews which gives the fieldwork a specific objective. A series of conversational interviews is proposed with a smaller number of migrants residing permanently on the location in question. To give the interviews an in-depth character it is helpful to meet the informants on several occasions. Each occasion might vary between one to several hours, depending on the chemistry and talkativeness of interviewer and interviewee. The aim is to let the interviewees thoroughly tell their emigration experience, their perception of being in a voluntarily lifestyle migrant position, and their strategies of living their everyday life in reference to a country of origin different from the country of residence. Thus, the interviews are considered to have more of a life story character than a traditional interview (Atkinson, 1998). In my own research each interview has had a different theme and been designed in an open and explorative manner with an aspiration to follow the interview where it brought us.
The interview experience turned out to be challenging since what I as a researcher considered to be transnational in the lives of the respondents often was incorporated in such a way that it was taken for granted. For example, asking specific questions in themselves hinted to what I as a researcher considered to be of importance for my research. Obviously, this led to answers following the same direction. The interview, thus, shed a light on tangible parts of transnational aspects of the lifeworlds which to the interviewees was no more than an integrated and naturalized state of being. In this way, the presence of a researcher interested in the notions of the exile position in relation to a presupposed stand in-between national cultures in its own sense actualized the sought of position. Therefore, the ambition was to let the interviewee speak more freely about their life. My task was, then, rather to follow the threads of narrative that I found important for the transnational lives the respondents led with additional questions on the topic. I tried to open the interview in a broad and general manner stating the overall topic we were going to talk about in order to get us started. However, whenever the conversation came to a halt I had to ask more specific questions to lead us back on the transnational track.
The first conversational interview was, therefore, held in a general manner about the emigration experience as such. The second occasion was on the other hand concentrated to the individuals’ connection and contact with host society versus home society. The third conversation dealt with how to create belongingness and sense of home. During the fourth occasion we spoke of civil issues such as citizenship, social responsibility and loyalty to the two countries in question. If there was reason to cut down the interview sessions the series of interviews was narrowed down to three times, thus melting discussions of theme three and four together. The interviews took place in different locations such as cafés, in their work place or in the home of the individuals. All locations were chosen by the informants themselves.
Meeting several times for conversational interviews has proven to be very pertinent in many ways. With time, both trust and confidence is built up between the interviewer and the interviewees. This enables a better understanding of each individual story and background than had there only been one interview. More so, a series of interviews gives the researcher the possibility to ask clarifying questions when there is something uncertain and fill in the blanks in the story being told. Overall, the method of conducting several interviews with the same persons has proven to be most suitable to the lifestyles led on tourist destinations. A common feature is the notion of having more flexible and spontaneous attitude towards time than what the informants thought of as a general tendency in the home country. Since some have relocated to these types of areas for the purpose of leading a slower pace of life, far from full agendas and scheduling, the choice of method matched the rhythm of the lives of the respondents. It has never been hard to interfere as many times as needed with the series of interviews. The same order of conduct will probably not work in a busy city life elsewhere in the western world. To illustrate this state of being one interviewee, Anna, is a good example. She has adopted many of the everyday habits of her host society and stressed how much she valued the different time management experienced in her new country. Therefore, she always asked not to be called too long in advance since she wanted to do things in line with the mood she found herself in there and then.
The disadvantages of this approach have turned out to be logistical. Contrary to the much appreciated impulsiveness of the coastal life, a lot of the time in field the researcher has to devote to planning and organizing prior to and after the meetings which is very tiresome. More so, the requirements for successfully conducting multiple interviews with the same person are talkativeness on the behalf of the respondent, a shared interest in the conversation, and a good chemistry between the researcher and the informant. Naturally, these requirements can not always be fulfilled which might complicate the procedure.
The search of informants can have the character of the illustrious ‘snowball effect,’ i.e. a very spontaneous, flexible routine of asking random people on location if they want to be a part of the study. Furthermore, e-mailing companies that address the lifestyle migrant population where possibly other migrants might work and ask if their staff wants to participate is another strategy. In addition, asking the interviewees already engaged in the study if they could recommend someone else willing to be interviewed can be helpful.
In my own research, I realized that it was easier for me to find female interviewees, who often without a doubt decided to participate. Being a young-looking female myself, I was perhaps perceived as a daughter or a granddaughter to some of the elderly female interviewees. For the younger women in the study, I found that they had a need to talk about their experience abroad and openly stated that as a reason for participating. The meetings with the women were often of ‘girl-talk over coffee’- nature. Thus, the occasions resulted in both very unconstrained and open-hearted conversations about the experiences of the life abroad.
On the other hand, I experienced a greater challenge in finding male interviewees. Some were very reluctant when I approached them, others even unfriendly. The reason might be found in the negative and suspicious media coverage over the years in their home country about the lifestyle migrant phenomenon which might have caused the men to be hesitant towards a scientific study. The difficulty in finding men willing to talk to me naturally caused a stress during the fieldwork. Many of the male participants were, therefore, found with the generous assistance from other interviewees. In sum, the researcher has to equally be open to the field and let it show the way, as well as have a set agenda which gives the work a sense of stability (cp. Kaijser & Öhlander, 1999).
Observing and describing
The third method to use is observation. With the gaze of an outsider the researcher can place her- or himself on separate occasions and on different locations, as well as in special events connoting the transnational experience for lifestyle migrants. From this outside position the task is to make descriptions, using the five senses, of both actions and places on two levels; the overall distanced perspective and the small detailed perspective with the aspiration of reaching the close up and personal. This method forces the researcher to frame her- or himself from the common and taken for granted and take a closer look at actions and the interactions between, on the one hand individuals and secondly; individuals and material places. Thus, this is most suitable when describing the making of transnationality, especially when it comes to specific events such as celebrations of different types.
Important descriptive material can also be found through this method (and its methodological cousin; taking visual field notes with a camera) of the specific location where the transnational practices take place since the practices, as mentioned earlier, are both context and place specific. Thus, in understanding the transnational phenomenon and culture on destinations of lifestyle migration, the place in itself has to be scrutinized which it can be while using a three-fold descriptive system (Bäckman, 2009, pp. 129-130): 1) material limitations and possibilities of a place, 2) emotional and subjective values attributed a place (cp. Tuan, 1974), and 3) collective and social representations and perceptions of a place (Massay, 1994). Hence, observation is used when studying the first aspect of place, the material limitations and possibilities. In this sense the method will generate specific descriptive data, which might be perceived as too limited or narrow. However, in conjunction with other types of methods it is an important complementary resource. The shift of searchlight from the insider to the outsider position adds descriptive richness to the analyzed practices.
Walking along
To be able to capture the second aspect of researching place through the above mentioned system, as well as deepen the knowledge of the transnational practice further, an additional fourth method is insightful; walk along-interviews. Also known as go-along method (Kusenbach, 2003), and walk-about interviews (cp. Coleman & Collins, 2006), this method is a mixture of participant experience, observing and interviewing. That is, the lifestyle migrant gives a guided tour of places and spots important to them and while doing so tells the researcher their reflections and understanding of their everyday life. With some this might mean a walk together through their common streets and squares; with others the method signifies going by car while following their normal everyday route of life. In a more natural and spontaneous way, the lifestyle migrant can tell stories about their experience as they come about associatively and embedded in the places while moving around (cp. Casey, 1996, p. 16). The philosopher Edward S. Casey states: “There is no knowing or sensing a place except by being in that place, and to be in a place is to be in a position to perceive it” (Casey, 1996, p. 18). Accordingly, through the guided tours the researcher can learn and understand the knowledge and meaning attributed to the place where the lifestyle migrant has chosen to reside. The ideas and thoughts of the lifestyle migrant can both be traced back in time when events that once has happened in the urban environment unfolds into memories, as well as remain experiences that the researcher share together with the interviewee there and then sensing and moving through the streets and plazas together. Thus, this method opens the eyes to the streets, the squares, the buildings and the action taken place in this urban setting in new ways with the interviewees’ competence of the places, their trained eyes and stories to tell (cp. Kusenbach, 2003, p. 466ff).
More favorably, this method is exercised spontaneously with the informant in order to avoid tailoring the walk to places the interviewee thinks is suitable for a researcher to see. If the walk along-interviews are scheduled before hand, this possibility ought to be considered. Another approach to avoid tailoring the walks is to ask specifically for a guided tour of the places of most importance to the person. By suggesting a planned walk the pitfall of walking along becomes part of the methodology and can be used in the reflexive interpretation of the data acquired.
Media orientation
A final method is to orientate oneself in the lifestyle migration phenomenon while continuously collecting, reading and analyzing media in home country and on the specific location. The issues of concern can be lives led abroad in general, and the lifestyle migrant community in the region of study in particular. Furthermore, this is a method to use in order to attain knowledge of collective and social representations and perceptions of a place, which is the third aspect when studying place as mentioned earlier.
In the wake of the increasing lifestyle migration phenomenon an amount of media production of different types that addresses the lifestyle migrant might have been established. The sources of media can involve newspapers, magazines, television channels, radio stations, homepages, and blogs that can be accessed through Internet. Their aim can be to cater to the lifestyle migration community in being a link between the lifestyle migrant population and host society on issues concerning the transnational life along the coast. More so, the media outlets might mediate practical information on issues of relocation and adaptation for newcomers or citizens in home society with an interest in becoming a lifestyle migrant. The material generated from media collection and analysis forms a base, an orientation and a possibility to keep the researcher up-dated on news and concerns within the group, especially in between periods of fieldwork. Furthermore, the media coverage of the lifestyle migration communities in the home country gives an understanding of how the phenomenon is valued, perceived and thought of in the country of origin. Understanding these points of reference has been vital since the everyday life led in areas of lifestyle migration often has proved to be viewed through lenses of general notions and structures in the old country
The media orientation approach is used complementary in the study of transnational practices among lifestyle migrants. The data produced forms a background to actions, interactions and activities that individual lifestyle migrants might engage in which perhaps is portrayed in media. In addition and as mentioned earlier, the method deals specifically with collective and social representation of the phenomenon in media. Both sets of data are imperative in order to contextualize individual’s transnational experience as well as lifestyle migration as a transnational phenomenon through the logics of the local, the regional, the national and the global order the migrants live by continuously and simultaneously.
Inside the kitchen
Entering the kitchen door for a rich and thorough understanding of what the daily experiences of lifestyle migration is really like, this article is arguing for a plural usage of qualitatively based methods. Through research of transnational practices, the aim has been to present how a usage of different methods can serve in the study of lifestyle migration. Shifting focus through a multi-method approach highlights complementary and tangible activities and expressions captured while using the kitchen door to the lifestyle migrant’s transnational everyday life. The methods chosen are suggested to be carefully adjusted to the constitution and suitability of the cultural patterns of each lifestyle migration destination. The adjustments can be both of a trial and error-character, as well as being the result of thoughtful reflexivity prior to entering the field and along the process of researching. The presentations of methods have intended to be transparent in showing both possibilities and constraints of being a reflexive researcher when using qualitative methods in regions of lifestyle migration.
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Biography of author
Annie Linderson is a PhD student in Ethnology at the Department of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology, Uppsala
University in Sweden. The objective of her research is to analyze practices of transnationality of Swedish lifestyle
migrants on Costa del Sol, in the south of Spain. Her research is based on ethnographical fieldwork conducted during
the spring 2009. Key concepts in her research are: transnationality, mobility, diasporic community, Swedishness,
Spanishness, belongingness and translocational positionality.
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