Reflexive Practice, the “Turn to Care” and Accounting for Feeling: The Things We Talk About with Our Friends

• Main Author: Rowan Aust
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University College Cork 2021-01-01
• Series: Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media
• Subjects: methodology; care; television
• Online Access: http://www.alphavillejournal.com/Issue20/HTML/ArticleAust.html

This article examines methodological techniques and considerations during life-story interviews with female friends and acquaintances for research on television production. It reflects upon the nuances at play during such interviews in which the interviewer is positioned simultaneously as a researcher and an ex-television produceror what has long been identified as an “insider” (Caldwell)while simultaneously understanding television work within a framework of a contemporary “turn to care”. Understanding television work in the context of care raises specific considerations: to what extent should the emotional, experiential engagement of being an “insider”, amplified by a discussion of care, be used as part of this work? The discussion of care often focuses subjects on where care is not applied to them, particularly in the lives of freelancers as freelancing denies a structure of care due to its atomised and individualist construction. Meanwhile, conversations about care emphasise the emotional load demanded, which is often revealed as overwhelming. What are the responsibilities of the researcher in opening up subjects in this way; where should the work of the “insider” stop and are the methods balanced by the usefulness of the findings?