“Therapy of the soul”: learning how to participate in minoritized language research
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Petteri Laihonen
,
Judit Gáspár
,
Carina Fazakas-Timaru
Abstract
This article analyses the participatory dynamics and methodological challenges of engaging the Moldavian Csángó community in co-created linguistic research through the “Therapy of the soul” project. Using participatory research as a framework, the study explores how storytelling and memory-sharing in a non-hierarchical setting fostered collaboration among researchers and local participants. The Csángó community, often portrayed through essentialist narratives of linguistic and cultural “relics”, actively redefined their identity through shared emotional experiences. We highlight how the Therapy of the soul project navigated the tension between participatory ideals and implicit hierarchies in research, with researchers balancing roles as facilitators, co-participants, and vulnerable contributors. The findings underscore the transformative potential of participatory research in creating methodologically rich points that illuminate power dynamics, language ideologies, and identity construction. Ultimately, the Therapy of the soul project provides a novel perspective on participatory research as an emotional, community-based practice fostering mutual discovery and support.
Absztrakt
Tanulmányunk a „Lelki terápia” projekt keretében a moldvai csángó közösség bevonásával és annak tagjaival közösen kialakított nyelvészeti kutatás részvételi dinamikáját és módszertani kihívásait elemzi. A részvételi kutatást keretként felhasználva a tanulmány azt vizsgálja, hogy a nem hierarchikus környezetben megvalósuló történetmesélés és az emlékek megosztása hogyan segítette elő a kutatók és a helyi résztvevők közötti együttműködést. A csángó közösség, amelyet gyakran nyelvi és kulturális „relikviák” esszencialista narratívái jelenítenek meg, érzelmeken alapuló közös tapasztalatai révén aktívan újradefiniálta identitását. Rámutatunk arra, hogy a Lelki terápia projekt hogyan kezelte a részvételiség eszményi megvalósítása és a kutatás implicit hierarchiái közötti feszültséget, miközben a kutatók a facilitátor, az egyenrangú résztvevő és a vulnerábilis közreműködő szerepei között egyensúlyoztak. Az eredmények kiemelik a részvételi kutatás transzformatív erejét azoknak a módszertanilag gazdag pontoknak a létrehozásában, amelyek rávilágítanak a hatalmi dinamikák működésére, a nyelvi ideológiákra és az identitáskonstruálás folyamataira. Nem utolsósorban a Lelki terápia projekt a részvételi kutatást mint érzelmi és közösségi alapú gyakorlatot helyezi új perspektívába. Ez a gyakorlat egyaránt hozzájárul a kölcsönös tudáskonstruáláshoz és a résztvevők támogatáshoz.
Funding source: Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKA)
Award Identifier / Grant number: K 131562
Funding source: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia
Award Identifier / Grant number: MTA Guest Fellowship Program 2024
Award Identifier / Grant number: SZKF2022-6/20224
Acknowledgments
We thank Mary Bucholtz and Sari Pöyhönen for their comments and help with finding relevant literature and developing theoretical concepts. We also thank the anonymous reviewers for their insightful, critical but kind reviews which helped us to bring clarity and depth into our article. All remaining shortcomings and oversights are the sole responsibility of the authors.
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Research ethics: Csanád Bodó is in possession of written informed consent to collect, store and use data by the invited participants, who wished to remain anonymous. Names used for the invited participants in the article are pseudonyms.
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Research funding: This work was supported by the MTA Guest Fellowship Program 2024 for Laihonen, who was hosted by Csanád Bodó at the Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary in October to December 2024. The work was also supported by Nemzeti, Kutatási Fejlesztési és Innovációs Hivatal [grant number K 131562] and Magyar Tudományos Akadémia [grant number SZKF2022-6/2022].
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