Thinking the Interview: On the Epistemology of an Intersubjective Field Method (Part II)
The paper continues the article “Thinking the Interview: On the Epistemology of an Intersubjective Field Method (Part I)”, which focuses on the constant adaptability, changeability and interchangeability of the subject and object positions which are practised by researcher and informant in an interview. In order to understand better the fluid, flexible and circumstantial construction of this particular interpersonal relationship within an interview situation, the paper continues with presenting five further perspectives, based on well-established theories of some important thinkers in the field of social sciences and humanities, which may be helpful in reflecting on the positions, roles, investments, and doings of both protagonists within an interview situation: discursive perspective, underpinned by the theory of power and authority (Michel Foucault); psychoanalytic perspective, centred around the theory of the unconscious (Sigmund Freud); ethnographic perspective, capped by the theory of reflexivity (Pierre Bourdieu); mnemonic perspective, grounded on the theory of memory (Maurice Halbwachs); dramaturgical perspective, supported by the theory of interaction (Erving Goffman). The abovementioned perspectives can be helpful in planning and organising field work, as well as in collecting and interpreting the qualitative empirical data obtained by interviews.