memories

Red for Burma day
Originally uploaded by Marika.

November 2000: I'm sitting on the floor in a London apartment, browsing colourful books about Burma. Next to me, a Burmese monk and his friend. I have just finished interviewing them for my master-thesis, which concerned the use of the Internet among exile-Burmese people. I did interviews with nine Burmese people during my ten days in London. I also interviewed people from the non-profit media organization Democratic Voice of Burma in Oslo.

The meetings made a huge impression on me. I know wearing a red shirt isn't much of an action. But it feels meaningful to be part of a global symbolic protest.

45 years of military repression is just surreal.

transcending souls?

For the qualitative-minded researcher, the open-ended interview apparently offers the opportunity for an authentic gaze into the soul of the other... (Davd Silverman (2003) "Analyzing Talk and Text: 343).

In an otherwise interesting article, I believe Silverman reads too much into the intentions of researchers conducting qualitative interviews. This sentence really jumped out on me. I'm preparing two lectures in methodology that I agreed to do at the Department of Political Science. At first I regretted having said yes, but clearly it might just make me more prepared for critical methodological comments on my PdD-thesis. There, I immediately felt sick thinking about it. My defense, if it is approved will take place on the 19th of December. Touch wood.