Ethnographic and Narrative Methods of Enquiry for Researching Intangible Cultural Heritage

Authors

• Inkeri Aula Postdoctoral researcher, Aalto Visual communication Design https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5781-7965
• Masood Masoodian Aalto University https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3861-6321
• Alicia Nunez Garcia University of Edinburgh https://orcid.org/0009-0006-7308-2360

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.23991/ef.146630

Abstract

Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) related to tangible heritage sites includes contemporary meaningful human practices such as experiences, stories and embodied knowledge. These practices can deepen people’s connection to the past and prepare them for the future, especially in times of environmental crises and societal transformations. To facilitate preservation and sharing of such ICH, museums and other cultural institutions and agencies are increasingly interested in accounting for the living practices of communities and different social groups connected with heritage sites in creative and engaging ways. For attaining this, accessible methods of cultural research that are considerate of community engagement are needed. This article presents multisensory narrative methods that we have been adapting and developing in order to capture, present and share ICH associated with several ancient heritage sites across Europe in a multi- and trans-disciplinary context. In particular, we focus on two methods: (1)  on-site walking interviews inspired by sensobiographic walking, and (2) a form of narrative workshop which combines storytelling circle with sensory activities. Through these creative and participatory methods, we have produced research data about the experiences, emotions and environmental dimensions related to the megalithic, standing stone sites in the Central Alentejo region of Portugal, and Calanais stone circles in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Our objective here is to share these knowledge generation methods so that they can be easily replicated by others, while taking into account the complexity and depth of human narratives of ICH.