Sensitive Methods for a Sensitive Past? Approaching the Ordinary Legacies and Memories of Socialism in Iași and Timișoara, Romania
Résumé
Through the cases of Timișoara and Iași, the research is focusing on the representations, perceptions and uses of the legacies of the socialist period in Romania. Given the difficulties experienced by Romanians under the communist regime, studying this past is not easy. The intervention therefore begin by outlining the obstacles encountered in fieldwork situations, and in particular during interviews, to talk about urban legacies and memories of socialism. These situations have encouraged some methodological shifts, especially the exploration of sensitive and sensory methods (photo-elicitation, commented routes, mind maps, etc.). The hypothesis is that these methods can elicit other types of reaction, giving space to emotions and sensitive relationships with (urban) objects. With regard to this last point, a fieldwork was carried out in museums exhibiting everyday objects from the socialist period in Iași and Timișoara, and some results are presented.