The sensory memory of the researcher: retrospective and critical reflections on the role of the senses in migration research

Abstract

This article explores the researcher’s sensory memory to offer new insights into multi-sited research conducted between Switzerland and Portugal. It analyses fieldwork diaries and visual data (photos and drawings) collected over four years (2018-2022). Providing a methodological and empirical contribution, the paper reaffirms the importance of the body and senses in the sociological study of (return) migration. Through critical retrospective reflection, I re-examine both the epistemology and the data of my doctoral research on the transition to retirement of long-term intra-European labour migrants. In this paper, I explain how I engaged with the body in my research, employing a multisensory approach to access the field and collect data. I also explore the experiences of displacement, emplacement, and re-emplacement, and highlight how sensory (dis)continuity emerges in both out-migration and return migration.

KEYWORDS: Sensory memory, ex-post reflexivity, drawing, body, return migration, transnational belonging