Sixth Sense Abcderium

By María Vargas

 A 14-year old immigrant girl is not your typical superhero, not like the X-men of Marvel Comics fame. But why shouldn’t she be? Why not? In what follows, I report on an exercise in “imaginative ethnography” which I conducted together with Isabela, who had recently immigrated from Colombia to (French-speaking) Montreal, Canada. I begin by framing my approach, which was based on the following instructions in the chapter on “Performing” written by Magdalena Kazubowski-Houston in the book A Different Kind of Ethnography, edited by Denielle Elliott and Dara Culhane:

“Write a short performance script based on your fieldwork experience: a dramatic dialogue between two characters; a dramatic scenario in a descriptive or poetic form outlining the main characters, locale, and dramatic action; or a fairy tale. Once you complete writing your short performance script, respond to the following questions: What aspects of your research were you trying to communicate through this exercise? What are the central metaphors and images in your piece, and how do they support its overall message? What are the challenges and potentials of representing ethnographic research through performative writing?” (Elliott & Culhane, 2016: 127)

Script co-writing as a way to explore the experience of migration 

In this essay, I will explore the use of imagination in ethnographic inquiry through a research-creation activity: the co-writing of a script to examine the experience of a teenage migrant in a welcoming class in Montreal. When an underage immigrant student arrives in Montreal, they are automatically enrolled in the so-called welcoming program if they do not speak French. During their time in this program, newcomers learn French, math, and participate in sports and arts. This incredibly diverse sensory experience—including sounds, temperatures, textures, rhythms, and other stimuli—presents a considerable challenge for psychological and physical adaptation and may be difficult to access through classic ethnography. Furthermore, it can be challenging for teenagers to conceptualize and articulate this experience in a regular interview. In this context, a different kind of ethnography (Elliott & Culhane, 2016) could provide access to data through a participatory research-creation approach, offering an opportunity for both the ethnographer and the teenager to collaboratively shape an understanding of the experience.

In the classic Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography (1986), James Clifford and George Marcus (1986) critique the conventional monophonic and hierarchical way of conducting ethnography. Following this critique, new forms of ethnography have emerged. The book A Different Kind of Ethnography (Elliott & Culhane, 2016) reflects a collective effort to find polyphonic and dialogic approaches to knowledge creation about others. In the approach proposed by the authors who founded the Center for Imaginative Ethnography and wrote this book, a methodology is presented that is based on the theoretical assumption that “ethnographic knowledge emerges not through the detachment of observation but through conversations and exchanges of many kinds among people interacting in diverse zones of entanglement” (Elliott & Culhane, 2016: 3). This emergent ethnographic methodology occurs in the context of collaborative and co-created knowledge-making, where imagination, affect, and embodied knowledge transform social theories from the bottom up by reshaping how knowledge is created (Elliott & Culhane, 2016: 7). Framed within these theoretical and methodological reflections, creative activities such as scriptwriting become effective tools for researching human experience, enabling us to attenuate power dynamics, incorporate diverse voices in the same text, and explore/integrate sensory and bodily dimensions into ethnography.

Following this, I will share the script interwoven with a description of the process, its dialogue, questions, and physical sensations. This exercise was conducted with Isabela, a 14-year-old teenage girl who arrived in Montreal a few months ago. It took place over two sessions, each lasting two hours, during which she dictated, and I typed on the computer. My proposal to her was to jointly create this short film script, crafting a story together about her experience in the Montreal welcome classes. “You will lead the story. I will contribute with my knowledge of dramaturgy and suggest ideas,” I explained. My primary role was to ask questions about how she wanted the narrative and characters to develop. We sat together in front of the computer, with me typing as she narrated the story.

This exercise was conceived as an activity with the potential to develop “an alternative rendering of social lives, one that accounts for the forgotten, disappeared, hidden, and lost” (Elliott & Culhane, 2016, p. 13). It also aligns with Danielle Elliott’s call for readers to “undiscipline” their imagination as a way to retheorize the everyday (Elliott & Culhane, 2016, p. 14). Keeping this in mind, I intuitively understood that entering the realm of imagination together would be a challenge, especially because the story’s context closely resembles her everyday experiences.

To address this, I asked her to first develop the introductory scene with great detail, allowing us to establish a strong imaginative foundation before moving on to the plot. Although we didn’t have enough time to complete a full script, we managed to create several scenes and outline the narrative arc. This outline is a sequence of events that helps structure the story, highlighting the key events, tensions, and struggles that drive the narrative forward and ultimately lead to a resolution. I chose this approach because it would help us activate our imaginations by building a shared starting point, enabling us to zoom in and out of the story as needed.

I knew that Isabela enjoys superhero movies, and imagining the story as a film would help her to envision an alternative rendering of her world, her hopes, and her fears. Developing the first scene in detail—where she needed to imagine the setting, characters, atmosphere, and actions—allowed us to gradually enter a universe of her own creation. From this starting point, we were able to build an outline that reflects her experience on a sensory level.

To activate this sensory focus, I explained to her that “the script is like instructions for the crew to make the film as you imagine it. We need to detail the sensations of this place and how your character feels them. For example, what’s the light like here? Is it cold? What sounds are present?”

Below is the first scene of the script:

SCRIPT

ESC 1- day – School entrance.

The school is covered in snow, and the light is dim. Isabela (14, obviously Latina) arrives at school. Signs are in French. The school is gigantic, a vast building. The trees are leafless, but it does not look like a horror movie. Isabela is covered in scarves and a hat. Coming out of so many layers, you only see her lengthy, straight black hair and her large brown eyes with indigenous features. We see her face from the front, close-up, she shows that she is nervous, her eyes move a lot, she looks everywhere. She moves her arm awkwardly and pulls out her cell phone. She pretends that she is seeing something, but in reality, this is an excuse not to look people in the face.

Three friends approach with their suitcases and cold jackets. They are Latinos too.

ISABELA

Uy, juepucha, pobre Dionelis.

ELIANA (whispering)

Yo no entendí nada de la tarea, pero no le quiero preguntar.

This scene, narratively insignificant, cost us a great deal of effort. Especially for Isabela, it took time to find the details and memories that she was looking for in her mind. This difficulty is part of crossing the threshold from reality to imagination. Many questions arose as we wrote these lines: Is it okay for her to be named after me? Do I want the character to be female? Why do I want her to have indigenous features? Do I consider myself indigenous? Once we had detailed the scenario, we felt situated. Then, I said to Isabela “Now, what would this story be like if it were set in a fantasy setting?”. Isabela thought for a long time. I decided to intervene again with this question “If Isabela had magical powers, what would she do in this context?”. Isabela replied: “She would slow down time”. This is precious information about the experience of a migrant adolescent in the foster program. Feeling that time goes faster than her mind. The desire to give yourself a break from that haste. What else could Isabela tell us about this lack of synchrony between internal and external time?

I proposed that we develop a scene from this superpower:

ESC 2 – DAY INT. Classroom. 

We see Isabela’s face looking at the class board. The teacher writes in French with Latin letters, but as she progresses in her writing, they become incomprehensible scribbles. Isabela’s face looks confused. Her eyes are moving nervously. The teacher looks at the class and takes a piece of paper out of a bag. She calls out for Isabela to come to the board. Isabela’s eyes open like two saucers. She looks around her and stands nervously. She strolls towards the board. There is a long silence. Her footsteps are heard. She stares at the doodles written on the board, straining to understand them. The scribbles organize themselves to form letters but then become disorganized again. She is standing next to the board, and she tries to answer. However, she cannot do anything. The teacher, in a neutral tone, tries to continue with the class and asks:

Teacher

Est-ce-que quelqu’un peut…

Isabela rubs her hands together anxiously. After several moves, she rubs her hands together in front of each other. We see in detail how her hands face each other, moving slowly. A sound makes us feel like something is going to happen. Magically, time becomes so slow that the teacher and students seem frozen. Isabela moves her hands to verify that she is moving at an average speed. She approaches the teacher and sees that she moves a millimeter per second. They cannot see Isabela. She thinks and says out loud:

ISABELA

For me, everything goes so slowly that I am a flash of lightning. Their eyes cannot see me, and I am like a ghost to them. And they, for me, are like ancient mountains.

She smiles in amazement. She looks around in surprise. She looks back at the board and sees the letters that look like doodles. She feels bored as if she forgot that she had stopped time with her hands for a moment. She is startled and remembers again the strangeness of what she is experiencing. She gets an idea.

She quickly goes to her desk, opens her notebook, searches busily, looks in the dictionary, and finds the answer. She looks at the board again: The doodles have been organized, and now everything is understandable to her. She runs back to where she was in front of the board. She looks around and screams:

Isabela

¡Play!

However, everything keeps moving very slowly. She thinks and claps her hands as if she can wake everyone up from a dream. Everything remains the same, and she thinks about what to do, becoming more and more distressed. She nervously rubs her hands together, anxiety taking over her body. Again, we hear the sound that indicates that something magical will happen, and in slow motion, we see how she rubs her hands again. Time speed is restored. 

Profesora

… me dire la rèponse?

Isabela anxiously rubs her hands together again, and everything slows down again. She rubs them again, and things resume their normal speed. She does this several times, quite funny, and she laughs aloud. Taking a deep breath after giggling, she looks back at the board and remembers that she has a plan, and she decides to continue seriously.

Proud of herself, Isabela says:

Isabela

« Madame, Je peux dire la reponse ».

The impressed teacher tells her:

Teacher

“Très bien”.

Isabela smiles proudly and returns to her chair with a mischievous look, a smile blooming brightly on her face. Her friend looks at her puzzled. Isabela looks back at her sharing the astonishment but revealing that she discovered something.

We developed this scene with excitement and great enthusiasm. I sensed a release of pent-up energy as Isabela imagined herself as powerful. While creating the first scene, her body language was initially reserved—leaning back, arms folded in front of her, and slipping down in her chair. However, as we continued writing, both of us started moving energetically, waving our arms widely and interrupting each other with new ideas.

Isabela then suggested a classic superhero movie scene where the character realizes she has superpowers and begins experimenting with them. It’s a fun scene where the character visits different settings, exploring and playing with their newfound abilities. As we began developing the scene and brainstorming possible events, a fascinating motif for this ethnography started to emerge. Isabela proposed that one of the superheroine’s first actions would be to slow down time so she could enter a regular class—the one where non-migrants or migrants who already speak French attend.

ESC- INT- DAY School hallways

Isabella has fun touring the entire school while it is slowed down. She stops in front of a door that says “classe secondaire trois”. She peeks through a narrow window between the door and the wall at the entrance to the classroom. It is the regular class. She quickly steps back to prevent them from noticing that she is spying on them. She remembers that time is so slow that they cannot see her. She opens the door, enters, and meticulously details her companions.

At this point, I asked Isabela, “What are the regular class students like? How do they move? How do they look?” She thought for a moment before replying, “They look more relaxed, neater, with necklaces. They learn interesting things, like the parts of a cell. The girls are very dressed up. In the welcome class, faces look like they don’t understand. But in the regular class, they have a look like they feel cool; they’re attentive, not so much to the class, but to looking good.”

Isabela continued describing in detail how students in the migrant and regular classes, both girls and boys, comb their hair—each group styling it in a distinct way that reflects the different atmospheres. Another notable aspect was the sound environment: in the welcome class, a diversity of sounds emerges as multiple languages are spoken. In contrast, the regular class has the consistent sound of French being spoken. As we imagined the time-slowing scene, we realized that, in our minds, it was silent. We decided that, in the film, when time slows down, the ambient sounds would remain in real time. This choice would keep the voices in class, the clinking of cutlery in the school cafeteria, and the sounds of children playing at recess as a vivid background, highlighting the contrasts between the welcome and regular classes.

Isabela continued imagining scenes where she would use her superpower. For example, she imagined pausing time to take a morning break in her home country, something she misses. This detail, I think, hints at her rest habits and the daily rhythms of her home life, which she recalls through sensory memories. Overall, she described a series of actions, all focused on pausing the world so she could take a moment to understand her surroundings, regain her balance, and recharge.

To wrap up the exercise, I suggested we think about an ending. What would be a fitting conclusion for our superheroine? What would change in her life? How would she relate to her superpower after a while? Isabela decided that, after a few months, her character would gradually rely less and less on the superpower. At the end of the story, she’s surprised to realize that she hasn’t slowed down time in quite a while. Without needing her superpower, she finds herself understanding her teachers and classmates when they speak in French.

* * *

A week after doing the exercise, I asked Isabela if her feelings had changed at all. She told me that she had thought, “I wish I could slow down time,” on two occasions. She also mentioned that she felt calmer, but that it could be due to many variables, such as the fact that it had been a more relaxed week in terms of academic demands. I continued investigating, and this was the dialogue:

María: 

And what effect do you think it has on one to know that what one needs is to slow down time?

Isabela: 

I used to think, “I want to go home. I wanted to disappear as if the earth swallowed me and spat me out on Mars”.

María: 

You mean, to escape.

Isabela: 

Slowing down time is also escaping because I am getting myself out of the uncomfortable situation. Although Isabela (in the script) did not leave, she took the opportunity to review her notes. I mean, when you slow it down, it is like you do not have to escape.

María: 

Sure, you do not have to go. And what is the difference? How does it feel in the body? Let’s see, close your eyes and tell me. How does it feel in your body wanting to go home, be sucked in by the earth, and vomited into Mars?

Isabela: 

It’s like (a sound sticking out the tongue and long)… I feel small, and I don’t want to do anything… like ‘let me go’. And I don’t give a shit what happens. But to slow down time, I feel like I can do something. I can’t slow it down, but it makes me feel more powerful, although I wish others have the same superpower to be fair.

Maria:

Do you think that this week, when you thought you wanted to slow down time, you felt more powerful than when you thought you wanted to leave?

Isabela:

Yes, I’m not entirely lying there waiting to be sucked. I feel like Mako Mermaids (a TV show about mermaids who had magic). I feel magical and like… the main character. And it makes me laugh to think that I have powers. I also feel that with the story, it is no longer a mess in my head what I think, but more physical. I don’t only feel like everything is going too fast, but now I know what it is, I am not lost or need to escape.

* * *

Appendix: Script Outline.

1. Meeting of friend at the school entrance

2. They are separated into different host groups. Different classrooms.

3. In the classroom the teacher speaks fast, what she says is not understandable.

4. Isabela is slipping in her chair, and she wants time to run out quickly.

5. Discovers the gift of slowing down reality

6. Tour the school and enjoy all her powers

7. See the regular class and how they dress through a small window.

8. See the reception class: see how they are dressed and what kind of animals they are.

9. Isabela repeatedly slows down time and looks at the answers to the teacher’s questions.

10. In the school corridor, where the lockers are, Isabela looks at different students and realizes that she understands everything they say. She thinks to herself: I don’t need to slow down time anymore. Now we go at the same speed.

11. End: Isabela enters a regular classroom and greets her friends in French very happy.

By way of closing, let me respond to the questions which this exercise asks us to address:

1- What aspects of your research were you trying to communicate through this exercise? 

The central aspect I wanted to communicate, and in this case, I would say we, Isabela and I, tried to communicate, is the core of her experience in the classe d’accueil. One of the purposes of this exercise was to uncover these central aspects together. The exercise helped Isabela delve into the bodily experience of time, which is the main aspect I wanted to share. However, this question is based on the assumption that the script represents ethnographic knowledge. In reality, this scriptwriting exercise was a tool to collectively build an understanding of human experience. In this case, it involved only one interviewee, but in a larger project, there could be many students contributing together, perhaps creating a script about a gang of kids with superpowers, for example. Understanding the creative process as a way to co-create knowledge about social processes, such as migration, leads us to see scriptwriting both as an ethnographic technique and as a means of communication.

2- What are the central metaphors and images in your piece, and how do they support its overall message? 

Again, this piece was created by two people. The central metaphor that Isabela found to represent how she feels in her body during this adaptation process was time asynchrony. With the superpower of slowing down the speed of time, Isabela metaphorically expresses how the time that passes outside of her body moves faster than her inner time. This metaphor supports the overall message of a body in the process of adaptation. I find the narrative that Isabela proposed to be very compelling, eloquent, and suggestive. I must also point out that, in a process where I am not prescribing the best way to represent ethnographic knowledge, but rather creating a new space for sharing and co-creating, there is no predetermined overall message that I had already chosen at the beginning of the project. On the contrary, we discover the overall message through the process of writing.

3- What are the challenges and potentials of representing ethnographic research through performative writing? 

In this exercise, my goal was not to represent ethnographic knowledge, but to create it collectively. Understood in this way, performative writing becomes a very fruitful, interesting, and powerful process. I believe we gathered valuable insights into the bodily experience of the adaptation process of a teenage immigrant—insights that would be difficult to uncover through a regular interview. Sensory aspects, like the speed of time, are challenging to reach through conversation, let alone participant observation. In this sense, writing this script allowed us to uncover deep experiential data in just two hours. At the end of the exercise, I questioned Isabela about how it had impacted the way she was experiencing her life in the classe d’accueil. We realized that it was not only a valuable research approach, but also, for her, a tool that helped her feel more empowered and gain a better understanding of herself.

Bibliography.

Clifford, J., & Marcus, G. E., eds. (1986). Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Elliott, D., & Culhane, D. (Eds.). (2016). A Different Kind of Ethnography: Imaginative Practices and Creative Methodologies. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.