Poly-space : Creating new concepts through reflexive team ethnography

Abstract

In this chapter, we outline the development process of the concept of poly-space – which conceptualizes the entanglement of multiple moments and different spatial, temporal, affective and cognitive experiences in one physical place, the heritage site. The concept was conceived based on the experiences that members of the EUROHERIT project gained while conducting ethnographic fieldwork at 11 heritage sites awarded with the European Heritage Label by the European Commission. We argue that collaborative interpretive reflexivity – a form of affective sharing among researchers that goes beyond traditional conceptualizations of team ethnography – was the key aspect contributing to and enabling our conceptual innovations. Additionally, we show that while ethnography forms a fruitful basis for generating new concepts, the concepts also contribute to ethnography. Through sharing our experiences and data, we mediated our experience of poly-space but also produced the sites as poly-space. Our oral communication, exchange of experiences and sharing of emotions made the sites inter-personal and filled them with emotional and affective meanings. This kind of deep knowledge enables new insights, but also challenges conventional notions of how we gain knowledge.