Talanoa as empathic apprenticeship

Abstract

Talanoa has been defined as 'talking about nothing in particular ' , 'chat' or 'gossip' . It is within the cultural milieu of talanoa that knowledge and emotions are shared and new knowledge is generated. Talanoa has recently been taken up by development researchers and others as a culturally appropriate research method in Pacific contexts. However, talanoa is often treated as synonymous with 'informal open-ended interviews' and tends to gloss over the deep empathic understanding required in such exchanges. Highlighting the connection between talanoa and empathy is vital in ensuring that development practitioners and researchers are implicitly aware of the political dimensions, cultural appropriacy and socio-ecological impact of their research methods. This connection is also critical in illuminating how talanoa as a method may decolonise research in the Pacific, inform the decolonisation of research in other cultural contexts, and contribute to ethical and empowering development policy and practice. We will argue for the merits of what we refer to here as 'empathic apprenticeship': an intentional, embodied, emotional, and intersubjective methodology and process between the researcher and the participant. An empathic apprenticeship has the potential to enhance shared understandings between all human beings and is essential if talanoa is intended as a decolonising research methodology.

Diverse Complexities, Complex Diversities

“…Talanoa is a research methodology drawn from a tradition of oratory that is common to Pacific Island nations, including Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Niue, Hawai'i, the Cook Islands, and Tonga (Farrelly & Nabobo-Baba, 2014). Tongan scholar Timote…”

Positionality and protocol in field research: Undertaking community‐based investigations in Samoa

“…The concept of talanoa , which is recognised as a culturally appropriate research method in the Pacific context (Suaalii‐Sauni and Fulu‐Aiolupotea, ), was adhered to in all interviews and meetings with Indigenous people. As explained by Farrelly and Nabobo‐Baba (: 319), this involves ‘engaging in dialogue’ which acknowledges the cultural and site‐specific context of the engagement, and focuses on developing rapport and shared understanding, beyond the focus of the study, in which empathy underlies the dialogue. In this context, research questions were slowly ‘filtered into’ often wide‐ranging discussions at appropriate times.…”

Through Pacific/Pasifika Lens to Understand Student’s Experiences to Promote Success Within New Zealand Tertiary Environment

“…The researchers and participants, being Pasifika, are free to display cultural expressions, nuances, or use words in their own vernacular to express opinions, behaviours, or attitudes while upholding the values and beliefs that empower people. In this context, the researchers and the participants converse in a comfortable fashion with mālie (humour), māfana (warm) and so build relationship, while engaging in truthful and authentic dialogues (Farrelly and Nabobo-Baba 2014;Vaioleti 2006). Authenticity in this approach invites not only being heard but is about having the right to be present and grow in cultural spaces.…”