Kultur(en) und Sprache(n) der Asylwirklichkeit – Herausforderungen empirischer Forschung im Kontext von Unsicherheit, Verrechtlichung, Interkulturalität und Mehrsprachigkeit

Abstract

Qualitative research in the context of asylum is often made a problem, as on the one hand interviewing vulnerable, possibly traumatized individuals asks for particular methodological approaches and, as on the other hand, understanding seems to be limited due to linguistic and cultural foreignness. This methodological contribution changes the perspective and understands methodological challenges of data collection as not based on the characteristics of the individual but on that of the societal environment, which creates ‘the asylum seeker’ in the first place. A methodological approach, which perceives multilingualism and the coexistence of diverse cultures not primarily as an obstacle but as an opportunity for understanding is discussed on the level of data analysis. Based on concrete experiences of an ongoing research on the Austrian asylum reality, methodological particularities of the field are outlined; it is shown how established methodological approaches can be used in the given research context and what kind of adaptations and methodological innovation are useful for research in the context of asylum. It is imperative that on the one hand the focus is put on the „asylum culture“ and the „asylum language“ distinct to the field; on the other hand the interviewees have to be understood not primarily as migrants but as representatives and experts of this particular culture and language.