Stitching Memories: Collaborative (Re)search of Epistemic Wholeness

Abstract

This contribution describes the collaborative autoethnography that emerged between Aicha, a Syrian refugee living in Croatia, and myself, a researcher and a former refugee from Croatia. Aicha was one of seven refugees who took part in my narrative research on refugee youth’s schooling experiences as the novel COVID-19 virus shut the schools and established online schooling. In this manuscript, I write about two experiences while using metaphors of weaving and embroidery: one regards the journey of collaborative autoethnography that emerged between Aicha and myself accounting for building our relationship in reciprocity and vulnerability; the other looks into our shared stories and their resemblance cutting across different temporal contexts, while discussing long histories of social distancing against Muslims, migrants, and refugees as the racial and cultural Other. Aicha has become a sister, friend, co-writer and coagitator of solidarity and justice in times when her voice, hijab and language represent an ongoing war.