Striving for experiential resonance: Critique, postcritique and phenomenology
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7146/qs.v5i1.105460Keywords:
Critique, interpretation, phenomenology, postcritique, resonanceAbstract
Given that qualitative researchers have (rightly) abandoned the idea
of social scientific truths as mirrors of nature, what kind of truth do
we hope to provide to our readers? In other words, what is the point
of reading qualitative research? Taking inspiration from Paul Ricoeur’s
distinction between a hermeneutics of suspicion and a hermeneutics
of faith, this article sketches out two possible answers. It first
presents a critical approach that exposes hidden truths to educate and
emancipate its readers. The concept of ‘critique’ has recently come
under scrutiny, however, with postcritical scholars denouncing its tautological
reasoning, its reductionist analytical strategies and its arrogant
approach to other people. Acknowledging these criticisms, the
article then goes on to present a phenomenological approach that
points out unnoticed truths to reverberate and resonate with its readers.
It is argued that this self-consciously ‘weak’ approach helps us
circumvent the analytical issues currently associated with critique.
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