Postcards from Hidden Worlds: Secrecy, Refusal, and Radical Hospitality in Researching Childhood Multispecies Secret Places
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This methodologically focused article traces the development and implementation of an anonymous-postcards method for gathering data on childhood multispecies secret places while attuning to their constitutive secrecy. Grounded in postqualitative inquiry and research creation and shaped by the enabling constraints of anonymity, age, and materiality, the method invites memories of secret places to be shared anonymously via postcards. Yet, as the research unfolded, unexpected (non)arrivals redirected the focus. In response, the article discusses (radical) hospitality as a methodological and ethical response that (un)conditionally welcomes refusals and their silent, excessive, and ghostly modes of participation, data, and knowledge.
Source: Journal of Childhood Studies
Author: Kristina Vitek
Institution: University of Oulu
Language: English
Subfield: Cultural Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7225558514