Entanglement and Illumination / What researchers can learn from movies?

I have reflected many times upon our rigid search. It has shown me that everything is illuminated in the light of the past. It is always along the side of us, on the inside, looking out. Like you say, inside out. Jonathan, in this way, I will always be along the side of your life. And you will always be along the side of mine.

Alex, Everything is Illuminated (2005)

As Alex have reflected many times upon their “rigid search” - emotional research journey through history, memory, places and time from Jonathan Safran award winning book and the following 2005 movie “Everything is Illuminated” (starting Elijah Wood and Eugene Hatz, an impetus musician from Gogol Bordello)  - I have reflected on it a lot, myself.

I would like to introduce “Everything is Illuminated” to discuss one aspect inspired by postmodern history studies theories -  “researcher’s entanglement”.

This stream of thoughts is helping me also to organize my own thoughts on those theories, by searching for the pragmatic implication of those concepts in our daily work and research processes conducted in business environment.

Storyline

In a nutshell, Everything is Illuminated is indeed a “rigid search” from the very beginning. We meet a young American Jew, calling himself “the collector” (played by Elijah Wood). We watch him, from the early age, gathering objects, family artefacts (jewels, pictures, dentures… used condom even), trying to make the meaning of them and reconstruct family history.

His archivists’ tendencies became a more dynamic research journey when he finds an ambiguous element - a neckles and an old photograph, with an unknown woman wearing it - that did not fit to the official family narrative. “The collector” decides to investigate deeper into the story. He travels to Ukraine, where his family was living before the II World War. On the  side, he meets the second main character, his guide and narrator in the movie - young, a bit cheesy Ukrainian fellow named Alex, who loves everything that is American, and has strong conviction in his special language skills (that causes many absurd and funny situations). Together with his grandfather and his “seeing-eye bitch” (a dog that is supposed to help his grandfather, who drives a car but still is claiming to be blind), Alex takes Jonathan “the collector” on a road trip in search for Trachimbrod - lost Jewish community village lost in the tragic historical events.

For main characters this road trip becomes a journey to enlightenment, for the viewer, it’s also a journey of sensitive emotions - some conflicting, some agreeing with our worldview and historical and political standing point. For researchers and designers, it is a great opportunity for self-reflexion, and let me just tell you why!

“The Rigid Search”

I don't know, why does anybody do anything? It's just... something to do. 

Johnatan after Alex asks why he collects family artifacts

Since early childhood Jonathan collects fragments of his family history. He’s not sure why, but it is his chosen way of life and potential career path, that could lead to writing a book in memory of his heritage. What starts as curiosity of a  one person deeply involved in the past, becomes a riddle of other people’s future. What Johnatan doesn’t seem to realize for most of the storyline, we as “rigid” viewers, see or at least on some level feel, from the beginning. Knowing at least basics of modern history, being a citizen of contemporary, dynamic world, we sense how complex and multidimensional is the context of his research.

Somehow, he is locked in his a bit autistic persona, following his rules of “collecting memories”, choosing not to acknowledge “the bigger picture” and experience that he, himself is a part of. Meeting Alex, and his grandfather - living, breathing, colorful and slightly confusing characters from Eastern Europe - makes him anxious and uncertain. Especially Alex, with his admiration for contemporary american culture, is not fitting to Jonathan's comfort zone, which is strongly engraved in the past and fragmentary history of his family and culture. Luckily for Alex, he doesn’t care a lot, because he’s on the other angle - a person, who easily breaks any psychological and personal barriers, without any sense of intrusion or discomfort he can cause others.

What a great, classic story duo!

Researcher’s Entanglement

Postmodern look at history, research and knowledge is a subjective, relativist one. According to this view, in every action we take a personal stand. what we can do is to become aware of our own beliefs, interests, tendencies and acknowledge this as a part of our research narrative.

In reference to my understanding of Stephen Greenblatt arguments in text Resonance and Wonder - famous American literary historian, founder of New Historicism theory - I noted down there’s no bother to try being objective, because it’s simply impossible, and every knowledge is contaminated. In other words, there is never one truth, nor a historical fact fully described from all the angles.

Another great historian and history researcher, Hayden White, claims that history is not even a science - it’s a narrative, it’s rethorics - and we cannot research history, we can only research historical texts. To came closer to an absolute truth we would need to use only laws of logical deduction, and it is not what’s happening in history research. Researchers chose facts, represent paradigms, select theories of interpretations and on this basis they construct a narrative. H.White states that history is a ongoing rhetoric process, which meaning depends on rhetorician who tells it.

Position of entangled researcher, is an identified “self” in researcher discourse and in research process. “Self” that makes us chose, represent, select one aspects, and omit other.

In Everything is Illuminated we do not grasp the full historical truth about what happened with Trachimbrodians. We have an intentional representation of national and personal history filtered by filmmakers, the author and characters of “rigid searchers” with their background, their personalities, objectives and (in consequence of participatory roadtrip) their transformations.

In the movie, we mostly follow the story of “rigid search” told by Alex. With his eastern accents, and funny language mistakes, he leads the narrative throughout the whole film. In a book, there are two voices. Alex is writing back letters to Johnatan, after reading parts of his book. Johnatan is the one entangled in a story of Jewish shtetl Trachimbrod and his ancestors, Alex is involved in his interpretation of their road trip adventures in Ukraine, and gives answers to questions from Johnatan’s letters that we, as readers never see. Both voices are expressive and powerful examples of personal narrative, exploring the same experience from different standing points. Film puts great emphasis on the differentiation of personal myths from commonly-known reality, so viewers are able to recognize this dissonance between narrative voice and presented situations. It illustrates in a subtle way, how people are lost, entangled in their own stories, narratives, myths and beliefs and how it defines their research journey choices.

Everything is Illuminated  let me to many questions on entanglement. The story is set in very specific context of II World War dramatic experiences, which impacts on the narratives of individual, but also whole nations. Entanglement scales, and what we see in the movie, is a reflection on it,  in a micro level of self - exploration.

What is the role of trauma in the process of healing and… potentially, illumination.

Do we need to revisit a traumatic experiences to move forward and untangle a bit - see things from the wider perspective?

How is it relevant to design research?

Let me rephrase that question - how isn’t?

In opposition to common simplification, known to me from business environment but also, sadly, from psychology faculty, any research is seen not as an objective process, deprived of influence, but subjective one. I guess someone can say - well, yeah that’s why “we prefer quantitative research”, or “we use Data Analysis for optimization”, because business needs its numbers. Great, you guys! But please let me remind you, that there is always a person, perhaps a researcher, who chooses what to measure and how. There is a decision to be made from the start and it is onerous with initial direction, pointed by goals to be achieved and their level of clarity to all stakeholders involved. (See “Weapons of Math Destruction” by Cathy O’Neil.)

I believe that working on our researchers’ awareness, self-exploration and clear position, will make Us better researchers. It will create new opportunities for understanding the process itself, opening a discussion with research stakeholders  and reflect on what’s missing. Acknowledging the existence of “the other” even if we don’t agree with him/her is a starting point to see wider and analyse deeper.

In business context how often we miss a stakeholder, focus on “key user”, check only “main” path suggested by product developers, limit our exploration to people pointed by clients, or make assumptions from our own previous experiences? I’m not even going into omitting accessible scientifique research results or quoting them badly out of the context, to prove the point. It happens... people rarely question.

And where the devil hides? In the details! So does innovation. It’s not in us - it’s in the other.

In the example of Johnatan and Alex it was a common experience that brought them to see their “rigid search” in a bigger context. Without this abstract journey, where their paths had crossed, Jonathan would most probably fixated on his static collection of artefacts and spend days locked in his American room, estranged and alone in his Jewish memories of past… Perhaps Alex would never realize how deep and important is his own family history, spending his days on longing for unrealistic american dream. We don’t know that. What we know, thankfully to the film… and “must-read” book, that Everything is Illuminated, when we acknowledge, accept and see “the other” next to us and in us.

“Pragmatically” speaking, it will most certainly enrich our research work. So please, always consider yourself in the process. Ask yourself from what standing point you commit your research decisions… or get yourself a second opinion. Even Alex’s grandfather, pretending to be blind, got himself necessary help.