Situating the Body in Digital Migration Research: Embodied Methodologies for Analysing Virtual Reality Films on Displacement

Abstract

Sparked by my experience of nausea while watching virtual reality (VR) films on displacement, this chapter proposes a multi-level analysis of such films. The affective dimensions of VR films on displacement—which, according to advocates, make VR films superior to other forms of media in raising awareness and funds—can be best captured by pursuing explicitly embodied methodologies that conceptualize embodiment as “being a body” rather than “having a body.” I argue that such methodologies make three main contributions: they expand the boundaries of what is considered “valid” knowledge and centre the geopolitics of knowledge production; foreground how researchers bring with them their relations, experiences, and histories into the virtual encounter; and can lead to thicker conceptual understanding.