Translating the Untranslatable: Methodological Insights on Stammering Across Cultural and Linguistic Boundaries in Interviews Exploring Palestinian Practices and Futures

This case study is based on doctoral fieldwork conducted in the West Bank in 2019, exploring how Palestinians create alternative futures through “minor practices”—everyday aesthetic practices that transform daily existence under Israeli Occupation. The research adopted a speculative pragmatist approach, using participant observation and semistructured interviews to understand how these practices enable Palestinian survival and flourishing despite systematic control over perception and experience.

The case study addresses the specific methodological challenge of conducting interviews when researchers do not speak the local language, focusing on how moments of translation breakdown can become productive methodological turning points. Through a detailed account of an interview with Bahia, a Palestinian embroidery cooperative founder, conducted with interpreter Yara, the study demonstrates how the inability to translate the concept of “aesthetics” into Arabic forced a fundamental reconsideration of research assumptions and questions.

Readers will learn how to embrace translation breakdowns as opportunities for methodological innovation rather than obstacles, developing skills to work reflexively through untranslatable concepts and recognize how “stammering” through difficult moments can create space for more authentic knowledge production. The case study provides practical strategies for designing flexible research frameworks that can accommodate unexpected directions, particularly valuable for researchers working across cultural and linguistic boundaries or in politically sensitive contexts. By demonstrating how moments of being “stopped in our tracks” can reveal hidden assumptions and lead to more culturally grounded inquiry, this case study offers insights applicable to any situation where researchers encounter conceptual difficulties that require rethinking their approach in real time.