Verbaliser l’indicible : une étude de l’expérience de la «vibe» dans la scène underground-house de Montréal
This thesis examines the discourses and embodied experiences of participants from the underground electronic house music scene in Montreal. In this empirical study, I aim to provide a twofold contribution to the field of studies on contemporary expressive cultural formations. First, on the methodological standpoint, this research illustrates the scope of the « explicitation » interview—a method of retrospective introspection developed by French researcher Pierre Vermersch (1994)—in assisting informants in the process of putting sensory impressions, emotions, thoughts or actions into words. Combined with a long-term immersive approach in the field, I argue that this innovative method proved to be a rigorous tool, which allowed participants to access and verbalize embodied memories with unprecedented accuracy. Second, this ethnographic study sheds light on new social spaces of solidarity and expression created by middle and upper middle class Quebecers of Haitian origin. The results of this research show, firstly, that the "vibe"—an idiomatic expression widely used by the househeads to qualify their experience—is a conceptual cornerstone that maintains cohesion between the representations, beliefs and bodily practices of the participants. Secondly, the study demonstrates that this cultural formation stands as a new expression of counter-cultural space, which establishes a critical distance from both the commercialised "hip hop culture" as well as the dominant (mainstream) cultural space by promoting a subversive bodily and spiritual experience. This unique site of transmission and communion creates new models of sociability and contributes in an unusual way to the intercultural urban dialogue in Montreal.
immersion explicitation danse vibe Haitian spirituality methodology reflexivity methodology embodiment music dance