Layered multiplicity and the Storyteller Matrix: Adapting the Listening Guide to trauma narratives

Abstract

Traditional ways of engaging with refugee storytelling are insufficiently sensitive to the complexity of individual experience, trauma-induced multiplicity and the ethical complexity of retelling. Building on my earlier work (Lyons, in press) and drawing on elements of Goffman’s participation framework , I argue for a trauma-informed approach to listening in professional interactions with trauma-experienced individuals. Through an analysis of selected Refugee Tales, this paper addresses the complexity of the speaking ‘I’; ethical implications of the inherently relational 2 ^nd person narration, and the implications of the institutional context in which refugee testimonies are gathered.

My proposed adaptation to Gilligan et al.’s (2003) Listening Guide (Storyteller Matrix) serves to facilitate more systematic analysis of speaker/hearer multiplicity in trauma-affected storytelling, reducing the likelihood of retraumatisation in support service provision and of inappropriate distribution of available resources. It carries implications for those who show solidarity with – and assist – refugees, as well as policymakers and public services.