‘The Tortoise under the couch’: an African woman’s reflections on negotiating insider- outsider positionalities and issues of serendipity on conducting a qualitative research project in Cape Town, South Africa^§

Abstract

Issues of positionality of Black African researchers researching African issues is seldom discussed in methodological literature. In this article, I reflect from an African perspective on issues of insider/outsider positionalities and of serendipity and unexpectedness during my fieldwork which are areas often dominated by writing from the global north and by writers and researchers who do not identify as African people of color and hope that my article will contribute to fill this gap. I share my background, identity, gender and age, and how these might have influenced my approach and interpretation during the process. My qualitative study explored perspectives and subjective experiences of Xhosa speaking adults with epilepsy and their carers in an urban Black township in Cape Town, South Africa. I conclude with the tortoise metaphor to show the cultural relevance thereof, the importance of curiosity and of embracing events of unexpectedness in fieldwork.

Keywords:

• Insider/outsider positions
• serendipity
• qualitative research
• African woman

Acknowledgements

I thank Professor Leslie Swartz for his time, guidance, support and constructive feedback and motivation in the development of this article and to the four local  Health Research Ethics Committees (HRECs) for approving the study and to Ms Ganca and Ms Xapa for their input, and Ms Gamble for editing. I am thankful for Consolidoc funding from Stellenbosch University.