Psychosocial Notebook - IOM Publications - International ...

Psychosocial Notebook, Volume 2, October 2001
Interpreting was, however, not always requested. Some of the interviewees
spoke English, French or Italian. In these cases, even if their knowledge of
the foreign language was fluent, the interviewees refused to speak in their
native tongue, feeling uncomfortable with the translation of their words.
Their resistance to the translation taught us to view a shared language as a
primary necessity, in order to reduce the gap between interviewers and
interviewees, and to grant all participants of these conversations equal status.
We learned to allow the interviewees to choose their words, accepting
any reduction in their ability to express themselves properly. Even in the
most skilful of translations, the richness of the original language is lost.
The situation became more difficult during group interviews, when some
of the participants could speak several languages and others could not. At
times, this mixture of tongues became overwhelming, as on one occasion
where four different languages were used during the same interview.
While on one hand, this Babel of idioms became an obstacle to clear communication,
the confusion moved all participants to rely more on nonverbal
language. The transmission of feelings and emotions became as
relevant as the narration of events, and the significance of these same
events came to depend upon the communicated feelings and emotions to
support them.
In Kosovo, 40 interviews were collected, 21 of these amongst Kosovar-
Albanians, and 19 of them amongst Kosovar-Serbs. The bulk of the
research focused upon three distinct municipalities: Pristina, Mitrovica
and Pec.
Pristina was one of the towns least damaged by the war, even though a
great number of its population had been forcibly evacuated (as had happened
throughout Kosovo) (OSCE, 1999, part I: 312). Following the end
of the war, the town experienced rapid growth in its population, mainly
due to mass migration from the countryside. Pristina now houses the highest
concentration of international organizations in Kosovo. Only around
600 Kosovar-Serbs still reside in Pristina, most of them concentrated in
specific zones with only a few families remaining scattered in other locations
around the city’s centre. For these Kosovar-Serbs, freedom of movement
is practically non-existent, with many of them confined to their
homes. Around 12,000 Kosovar-Serbs live in the villages of the municipality,
protected (like the inhabitants of other Serbian enclaves) by the
KFOR (UNHCR-OSCE, 2000: 38-39).
Both Pec and Mitrovica were badly affected by the war. Respectively
68 per cent and 65 per cent of their residential buildings were heavily damaged
or destroyed (OSCE, 1999, part II). In Pec, the only Serbs still living
in the urban area are the inhabitants of the orthodox patriarchate (the priest
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