PARTICIPANT QUESTIONS

The affective resonance of personal narratives:

Creating a deeper experience of identity, empathy and historical understanding

Thank you for taking part in this qualitative study. As explained in the introductory letter the exercise should take no longer than 2-3 hours. Below is a list of the clips I would like you to listen to, information and a set of questions.

Please read all of the questions first. While listening to the stories have a notebook handy so you can write down your immediate feelings, thoughts and observations about a particular story and the collection of stories below.

Please become familiar with the website as a whole (www.highstreetstories.co.nz) and the collection of stories under the different themes: Culture, Trade, Archaeology, Ngai Tahu History, Social History, Architectural Heritage, Red Light District, Yarns. I’m

aware that the stories are very diverse hence asking you questions about the ‘collection’ of stories rather than each individual story. You will probably have different responses to each story due to the varying qualities of the telling, level of emotion, engagement and their relevance to you personally. Please do refer to individual stories where you can as I’m interested in what aspects of the stories create affect (feeling) and memory recall. Please make links to your personal life in relation to the story material if it is relevant and is a catalyst for memory or affect.

Please be as honest as you can in answering. If your feelings and thoughts contradict my hypothesis / research question that is perfectly fine, please try to explain why you think this is. I have chosen stories which are experiences and recollections of local people in keeping with my area of study, ‘personal narratives’. Most of the stories are about 2 minutes with the longest at 4 ½ minutes.

If you do wish to listen on site (which is not essential) - please download the app. from Google Playstore (android only) High Street Stories. The app. has augmented reality

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Questions;

Identity / Self / Collectivity

1. After listening to the stories were you aware of feeling part of a collectivity of people in Christchurch before the earthquakes? Has that feeling changed after listening?

2. Did listening to any of the stories change how you think of yourself in terms of being ‘a Cantabrian’ or a ‘New Zealander’ or any other collectivity in anyway? Please elaborate.

3. Further to the last question did listening Increase your sense of ‘rootedness’ or connection to the city or its people.

4. Can you explain any other connections the stories made to your sense of self?

Humanity / Agency

5. When you hear stories of your wider community like these do they make you feel less isolated and more connected to a greater community which you can access?

6. At any point did you feel empathic or any other emotional connection to toward the narrators, or to ‘people like them’?

7. Did you hear anything which you recognised in terms of the characters or narrator having similar experiences or thoughts to you about anything in particular?

8. How do you think this collection would be perceived if the stories consisted of narratives of regret and sadness? It was a conscious decision not to include these kinds of narratives but I wonder how differently listeners would have felt if the stories had this element of emotion within them (eg. QuakeStories). Do you think it would have been more affecting if the stories of life before the quakes had narratives of sadness and loss woven into them?

9. Does the collection of stories make you feel anything toward the governmental powers which allowed the erasure of the areas architecture after the earthquakes?

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10. If you answered yes to the last question would listening to these stories stir you to participate in political action relating to the retention of buildings or a community?

Historical Understanding

11. Did listening to the stories told from a personal narrative perspective help you with understanding the history of the High Street Precinct and Christchurch better - please elaborate on how and why you think this was. Refer to individual stories if you can.

12. Further to the last question what aspects of history were embellished or enhanced or were totally new for you through listening. How does this change your perspective on the area and Christchurch.

Miscellaneous Questions

13. Is there anything else you would like to say about how the collection made you feel or think differently about the community, yourself or the history of the area.

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Stories:

Red Light District

http://www.highstreetstories.co.nz/stories/3a-murders-and-fire-bombings http://www.highstreetstories.co.nz/stories/2-a-world-first-the-prostitution-reform-act- (2003) Architectural Heritage http://www.highstreetstories.co.nz/stories/6-human-feelings-embodied-in-concrete http://www.highstreetstories.co.nz/stories/7-the-demolition-of-the-wiltshire-building http://www.highstreetstories.co.nz/stories/24-%E2%80%98the-smell-of- death%E2%80%99-carcasses-to-couture Social History http://www.highstreetstories.co.nz/stories/72-poplar-lane-recollections http://www.highstreetstories.co.nz/stories/78-raiding-the-excelsior http://www.highstreetstories.co.nz/stories/46-the-famous-cotura- children%E2%80%99s-duffel-coat Culture http://www.highstreetstories.co.nz/stories/44-people-were-much-more-colourful-then http://www.highstreetstories.co.nz/stories/57-block-of-wood-the-bats http://www.highstreetstories.co.nz/stories/4-christchurch%E2%80%99s-90s-rave- scene Yarns http://www.highstreetstories.co.nz/stories/15-human-ashes-out-and-about-on-high- street Regeneration http://www.highstreetstories.co.nz/stories/16-the-new-high-street-the-early-1990s http://www.highstreetstories.co.nz/stories/26-high-street-underbelly-pushers-to-posh

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Image Consent

Guy Frederick

Guy Frederick <[email protected]> To

Zoe Roland

16 October 2016 7:32

Hello - please accept this as formal notification for permission to Zoe Roland for inclusion of my photos created for the High Street Stories article (in Heritage NZ) for use in her MA Thesis.

Thanks

Guy

www.guyfrederick.com

0276793523

Becker Fraser Photos

Moira Fraser <[email protected]> To

Zoe Roland 16/12/15 at 9:03 AM

Yes that's fine Zoe. That was the point of the National Library sponsoring the project, so that the photos were available for these kind of purposes. They are published under a creative commons license, both by the National Library and Ross, so please just acknowledge the photographer.

Regards Moira

Moira Fraser

IPU International Parliamentary Specialist UNDP/IPU Parliamentary Support Programme Ph: +95-9-4210-22562