Post-Pandemic Trauma and the Research as an Intrusion

The pandemic, especially the lockdown period, has strongly affected all the subdivisions of the performing arts’ sector, specifically the independent creators. In the context of a doctoral research focused on the impact the years 2020-2021 had on present day’s theatre praxes and aesthetics, ethical aspects are challenged by the need to gather information in order to outline the specificities of that time. Are endeavours such as searching-researching, documenting, and analysing useful or intrusive, professionally “traumatising” for the interviewed people, when performed only a couple of years after the actual event? How should these interviews be conducted? How can one know what the limits of ethics in this type of research are, if the only aspect required in order to determine this is the conversation, the possible ethics infringement itself? How ethical is it for the Act of Research if one avoids its completion for the sake of protecting the research object? Moreover, as the case study is a series of discussions whose analysis is included in a PhD thesis, one must raise the question of the supervisor’s role in this context - what should they do in this case, should they advise, help build the framework for this activity or should they keep their distance? The present paper aims to gather possible answers to these questions addressing the ethical issues of possibly intrusive research methods, as well as advance solutions for the issue represented by the purpose of doctoral advisory figures in relation to sensitive approaches in the development of an academic endeavour.