Along Came a Virus: Leisure in a Dangerous Time Hermeneutic phenomenological explorations of the lifeworld experiences and meanings of leisure of African immigrant mothers and daughters, during the COVID-19 pandemic
Creators: Hurly, Jane
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2022

<p>The purpose of my hermeneutic phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of leisure of African immigrant mothers and daughters resettled in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic. My research questions explored (a) how African immigrant mothers and daughters describe their lived experiences of leisure (both indoor and outdoor) during the COVID-19 pandemic, (b) the meanings African immigrant mothers and daughters ascribed to their leisure experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, and (c) their relationships with each other, with friends or other leisure companions, during the COVID-19 pandemic. I conducted my research at a time in the pandemic before COVID-19 vaccines were widely available.<br>
Methodologically, my hermeneutic phenomenological study was underpinned by two philosophies: Aristotle’s philosophy of leisure (Hemingway, 1988; Owens, 1981) and Gadamer’s (2004) theory of hermeneutic experience. I engaged in philosophical hermeneutic interviews (Vandermause &amp; Fleming, 2011), augmented by visual methods (Margolis &amp; Zunjarwad, 2018), including drawings and auto-driven photo elicitation (Samuels, 2004), to gather stories of 14 participants’ lived experiences of leisure. Participants comprised four mothers (aged 29-36) and ten daughters (aged 13-24). <br>
I analysed the interviews in accordance with Hycner’s (1985) phenomenological interview procedures, combined with those of Finlay (2014) and Brinkmann and Kvale (2015) and turned to theory from fields within and beyond leisure to facilitate the interpretations of the findings. I generated themes from my data as follows: The crucible of cultural hearth, in which I described the experience of loss in terms of severed connections, leisure, and the faith sanctuary. In The cultural hearth warms I explored the ways in which leisure became possible and was often expressed through culture. In the theme My soul soothed in arts- and nature-based leisure I examined how creative leisure and leisure in nature soothed and brought pleasure. In Come together: The worldwide digital hearth I detailed how digital leisure allowed for connection with others, daily living tasks to go on, and became a fount of entertainment. Finally, in The friends at the hearth: Developing and deepening ties I considered the ways in which friendship comforted participants.<br>
The pandemic shocked participants as familiar gathering places, such as churches and restaurants, closed.  Participants lost jobs and volunteer work.  They decried being unable to have leisure, socialize with friends, or travel. Participants attended church services online or found different ways of expressing their faith that brought comfort and succour.<br><br>
Participants found leisure derived from their cultural heritage traditions especially satisfying. Leisure companionship within families strengthened participants’ appreciation for their loved ones and firmed their familial bonds. Family members became close companions; mothers and daughters took renewed interest in each other and sought each other for leisure of many different kinds. Mothers and daughters shared culinary traditions, heritage language learning, and played traditional African games. Embodying the African ethic of ubuntu mothers in healthcare found leisure in extending care and protectiveness to the vulnerable people they served in their work. Surprising friendships blossomed and participants expressed gladness at the unexpected deepening of their relationships with friends.<br>
Creative leisure such as painting, writing, dancing, and sewing, were cathartic for expressing political convictions, experiencing nostalgia, and evoking joy and happiness. Connection to the land, and cultivating, harvesting, and consuming plants native to their homelands gave comfort, satisfaction, and purpose to participants’ pandemic leisure. Equally important was digital leisure. The internet not only meant that life could go on: banking, studying, reading electronically, playing games, working from home, it afforded plenty of entertainment too—though it palled with a surfeit of it. Importantly, the pandemic revealed in stark relief, the leisures—and relationships—they had taken for granted that had been sidelined by pandemic health restrictions, and focused participants on what was important in their lives.<br>
Given the participants&#39; experiences, they may have benefitted from the expansion of access to nature and community gardening, and the provision of affordable internet access and intuitive, user-friendly technologies to bolster online connectivity and prevent isolation during a crisis. These findings may resonate with other groups under similar social and health restrictions.</p>