Quantum Entanglements, Diffractive Readings: Montage and Meaning-Making in Qualitative Research

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Abstract
This article engages with the burgeoning field of post-qualitative inquiry to operationalize the work of Karen Barad, exploring how concepts from quantum physics can inform tangible research methodologies. Addressing the gap between Barad’s abstract onto-epistemology and research practice, the paper demonstrates how montage can be used as a practical technique for enacting a diffractive, post-qualitative inquiry. Methodologically, the paper performs the approach it advocates, presenting a diffractive reading of existing qualitative studies that use montage. By reading these examples through Barad’s agential realism, the authors illustrate how montage can be re-conceptualized as a research apparatus. The article provides practical guidance for researchers, framing the steps of diffractive montage not as a representational procedure but as an onto-epistemological practice of world-making. Finally, while considering the limitations of this approach, the authors argue that a quantum-inspired, diffractive methodology offers potent tools for engaging with the complexities of socio-material phenomena in an ethically responsive way.

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