Intimate research: the breastfeeding early years scholar

Anastasiou, Thekla (2023) Intimate research: the breastfeeding early years scholar. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science. ISSN 2220-8488 (In Press)

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Abstract

This paper begins in-between the pleasures and torments of breastfeeding. A paper which tries to summarise and put into words a series of breastfeeding experiences that were full of adventure and discovery. Kavafi’s (1975) words from his poem ‘Ithaca’ describe perfectly this unique breastfeeding journey; a journey full of Laistrygonians and Cyclops; a marvellous journey though that without breastfeeding there wouldn’t have been any. The aim of this paper is to explore the conflicting emotions provoked by the embodied and intimate process and experiences of breastfeeding; emotions that affect and were affected by the author in new role as a mother, with her changing body and her ability or not to comfort her baby through it. Drawing from New Materialism and Post-humanism, the study turns to ideas and concepts around affect, intra-actions, body and touch, offering new opportunities for, as well as producing particular challenges in relation to ways of ‘being’ and ‘knowing’ in intimate research (Moss and Donovan, 2016).