Theatre as hermeneutic methodology: A case study of the use of theatre in bioethics research
January 10January 10CQ SeminarCQ Seminar
Toronto, OntarioToronto, Ontario
CanPREPCanPREPCanadian Program of Research on Ethics in a PandemicCanadian Program of Research on Ethics in a Pandemic
Talk Overview:
1) Theoretical framework: Instrumental versus hermeneutic research
2) Empirical example: the making of “Abide With Me: A Story of Two Pandemics”
3) Analysis: making sense of theatre as a hermeneutic methodology
Theoretical Framework:
Re-locating systems of inquiry on political/epistemological grounds: instrumental versus hermeneutic
research
Neo-liberalism and the knowledge economy:
• “Neo-liberalism” is the term used to indicate the political rationality that emerged in the late 1970s/early 1980s and that rests on the underlying principles of classical liberalism: the dominance of a free market ethos, a minimal role for government and an emphasis on individual freedom and choice along with responsibility and self reliance.
• “Knowledge economy” is a term that indicates a series of wide spread political and economic shifts through which knowledge has become recast as a central object or goal of production, thus allowing it to enter into an economized system of trade
Salient features of instrumental and hermeneutic research:
Salient Features Instrumental Research Hermeneutic Research
Fundamental epistemological stance of research/researcher:
Explanation; answering questions or hypotheses; finding solutions
Destabilization; further questioning; opening new avenues for thought
Underlying research rationale: Goal or solution-oriented To generate meaning; to unsettle the boundaries of what/how we know
Research vista: Causative – Single factors; closed systems
Contextual - multiple overlapping factors; open, complex systems
Availability for synthesis, meta-analysis or evaluation:
Aims to be readily available Often not available or amenable to many forms of evaluation; reflection takes place through ongoing reflexivity
Relationship to traditional research methods:
May be quantitative, qualitative or mixed-methods
Often qualitative in nature, but could be quantitative
Common field or disciplinary affiliations:
Professional fields (including medicine, social work, engineering, education); applied social science
Arts and humanities; “basic,” or “pure” sciences (i.e. non-applied); non-applied social science
Orientation toward knowledge “market:”
Aims to be readily applicable, or commercializable, within a market driven by “knowledge users”
Applicability may be hard to identify or unknown at point of inception; research may produce complex knowledge not amenable to straightforward application
Empirical Example:
The Making of “Abide With Me: A Story of Two Pandemics”
Project goals:
• Not to provide moral guidance or answers…
• To allow ethical questions, and competing ethical viewpoints, to co-exist such that the audience may participate in ethical deliberation
Early Data Collection:
• Cross-country surveys
• Stakeholder forum
• Cross-country citizen town halls
Brantford, 1918: A Comparative Case Study…
• Brantford is a town of 90,000, one hour west of Toronto
• Was a thriving, multicultural, industrial centre in 1918
• Boasts a very rich local archive
Historical Data Collection:
• Local newspaper archives
• Historical hospital records and nursing school archives
• City hall and armory records
• Four key informant interviews with local citizens alive during the 1918 pandemic
Improvisatory Work With Students:
Script Building
• Used historical data as a means to illuminate and add complexity to contemporary ethical pandemic-related issues
Analyzing “Abide With Me” as Hermeneutic Methodology
Critical methodological criteria that facilitate play-making as hermeneutic
inquiry:• Trust• Panic• Receptivity to a broad definition of “data”
(being a “data magpie”)• Serendipity• Attending to creative insight as a form of
analysis• Reflexivity
Conclusions: Play-making as politically resistant
Thank you and questions!
