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!