Inquiry and Poetry: Haiku on Audience and Performance in Education

Abstract

Haiku are presented here as a poetic form of research inquiry that locates researcher stance, bias, and the autobiographical underpinnings of the research process. These research poems also function as examples of ekphrasis, that is, the practice of writing about art objects. In this case, the object of the haiku is the topic of my dissertation study-the development of a curriculum theory (and poetics) for audience in performance. RÉSUMÉ Les haiku sont présentés ici comme une forme d'enquête à base poetique qui situe le point vu, les présuppositions ainsi que l'autobiographie sous-jacente le processus de recherche. Ces poèmes sont aussi des exemples 'd'ekphrasis',-la pratique d'écrire au sujet d'objets d'art. Ici l'objet de haiku, étant le sujet de ma dissertation, sert au développement d'une théorie du curriculum (ainsi que de la poésie) pour l'auditoire lors de représentations.

Silent Footsteps: Renga Poetry as a Collaborative, Creative Research Method Reflecting on the Immobilities of Gender-Based Violence in the Covid-19 Pandemic

“…There is a growing tradition of using Japanese poetic forms as research. For example, haiku has been used in an arts-based therapeutic project with veterans in Australia (Bullock & Williams, 2022), as field notes in feminist research on running (Faulkner, 2018), and as ekphrasis for audience in performance (Prendergast, 2004). Tanka has been used to research domestic abuse (Breckenridge, 2016) as well as adolescent identity (Furman et al, 2007), and with our research, we build on that to use the collaborative form of renga to research GBV.…”

“…Our renga project serves as feminist embodied (Faulkner, 2018) and performative (Prendergast, 2004) practice, as well as a compressed form and tool to present interweaving voices and data (Furman et al, 2007). As one of us reflected, Initially, the thing that felt strange or challenging to me about writing a renga was trying to squeeze an experience into a few words, in a very structured and concise way .…”

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What poetry is made of is so old, so familiar, that it's easy to forget that it's not just the words, but the polyrhythmic sounds, speech in its first endeavours (every poem breaks a silence that had to be overcome), prismatic meanings lit by each others' light, stained by each others' shadows.-Adrienne Rich, 1995, p. 84 Poetry in research and as research is not new (Prendergast, 2009), but during the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been an ever-growing need for innovative, creative ways of coming together, of intertwining voices to create community (Roy & Uekusa, 2020) and to connect as a catalyst for social change (Faulkner, 2018). Casting light on the increase and intensification of violence against women and girls during the Covid-19 pandemic (UN Women, 2020), our polyvocal, collaborative renga poem experiments with sound and silence stained by shadows.

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Exploring a Curricula of Visual and Poetic Aesthetics / Exploration de programmes d’esthétisme visuel et poétique

“…More recent examples of ekphrasis as theoretical study include Benton, 2017;Dolin, 2017;Denham, 2010;Heffernan, 2004;Kennedy, 2013;Mather, 2017;and Mitchell, 1994. However, since my interest lies in the practice of ekphrastic poetics, more specific examples include Young, 2006Young, & 2012Kulnieks & Young, 2014;Hovanec, 2016, Moorman, 2006, Prendergast, 2004and Wiebe, 2015. It is through an enactment of ekphrastic poetics that I juxtapose visual and literary arts-providing possibilities to engage in critical dialogue.…”

Found Poetry as Literature Review

“…The suite serves to reflect on, play against, and perform with the central topic of this inquiry, that of developing a curriculum theory for audience education in the performing arts. My intention is to place these poems, and others, as chapters and as interludes within and between chapters throughout my dissertation (see also Prendergast, 2004c. Research poetry used in this context offers an alternative method for understanding and representing key theories and texts in inquiry.…”