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Innovations in Narrative and Metaphor pp 237–252Cite as

An Empty Chair Performs: Performative Inquiry

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Abstract

This chapter introduces performative inquiry and discusses how stop moments, metaphor, and narrative can awaken us to our stories, to who we are in relationship with others and our co-created environments. Performative inquiry offers educators an opportunity to explore with students moments that tug on our sleeves, awakening us to what has been lost, what matters, and what is yet to be realized in the choices we make. From an empty chair on stage to a moment in which I find myself in tears, alone at our dining room table, the metaphors and narratives embodied within our practice, within our everyday lives speak of how we engage with each other, call into presence forgotten memories, and remind us of the fragility and preciousness of life. An empty chair is not simply an empty chair but a metaphor, a memory, an action, a narrative, an act of forgiveness.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    These narratives are reconstructions of multiple engagements with my students. I would like to acknowledge all those who have accompanied me on my learning journey.

  2. 2.

    Dance/scholar Kathryn Ricketts explores the role of the object in performance and story, triangulating story, performer, and object. See also discussions of new materialism that recognize the inter-relationships between matter, environment, human beings, and nonhuman beings.

  3. 3.

    During my doctoral studies, I conceptualized and articulated performative inquiry as a (re)search methodology through the arts (Fels, 1998, 1999, 2010, 2012). The term was chosen specific to its etymological meaning and practice of inquiry through the arts.

  4. 4.

    During my doctoral studies, I conceptualized and articulated performative inquiry as a (re)search methodology through the arts. The term was chosen specific to its etymological meaning and practice of inquiry through the arts.

  5. 5.

    I would like to acknowledge Dr. Meyer for the questions, ‘What if? What matters, So what?’ My son, Marshall, added, “Who cares?” to her list of questions during a brainstorming session with his elementary class on what questions a scientist needs to ask when designing an experiment.

  6. 6.

    See Footnote 5.

  7. 7.

    I first used the term performative literacy as a way to speak to an individual’s ability to recognize and “read” performative interactions that we engage in or witness through imaginative play, performance, and everyday living. Interestingly, performative literacy was also used by Sheridan Blau in reference to a reader’s ability to engage in difficult text, in which seven traits are identified. There is a wonderful intersection between the two that invites further exploration.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada

    Lynn Fels

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  1. Lynn Fels
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Correspondence to Lynn Fels .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education and Social Work, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Sandy Farquhar

  2. Faculty of Education and Social Work, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Esther Fitzpatrick

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Fels, L. (2019). An Empty Chair Performs: Performative Inquiry. In: Farquhar, S., Fitzpatrick, E. (eds) Innovations in Narrative and Metaphor. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6114-2_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6114-2_15

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